ECHOS DU MO N DE CLASS IQUE

volume xiv, no. 1 janua ry 1970 ja nvi er

CLASSICAL NEWS AND VIEWS

published by the classical association of can ad II

puhlie par la societe canadiennt deli etud es class iques

rei lOS DlJ MOK DE CL\SSJQUE CI.ASSICAI. NEWS AKD VIl'WS

Colin M, WEllS, "<e,,,""'"'' "'"',' Department of Ch >skal Studies,

I'Jowaru F, UlCEY, Upper Can~ cl~ College, Toronto 7, Ontario, Can~da

C;\rth u\MBERT, A ILhou ,e College of Education, U, W, O., 1.<>n<lon, Ollt.

Vol, XIV, No 1

PEOPLE AND MONEY IN ROMAN COMEDY

PlERHE BH1ND' AMOUR

Rcsume : Tous tel! personnage8 de Haute son t prcoccuvcs par t 'argent. Cettc prtoccupation r evete l 'importance que la societe romaine de son opoque atta­chai t aux va teurs pccuniaires .

As early as t he sixth century before Christ, the poet and theologian Hesiod once said : "The soul of man is blind: money is all the life of th ese poor morta.ls " (Works and Days, 694) . A little later, the lyric poet Alkaios declared : "Money makes the man' no poor man is ever Good nor honourable" (frg . 81) . Still later, the elegiac poet Thcognis, ruined and exiled from his heme town of Megara , confesses "I experience thousands of problems; I am still stuck in extreme poverty .... EVerybody takes great care of the rich man, and none of the -poor man : thi s is a common attitude with t he whole world" (~., 1, 619- 622). 'l'he great Pindar said : "Gold is the child of Zeus : neither rust nor decay will destroy it, but love of gold will destroy man" (frl': . 222); he sa.id also, in a v e ry impressive way, speaking to 1·lan: "0 miserable creature of a day, you stammer like a little baby when you boast of your riches" (frg. 157) . Money was so much a problem that Plato , in his Ideal State, ,"'anted to get rid of the problem by getting rid of money: exchange of services was to be the n ew basis of society and would not require money. Aristophanes , in the p e riod of t he Old Comedy, wrote a play called Ploutos, that is "The God of Riches"; i n it, h e advocates the necessity for th'eCOiiinuni ty as a whole to be rich and t o possess money, although the individual c i tizen in his vi ew, was better off and more useful t o society in a state of poverty, since he would then work to earn money. and work for Aristophanes is the basis of society . In the period of the New Comedy, the poet Menander was well aware of the power of money: "Some philo­sophers , he says , pret end that wind , water, earth , SW'l, fire , stars arc the gods . For mys elf I believe that the gods who are truly useful to us arc silver and gold . One has only to erect to them an altar in his home and to pray to them . Do you need anything? All the things i n the world will be yours ; lands , properties, butlers, silverware, friends, judges and helping wi tnellllcll . A li ttle gift o f money, and the gods themselves will be at your service!" (frg . 537K) .

Such a UIliversal problem found i t s way, of course , into Roman Comedy . The greedy slave -dealer Ballio , in the play of Plautus called Pseudolull, was well aware of the importance of .making a little profit : "Even if I were sacrificing t o Great Jupiter himself, h e says, and if I were holding i n my hands the sacri ­ficial meats to be offered to him, at thi s moment should any opportunity for any profit arise, I rather quit on the spot t he divine office! " (v . 265ss) . Another slave dealer in Plautus , called "The Wolf", when a client comes t o him docs not see the man, bu t the dollar: "I see a profit walking toward me" he once declared (Poenulus, 693) . Ballio , for himself, considered dead an old client who did not h~money ally more (Pseud ., 248, 308 - 311) . The same Ballio was once accused of the horrible cr ime of beating his mot her and father ; h e r eplied t o the

22 PlumE BlIND' !U·l0Ull

accll1Hltion : "I even killed them to avoid nourishinG them. Djd T do comc thing wrong?" (ibid . , 361-363) .

