The Braggart Soldier by Plautus
"The Braggart Soldier," a comedic play by the Roman playwright Plautus, centers on the themes of love, deception, and the folly of arrogance. Set in ancient Athens, the story follows Pleusicles, a young Athenian who is in love with Philocomasium. While Pleusicles is away, a boastful captain from Ephesus, Pyrgopolinices, abducts Philocomasium with the help of her unsuspecting mother. As Pleusicles learns of the kidnapping, his loyal servant, Palaestrio, attempts to reunite them amidst a series of humorous misunderstandings and clever tricks.
The narrative highlights the absurdities of Pyrgopolinices' overconfidence and the resourcefulness of Pleusicles and Palaestrio as they orchestrate a plan to rescue Philocomasium. Utilizing disguises and ruses, they manage to outwit the captain, leading to a series of comedic encounters that ultimately result in Pyrgopolinices being humiliated rather than triumphant. This play not only entertains with its witty dialogue and plot twists but also serves as a commentary on themes such as jealousy, honor, and the social dynamics of love and power in a comedic context.
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The Braggart Soldier by Plautus
First produced:Miles gloriosus, c. 205 b.c.e. (English translation, 1767)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Comedy
Time of plot: Third century b.c.e.
Locale: Ephesus, in Asia Minor
Principal characters
Pyrgopolinices , a braggart army captainPleusicles , a young AthenianPeriplecomenus , an old gentleman, Pleusicles’ friendSceledrus , a servant of PyrgopolinicesPalaestrio , another servant of Pyrgopolinices, former servant of PleusiclesPhilocomasium , Pyrgopolinices’ mistressAcroteleutium , an Ephesian courtesan
The Story:
Pleusicles, a young Athenian, is in love with and is loved by Philocomasium, a young woman of Athens. While he is away on public business in another city, a captain of Ephesus, Pyrgopolinices, comes to Athens and, in order to get Philocomasium into his power, works his way into the confidence of her mother. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, he abducts the daughter and carries her off to his home in Ephesus.
News of the abduction of Philocomasium soon reaches Pleusicles’ household, and Palaestrio, a faithful servant, immediately embarks for the city in which his master is staying, intending to tell him what happened. Unfortunately, however, Palaestrio’s ship is taken by pirates; he is made captive and is presented by chance to Pyrgopolinices as a gift. In the captain’s house, Palaestrio and Philocomasium recognize each other but tacitly agree to keep their acquaintance a secret.
Perceiving that the woman bears a violent hatred for Pyrgopolinices, Palaestrio privately writes to Pleusicles, suggesting that he come to Ephesus. When the young man arrives, he is hospitably entertained by Periplecomenus, an old gentleman who is a friend of Pleusicles’ father and who happens to live in a house adjoining that of Pyrgopolinices. Since Philocomasium has a private room in the captain’s house, a hole is made through the partition wall, enabling the two lovers to meet in the approving Periplecomenus’s house.
One day Sceledrus, a dull-witted servant appointed to be the keeper of Philocomasium, is chasing a monkey along the roof of the captain’s house when he happens to look through the skylight of the house next door and sees Pleusicles and Philocomasium at dalliance together. He is observed, however, and before he can report his discovery to the captain, Periplecomenus tells Palaestrio how matters stand. Palaestrio then develops an elaborate hoax to convince Sceledrus that he did not see what he thought he saw. Philocomasium is to return immediately through the hole in the wall and pretend never to have left the captain’s house. In addition, she is to make a reference at the proper time to a dream she had regarding the sudden advent in Ephesus of a pretended twin sister. This ruse is carried out before the ever more confused Sceledrus, Philocomasium first playing herself and then changing clothes, going through the hole to the other house, and playing her nonexistent twin sister. Sceledrus is slow in taking the bait, but at last he swallows it and becomes unshakably convinced that he did not see Philocomasium.
The danger of discovery temporarily averted, Palaestrio, Periplecomenus, and Pleusicles confer on how they might trick Pyrgopolinices into giving up Philocomasium and Palaestrio. The servant again formulates an elaborate ruse. Since the captain is ridiculously vain regarding his attractiveness to women as well as his pretended prowess in battle, it is decided that the plotters will use an Ephesian courtesan to undo him. Periplecomenus, a bachelor, is to hire her to pretend to be his wife but so infatuated with Pyrgopolinices that she is willing to divorce her aging husband for the captain’s favor.
