‘Nam os columnatum poetae esse indaudivi barbaro,
quoi bini custodes semper totis horis occubant,’
we have a reference to the imprisonment of Naevius, which shows that the play was written before his banishment, probably B.C. 206-5 ([see under ‘Naevius’]). Line 1016, ‘Cedo signum, si harum Baccharum es,’ shows that the play is anterior to B.C. 186.
The original is the Ἀλαζών of some Greek poet. Cf. ll. 86-7,
‘Alazon Graece huic nomen est comoediae:
id nos Latine gloriosum dicimus.’
The play, however, exhibits contaminatio. Two distinct actions, the cheating of Sceledrus (Act i.) and the cheating of the Miles (Acts ii. and iii.), are united rather loosely; and it has been conjectured that Menander’s Κόλαξ, or (according to Ritschl) Diphilus’ Αἱρησιτείχης, was the play used. Ritschl’s view is perhaps supported by the word urbicape in l. 1055. The play is the longest palliata preserved. The scene is Ephesus.
13. Mercator.—The original is Philemon’s Ἔμπορος; ll. 5-6,
‘Graece haec vocatur Emporos Philemonis;
eadem Latine Mercator Macci Titi.’
Some light is thrown on the date by ll. 524-6.
‘L. Ovem tibi eccillam dabo, natam annos sexaginta,
peculiarem. P. Mei senex, tam vetulam? L. Generis Graeci est.
Eam sei curabeis, perbonast; tondetur nimium scite.’
This could not have been written before B.C. 196, the date of the settlement of Greece. The play shows traces of two distinct editions. The scene is Athens.