is so much decired by everybody that :i t bccoml's the true dynrunilJm of' Plautu~ ' E.'ve ry traditional c1mruc t c r of comedy ho.:1 be come pr"-occupi ed with it . Let us begin by the yOlUlg man in love . Ills in tllf's e t imes as it is today, was t h at he w[ll}t ed to enjoy life but not do so . Romantic walks in the moonlight <10 not take away the need of resta.urants and of making gifts to the beloved . An old woman tells a in t he Asinaria : "Be content with the light of day, with the water, sun , with the moonl i ght, with the night : the .'l c things do not need to be bought for money . But f or everything else you must pay cash! If you want br e ad from the baker, or winc frcn the liquor store, thes e people give you the me rchandise only if you pay them .. Their hands do Iw.ve eyes , they believe what they s ee !" (198135) . So the young man who want ed t o enjoy a party or to buy a gift for his sweetheart had to find ways to get money . Th e quickest way was to ask his fath er , \.lut the father was a ti/!:ht - f'lcted old man who had worked all his Ii f e to make some money and who wanted t o die rich; s o his son was faced wi th the obligation , and one must say , wi t h the thr ill and pleasure , of robbinc; him : "1101.' happily you spend the money you steal from a tight-fi sted rather" says a younc; mall in a p lay of the comic poet Caecilius . YOWlg men in Plaut;us , in their own special kind of lan{,"IKl.ge, want to "trim" their father, to "wipe his moncy ['rom his nose", to "bite" him , to make him "vomi t" his pennies., and they even wir.h to see him a beggar , or t o sell hi m t o make a profit, or to see him dead in order to inlieri t from him .

Our natural f eeling would be to pity the father of such a son . But ancie nt Homan comedies were written to make us pity the son of ,meh a fath e r ! '['he r egLLla.r mune giv en to the father is s e nr x iratuc, " t h e an/Vy o_ld-man", or s e nex pareus, "the tight - fis t e d old -man"~even lock his salt-box so that nobody from his family could steal some salt (Persa , 267 ). One f ath er, when h e mnkes a sacrifice to h is ancestral spirit, uses ;:;erycheap earthen -ware so that his ancestral spirit would not pr ofit l)y stealing the sacr e d vess els (Captiui, 291- 292 ) . lIe would ev en sleep with a bag on his mouth so not to lose breath during t h e night ~ This kind of fa t h er only wishes his son to do business, and will not readily understand that the YOWle man prefers to enjoy life aIltI lov e . In fact , as can be expe cte d , the father want s his son to marry a rich girl ami the son is inevitably in love with a poor orphan g irl. II. l ol of t r ouble r e sults from this situat ion, until, at the end of t h e play, the poor Birl finds out that "he haG rich ·p1ll'cnts .

If the young man in Roman Comedy naturally falls in love with a poor Cirl, it is because pover ty is sometimes the teach e r of virtue . A rich g irl who brings a dowry s e ems a very had prospec t f or futur e happiness . Plalltus said : "AG long as Birl' s mind is virtuous, she haG a dowry big enouCh" (f1uLularia , 239) . The poet Afraniuo wrote of one girl : "She is pretty; people who hate rich wives pret end this is hal f the dowry ; more t han that , she is virtuous" (v .156-158 Ribbeck) . But not every yaWli'; man had the courace to marry a poor girl, and many a future husband t r aded his authority agaim;t a big dowry (Asinaria, 87) . So we find ourselves in front of another traditional elm.raete r of Hom= Comedy, that of the old uely wife with a dowry . A poor husband in Plaulus deClar es : "'l1le more I t hink of it , when it happcns that a man marded an old wife I<Iitll a {lowry, 110 sleep will ever come t o dlstw'b him, GO mllCh i s h e

