Captīvi
“The Captives”; one of the most popular of the plays of Plautus, and
styled rather extravagantly by Lessing “the best piece that has ever come upon the
stage.” It is unusually restrained in language and action (
fabula
stataria), and in the prologue Plautus takes credit for its freedom from indecency. It
has no female characters and no love - intrigue. Good separate editions are those of
Sonnenschein
(London, 1880), Brix
(Leipzig, 1884), and Hallidie
(London, 1891).