The Brothers

1968

Special Collections PA6756 A5 E3 1968

Kentfield, California: Allen Press

Publius Terentius Afer (c. 195-159 BC) or more commonly, Terence, wrote six plays, all of which survive to this day. Brought to Rome as a slave from Carthage, North Africa (modern-day Tunisia), Terence was educated and eventually freed by his master. Modelling his plays on those of his Greek forebears, he wrote in ‘perfect Latin’ and had ‘a remarkable ability in handling of plot and character’. This edition of Terence’s play, Adelphoi or The Brothers, recreates images made by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), the renowned Renaissance artist. The only other surviving works of Roman comedy are from Plautus (254-184 BC), whose comic plots and characters were immortalised in the Broadway musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, written in 1962.