Plautus (ca 254-184 BCE) and Terence (fl. 166-60 BCE) are enormously important figures in western comedy. As Rome began to establish its hegemony over the ancient Mediterranean basin, these two popular comic poets entertained Roman audiences in successive generations. Latin literature was still in its formative years, and Rome was in an early stage of becoming a cosmopolitan city. Plautus’ plays continued to be performed for centuries after his death. Revivals of Terence’s plays were less common, though their survival was ensured by their central position in the educational curriculum, thanks to the simple elegance of Terence’s Latin and his plays’ perceived morally upright content. Plautus’ more boisterous comedies, despite their linguistic extravagances and their portrayals of dubious morality, likewise survived through continuous copying down to the Renaissance, where they enjoyed a great revival of interest. The works of Plautus and Terence went on to influence scores of dramatists in the European tradition, including such luminaries as Shakespeare and Molière. The extremely successful Broadway musical and film A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a pastiche of several Plautine plays, and the entire television sit-com genre is much indebted to the tradition of Greek and Roman New Comedy as it is represented chiefly by Plautus and Terence.

The five plays translated here provide a representative sample of the rich and varied comedy in Latin that delighted audiences in Rome during the culturally tumultuous first half of the 2^nd century BCE.