T. Marcius Plautus was born around 250 B.C. in the town of Sarsina in Umbria, central Italy, nowadays in the Province of Forlì, in the Emilia region. He died in 184 B.C. The town is still there and a number of specimens can still be seen in the local museum.
The slide show on the left hand side presents some pictures of Sarsina taken in 2006. During the summer months Plautus' plays are performed in the town of Sarsina. Please note that Plautus wrote his plays using, partially, a colloquial language otherwise called "rustic Latin". A kind of black country dialect, if you like, where the "h" is often dropped. For example, the first word that Euclio speaks is "exi" whereas it should have been "exis", the 2nd pers. sing. pres. ind. of the verb exeo, -ire (to go out): exeo, exis, exit, eximus, exitis, exeunt).
ACT 1
Euclio - Out, I say. Go on, out! By Jove, you must get out of here, you peeping Tom with eyes that sneak around everywhere.
Staphyla - But why do you beat me, a miserable wretch such as I am.
Euclio - So that you be and remain a wretch all through your old age, as befits your ugliness.
Staphyla - But why are you sending me away from the house?
Euclio - And why do you think I should account to you, you, good only for beating the hell out of? Come away from that door. Look what I've to put up with. And come here. And look at the way she walks! By Jove, today if I should find a stick or a lash in my hand I'll show you how to stretch your tortoise pace.
Staphyla - At these conditions, may the gods send me to be hanged rather than carry on being a servant in your house.
Euclio - Just listen to her whispering to herself. By Jove, I will pull those eyes of yours out, scallywag, so you no longer will spy on me, watch my moves or dig my things out. Move away from there, further away, and more away; eh that's enough! Stop there and stand still. By Jove, if you move just a finger, or the width of a nail, or turn around to peep until I command you to do so, I will send you to school on a cross!
(talking to himself now)
May I be damned, but I've never seen a more wicked person than this old woman, and I much fear her and her ill; I must watch my words now, so as not to fall in a surprise trap by her, lest she sniffs out where the gold is hidden. She has eyes even in the back of her head, that wretch.
And now, let me go and see if the gold is still where it should be. How unhappy that I should be tormented like this.
Staphyla - By Castor(see note 1 below) I don't know what to say. I can't understand what bad thing or madness he is capable of. He does this often; at times he is capable of throwing me out of the house ten times a day. I really don't know, by Pollux, what ill omens he has in him. He watches by night and then sits down all day long in the house like a lame cobbler. And now, after all this, how am I going to hide his daughter's disgrace is beyond me, and she is so near the time to give birth. As for me there is nothing better to do than tie a rope around my neck and dangle myself like one long letter. [of the alphabet, see note 2]
Notes:
1- The twins, Castor and Pollux, were born to Leda after her seduction by Zeus. Castor was mortal, but Pollux was immortal.
2- Which long letter of the alphabet was Plautus referring to? From a palaeographic viewpoint, it is understood that the "j" was invented in the Middle Ages. Was Plautus referring to a capital I? If so, was this the way they referred to Capital letters (majuscules) vis-à-vis minuscules, the small "i" without the dot? One implication may be inferred: did they refer to letters of the alphabet as long and short for majuscules and minuscules, respectively? In the spirit of the play, Staphyla, although she was an "anus-old woman" she was literate to the point that she chooses to make a metaphor with a letter of the alphabet, and all the way back to around 250 B.C.!