PEOPLE AND I~ONI!.Y I N RQt.1AN Cm1EDY 23

a fraid to 60 to bed" (l.lo,.,t ('1.l:u·'.a, 7Cf2-70') . El!1ewhe r e ill t.he ~Ulne pl.ny, two o hi men have this conversation: "'l'h ese old womcn who anoint I..hem::::elves with perrumes", says one , " these women who want to appear young , these old toothless things who want t o hide their ugliner:s wi t h cosmeti(!s, when their sweat ruingles with their perfUme , I..hey smell at once like whcn a b ad cook mi x es din·erent ::;uuces : you don ' t know what it smells like , yet you understand one thing , t hat it smells awfull . " "T1w.t is quit e true" , answers hi s friend, who then t urns hi mself toward the spectators · "This, a lot of people among you cert ainly understand , who are k eeping at home old wives t.hat got you because or their dowry !" (ibid., 271Iss). In fact , the rich wife is credited with all the vices on e can imagI"il"ein a WOlIk"Vl . She is ugly, un::;mi l ing, imperious, jealous, t alkati v e ; used to a lot of money, she will ruin h er husband by incredible and inmmlerable eXfl<'ndit ures , so much, says Pla.utu1J, will no t rind money any mo!"e to lillY hi::; t.o.xes 1..0 t.he ~)tll t e

(A\Llular ia , In Lhe face o f this gene ral situation, Plautus proposed the abol ishment dowry system and favoured marriages b e tween rich and poor people . This, he hoped, would make better wives and ",·ould also spread the ex idine; wealth among a larger Ilumber of citizens .

Up to now , we have spok en of the father , o f the mo ther and or tile [;on. Many more p eople arc conc erned with money in Horna.n Comedy . The bankers and money­lenders , for cx:ullple, arc a lot concerned . If they lend you money, they will be after you to get it back and they will stand at your door arrogantly, fr om morning to night , like t h e Italian sun , says Plaut us (l.!o~tel1aria, 767 - 7(8 ) . I f they meet you on t h e street , they a r c s traight-forward : Hello you, tlOw about my money? !" (.i.b .i. c1 ., 51$) . One o f t.hem chouts in rront o f ev e rybody : "Give me the int er est you owe me , giv e me back the interest; t h e i nte r est , give it to me ! Are you going t o give me back t h e interest no· ... ?! This interest, is i. t going to be Given to me?" So t h e poor chap who owes him money mumbles with disgust: "Inter est h ere, i nte r eet there , i nterest is his only conve r sat ion !" (tbtd ., 603) . I f, on the contrary, you are ricll a nd you lend money to a ba nkf'r, that is , if you open a savilles ac(!ol.U1t with him, well tlli e time, i1" you wan t your money back, you will look everywhere i n Lhe ~·orum and never find him . You mi ght t hink that you have round hi m, but 11e will d eny that he ev er saw you . Plautus says t hat not even one person out of ten in the Forum would recognize himself (Pseuc101us , 973) . Most of the time , the banker would hav e left t h e ci ty with your money , leaving the Forum as quick ly as t.be wheel of II r ace II::: quickly u" a rabl,i !: lawlch ed in the Circus in l'r'ont of dogr: (Per,m, ]1]12 _]1]/3). wandering banker s , a t ruly insecure institution One o f them llaJlle Olympieus, so quick is he to r un away and win all rac es (Tri nuflullus ,

Amollg the eimracters concerned with nxmey in Homan Comedy , the greediest is the slave - dealer of which we epoke alrea.dy . He ie freque ntly called the "dir ty one tt , imp:yus, impuratus, impurissimus, impurat.issimus; impurata belua! , "the dirty beast, says s omeone about him. He is dirty because h e loves money and makes his profits by selling or renting human beings . He loves so much money that h e is t ortured by remorse if it happens that he missed a little profit (Persa, 689) . One slav e - <.lealer wanted to pWlish the goddess Venus becau.se she did not Give the ravorable si.gns timl he wo\ll<.l mClke a pr of'it (Pocrnl1.u1J, !I')"(:;:;) . One day, upon the r eproach that h e dl il not k eep his premise in~(!iul deal, he r ep.l i ed : "or course I did not, and I put some money into my safe at h eme . I , t he crook, I now have money rea<.ly f o r u se at home, but you, the ri r;h teous one , you do not have a penny !" (Psc uJol us , 3,)1]-356) . A :;lave-dealer VIas once q\mrel.li ng with a man about a money problem : Be quiet, I beg you, by He r cules", :;ays t h e

