Plautus › Trinummus
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Plautus

Trinummus

drama

A young man needs money and his friend's father has it. A buried treasure, a trickster slave, and the ethics of lending. Plautus examines friendship, trust, and the social obligations of wealth.

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Acts

  • Prologue

    Prologue. A father has buried treasure in his house before leaving on a journey. His spendthrift son is selling the house.

    22 lines
  • 1
    Act 1

    The father's friend Callicles buys the house to protect the hidden treasure. The neighbourhood assumes the worst — that Callicles is exploiting the absent man's family.

    233 lines
  • 2
    Act 2

    Callicles needs to get the treasure to the daughter (for her dowry) without revealing where it came from. He hires a stranger for three coins (the trinummus) to pose as a messenger.

    454 lines
  • 3
    Act 3

    The fake messenger delivers a story about the father sending the dowry money from abroad. The scheme is almost exposed.

    252 lines
  • 4
    Act 4

    The father returns unexpectedly and encounters the fake messenger, who repeats the fabricated story — to the man it was supposed to be about.

    407 lines
  • 5
    Act 5

    The truth emerges. The father is reconciled with his son. The daughter receives her dowry. Callicles' loyalty is vindicated. A comedy of honest men rather than clever slaves.

    109 lines
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