This plan is executed. Acroteleutium, chosen as the courtesan and using her maid and Palaestrio as go-betweens, sends the ring of her “husband” to the captain with word of her infatuation. Pyrgopolinices is immediately aroused, but as he is discussing the situation with Palaestrio, it occurs to him that he will be compelled to get rid of Philocomasium before he can take advantage of Acroteleutium’s offer. When Palaestrio informs him that Philocomasium’s mother and twin sister just arrived in Ephesus looking for her and that the captain can easily put her out and let her return to Athens with them, Pyrgopolinices eagerly accepts the suggestion. Overwhelmed by Palaestrio’s flattery, he even agrees to let Philocomasium keep the gold and jewels he gave her.
When Pyrgopolinices goes in to tell her to leave, however, she feigns immense grief. Finally she agrees to leave quietly but only after he promises that she can take Palaestrio with her as well as the gold and jewelry. The captain, amazed at this sudden display of affection, attributes it to his irresistible masculine charm. When he returns to Palaestrio he is given to understand that Acroteleutium wants him to come to her in Periplecomenus’s house. Although he is at first reluctant to do so for fear of the old man’s wrath, he is told that Acroteleutium put out her “husband” and that the coast is clear.
At that moment Pleusicles, disguised as the master of a ship, appears and says he was sent to take Philocomasium and her effects to the ship where her mother and sister are waiting. Pyrgopolinices, overjoyed that the matter is being handled with such dispatch, sends Philocomasium and Palaestrio off as soon as he can manage it.
After their departure he hurries into Periplecomenus’s house in expectation that Acroteleutium will be waiting for him. Much to his dismay, however, Periplecomenus and his servants are waiting instead, armed with rods and whips and intent on giving Pyrgopolinices the beating that a real husband would have inflicted under such circumstances. This punishment they accomplish with great alacrity, extorting from the captain, under threat of even more dire punishment, the promise that he will never retaliate against any of the persons involved.
When they are finished, Sceledrus comes up and crowns the captain’s beating with the news that the ship’s master is Philocomasium’s lover and that he saw them kissing and embracing as soon as they were safely outside the city gate. Pyrgopolinices is overwhelmed with rage at the way he was tricked, but as Sceledrus and he enter the house the servant observes that the captain received only what he deserved.
Bibliography
Anderson, William S. Barbarian Play: Plautus’ Roman Comedy. Toronto, Ont.: University of Toronto Press, 1993. A well-written scholarly work. In his discussion of The Braggart Soldier, Anderson suggests that in this play the quality of “heroic badness” is transferred from a conventional hero to the clever slaves who outwit their masters. Exhaustive bibliography.
Fraenkel, Eduard. Plautine Elements in Plautus. Translated by Tomas Drevikovsky and Frances Muecke. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. This is the first English translation of a German study initially published in 1922. Fraenkel, an influential twentieth century classicist, provides an analytical overview of Plautus’s plays, including their motifs of transformation and identification, mythological material, dialogue, and the predominance of the slave’s role.
Hanson, J. A. S. “The Glorious Military.” In Roman Drama, edited by T. A. Dorey and Donald R. Dudley. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965. Plautus’s egotistical soldier is the most famous use of a military stereotype in Roman drama. This essay is an excellent examination of the subject.
Hunter, R. L. The New Comedy of Greece and Rome. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. The chapter on “Plots and Motifs: The Stereotyping of Comedy” explores the use of the comic soldier in Roman comedy. An index points to specific passages discussed. Detailed notes and bibliography.
Leigh, Matthew. Comedy and the Rise of Rome. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Analyzes the comedies of Plautus and Terence, placing them within the context of political and economic conditions in Rome during the third and second centuries b.c.e. Discusses how audiences of that time responded to these comedies.
Segal, Erich. Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968. Contains numerous references to the play, noted in the index to passages from Plautus, as well as useful comments on “military heroes” and relevant discussions of slaves. Extensive notes.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗, ed. Oxford Readings in Menander, Plautus, and Terence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Includes essays on Plautus and the public stage, the response of Plautus’s audience, and traditions, theatrical improvisation, and mastery of comic language in his plays.
Slater, Niall W. Plautus in Performance: The Theatre of the Mind. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985. Approaches Plautus’s works from a different perspective. Some specific comments and notations about The Braggart Soldier suggest the subtleties that may be missed in a casual reading.