PIERRE IlHIND ' N~OUH

man; "1"lImt a powerful volee hav e .yo u got !" The slav c -d"a.ler r"l!Lle:; ; "I hav e a tongue in my mouth to reLaliaLe against peOl)lc . know, 1:; :;old to lW" [It the same pri ce at which iL is sold to you . Should LhaL my tongue i3 i ncapable of de fending me, I sflould runish lIe l' nrrd never h er :;alt t o 1 i ck ll.gain !" ( Persa-,1127 - 429) . IIe ls so generous that allee , sold a slaY"C""WIth his clothing and garments, h e an:;wer s proudly ; without auy of h i s clothes, but with all his illsid",:! " (rscudolw;,

So, as you sec, mo" t characters in Roman Comedy , and especially in Pl aut.us, are deeply concerned with money , how to get it, lJOw to keep it, how t o spend it . This is so because t h e Roman p ublic and t h e Homan r eopl e in general h ad a c-r eat tra.dition of money saving and of parsi mony . 'I'he pl"i ca l Led 'rrueulent.us , in Plautus , begins as f'ollows ; the producer is speMing : " lIel lo there! Th e comic poet Plautus i s ask ing you Roman s to provide him wi t h a very small pi ece o f land insi de your city walls t hat a r e so big and so nice , wher e l1e could bring t he city o f At.hens without the a id of nrry architects! Now? Are you going to g ive him this space, or ar c you noV! All ! They say by the srune chanc e I ask for a few penni es '! Ah ! Th ey say by Hercules ! You are still these old habib! How speedy is your tonl~ue

whe n it is the time to say In the prolOGue of t.he play called Amphit r yon, the r:cxl of commer ce ~jer cury a ppears to promisc t o t.he audi ence all the moncy they want if they listen well to the play that follows . In the prolOGue of the play c:)..11ed the C;lptiui, the producer a:::ks the audirncf' if they h,w e CUU13h L t h e plot ; one of them in the rear scats sLands up and \oIalk" t.o Llie .!'ront. wher e h e ask s for his sl1are : h e had underst.ood t.hat the producer wanted him t o c(l.t.ch (lome money as if in a money distr ibuti on! '1'he prolOGue of t h e play called the Casine. is spoken by what it s eems to be the eoddess of Credit in -person . She b f'Gc the audience to forget t.lleir debLs CluJ their worri e'; wlli l,.. watc hlllg the play, since the bankers and money - l enders wer e also enjoying th e holidays! In the Aulularia , the old fuelion looks straight at the audi ence and says : "I know you all, I know ther e arc here many crooks who arc r;ea t e d like hon er;t men and who hide t hemselves under whit. e cl othing !" (v. In Lhe I3ible, Christ spoke of' t he same kind of'men a s "whi t ene d

One must conclude that money was a very i mportant fact.or in the life o f the Roman people at the t ime when Roman Comedy was at itfJ best. with Plaut.us . Some people want money because they Heed it , or r or thei r p ur s ui t. of other people want money because it i s t.he ins t rument of social power wOldd sell their soul to the devil to get some . 1111at. is certain is that every­h ody wants it ami t.hat th e h·hole of" s oeiet.y ic revol vine arotUid it a s if a r Olmd a pD\ferful motor . Sci ence and t echnological prog r" ess do no t change t.his hasi c situation even tooay . The fUndamental problems of men have the ir solution some ­where deep in the moral consciousn es s o f illlmanity and do not change from one e ra t o another . Ilow could men h ave fow1d happiness in t h e t ime of Roma.n Comedy, how eM men find happiness t oday? We may think about t his sugcestion frOlTl Plautus that happines s i n l ife and freedom from proll i ems can be achieved throU{';h frie ndsh ip, t hrOUGh love , thr oU(;/l life and a lot. of lauChtf' r"!

Univero ity of Ot tmJa .

'j'his pape"!' was orieinul ly e iven to a mee tine: of t. h e Jwlior Clm;sieal Le(l.[';ue of Ontario at Sha r bot Lake ll .S . in Octob er 1969 .