‘Mea causa causam accipite et date silentium.’
The music was provided by Flaccus, slave of Claudius. The composer himself was probably the instrumentalist. Four kinds of flutes are mentioned as used by him: tibiae pares, impares, sarranae, and duae dextrae (see [note p. 45]). The scene of all the plays is at Athens. There is no chorus. The form of the plays is modelled closely on Greek. More than half of the verses are iambic senarii, the next commonest being troch. septen. and iamb. octon. These are used in dialogue. Trochaic octonarii are used in lyrical parts, other lyrical metres being rare, and the anapaestic metre not being used. Short lines are also found in the middle of lyrical pieces, or at the end of pieces of dialogue. Andr. 605,
‘Sed eccum video ipsum: occidi.’
Single words sometimes stand at the head of a lyrical piece, as Phorm. 485 ‘Dorio,’ which makes a line.
The different kinds of scenes are under the same conditions as in Plautus. We have (1) scenes provided with music, probably represented in MSS. by C (Canticum). (2) Scenes sung as recitative, with musical accompaniment, in MSS. denoted by M.M.C. (perhaps for ‘Modi Mutati Cantici’). (3) Scenes in senarii, without music, in MSS. denoted by DV (Diverbium). The division into scenes is very ancient; but the division into acts, though existing in the time of Terence (cf. Hec. prol. 39, ‘primo actu placeo,’), is not marked in the MSS.
Names of characters.—Terence uses only Greek names, which often suit the characters of the persons, and many of which are repeated in the different plays. Cf. Pamphilus and Glycerium, of the lovers in the Andr.; Chremes (χρέμπτομαι, ‘cough’), for an old man, in Andr., H.T., Phorm.; Crito (κρνίω, ‘judge’), for an old man, in Andr., Phorm.; Sosia (σῴζειν), for a freedman, in Andr., Hec. So names of slaves as Davus (Δᾶος, ‘Dacian’), Dromo, Geta, Syrus, all in several plays.
The arguments, consisting of twelve senarii each, were composed by C. Sulpicius Apollinaris in the second century A.D.
Prosody.—For the variations from later usage, [see under ‘Plautus.’] Terence is, of course, more regular in this respect than Plautus.
Views on Terence.—To those given above the following may be added:
Gell. vi. 14, 6, ‘Exempla in Latina lingua M. Varro esse dicit ubertatis Pacuvium, gracilitatis Lucilium, mediocritatis Terentium.’[21]