Metres of Roman comedy

Any element in an iambic or trochaic line except the last two can be resolved into (i.e. replaced by) two short syllables (marked "uu" in the scansions below). The final element of the line is always a single syllable, either long or brevis in longo (i.e. a short final syllable which counted as long, as in the word Geta in the first example below).

Either a longum or an anceps can be resolved, but resolution of a longum is more common.[36] The following iambic senarius is an example where both resolved elements are longa:

amīcus summus meus et populārís Geta[37]

| u – – – | – uu – uu | – – u – | (ia6)

"My dearest friend and fellow-townsman Geta"

The following example, in the more excitable trochaic septenarius metre, has four resolved elements. The first, second, and fourth of these are a resolved anceps:

quid faci(am)? und(e) ego nunc tam subit(o) huic argent(um) ínveniám miser?[38]

| – uu – uu | – – uu – || – – – uu | – u – | (tr7)

"What am I to do? From where am I to find money for this man so suddenly, wretched me!"

A resolved element can occasionally consist of a brevis brevians (see below).

When resolution takes place, it is usually to be found within a single word, e.g. iubeō, inveniam, subitō; this is known as Ritschl's law.[39] Occasionally, however, the first syllable may be a monosyllabic word, for example, et eum or quid ego. When a word starts with three short syllables, usually the first two form one element: memoriter, facilius, which suggests that the word accent fell on the first syllable in such words.

Very occasionally in iambo-trochaic verse the resolved element is split between two words, breaking Ritschl's law, e.g. omnia patris,[40] dīcere voluī,[41] omnibus ere,[42] paené fu(i) oblītus;[43] but only it seems when the second word is accented on its first syllable; resolutions such as *cārus amīcus are not found.

Another law of resolution, called the Hermann-Lachman law, states that resolution is not allowed in the last two syllables of a word with a dactylic ending (– u u).[44] Combinations such as dīcere :: numquid,[45] omnibus īsdem,[46] or omníbus amīcīs[47] are rare.

An exception to the law is the word nescio (often with a short -o), which seems to be treated as if it was a compound ne-scio.[48]

Both Ritschl's law and the Hermann-Lachman law are less strictly observed in the short syllables of anapaestic metres.

The prosody and grammar of Plautus and Terence differ slightly from that of later poets such as Virgil and Ovid. One such difference is the frequently occurring phenomenon of brevis breviāns or "iambic shortening" (correptiō iambica), in which two syllables with iambic rhythm (u –), such as in the word habēs or the phrase quid est? or the first two syllables of a longer word such as voluptātem, in some circumstances can be scanned as two short syllables (u u).

The literal meaning of brevis breviāns is "a short syllable which shortens (a following long one)".[49]

As a rule, brevis breviāns is found in places in iambo-trochaic metres where either an anceps element or a longum element is resolved into two short syllables.[21] Examples of the first, where an anceps element is resolved, are Iovĭs iússū, volŏ scīre, minŭs qu(am) ūllus, volŭptās mea, suăm mātrem, háud mală (e)st múlier. Examples of the second type, where a longum element in the metre is resolved, are: quíd ĕst? quid métuis?, hábĕs quod fáciās, ábĭ sīs īnsciēns, tíb(i) hŏc praecípiō, quíd ăbstulístī. As with resolution, brevis brevians either occurs within a word or when the first syllable is a monosyllabic word such as quid.

Another place where iambic shortening frequently occurs is in the two short syllables of an anapaest (u u –), e.g. vidĕn hanc?, obsequĕns fīam.

Brevis breviāns is not compulsory, and it is possible for the same phrase to be pronounced sometimes with and sometimes without iambic shortening. For example, latent / in ŏccúltō[50] vs. in óccultō latent;[51] vs. apŭd mē[52] vs. apúd mē.[53]

In the majority of cases, the shortened syllable in iambic shortening is a syllable ending in a consonant, as in Iovis iussū or voluptātem, only rarely an open syllable with a long vowel as in amĭcitia (Plaut. Trinummus 153).[54] Pronouns such as ille, iste, hic are particularly frequently subject to brevis breviāns: quod ĭlle, quid ĭstuc, quid ĭs fēcit, et ĭllōs etc.[55] As the above examples show, the short syllable which causes the shortening is usually either a monosyllable or part of the same word as the shortened syllable.[56]

What appears to be iambic shortening is also sometimes found in the second and third syllables of the sequence u u u –, as in nūlla mihĭ rēs or ut egŏ núnc. However, these cases involve words such as mihi and ego which can have a short final vowel even in the classical period.[57] Fattori therefore argues that this type should be regarded as a separate phenomenon from the normal iambic shortening described above.[58]

Usually the shortened syllable is unaccented.[59] Many scholars claim that the scansion can therefore give clues as to how Latin was pronounced in normal speech. For example, it is argued by Lindsay and others that in the phrase volŭptās mea "my darling", where the syllable lup is shortened, the accent was on the syllable -tās (this however is disputed by Radford).[60] Another suggestion is that the phrase apúd mē "at my house", scanned (u – –), shows the normal pronunciation where púd is accented; but when it is scanned (u u –), the emphasis is on the word mē, i.e., apŭd mē "at my house".[2]

Others believe that a condition for brevis breviāns is that neither syllable of the sequence u – should have full stress, but that rather, in a phrase such as videtqu(e) ipse[61] "and he himself sees", the first word must become de-stressed before the brevis breviāns can take place.[62] Fattori (2021), however, disputes this and points out some cases where the shortened syllable is apparently stressed, for example, sed ŭxōr scelesta (Plaut. Rud. 895) or vel ŏptumō vel pessumō (Plaut. Most. 410).

Although iambic shortening is common in iambo-trochaic metres and anapaests, it is almost never found in cretics or bacchiacs.[63] Iambic shortening is also found in the fragments of Early Latin tragedy and in Ennius's hexameters (e.g. hunc magnus sī erit, sūme in a passage quoted by Apuleius (Apol. 39)). But apart from in common words such as bene, male, ego, mihi, tibi, sibi, ubi, ibi, nisi, quasi, modo, it is not found in poetry of the classical period.

Elision (the removal or partial removal of a final vowel when the next word starts with a vowel or h) is "far more frequent and various in Plautus and Terence than in other Latin verse-writers".[64] For example, in the second of the trochaic septenarii lines which follow there are no fewer than six elisions:

attat! illīc hūc itūrust. // īb(ō) eg(ō) illīc obviam,

néqu(e) eg(ō) hŭnc hómin(em) hūc hódi(ē) ad áedīs // hās sin(am) úmqu(am) accēdere.[65]

| –  u –  – | –  u – – || – u – – | – u – |
| uu u uu – | uu u – – || – u – – | – u – |

"Aha! there he is about to come here; I will go to meet him,

nor shall I ever allow this man to come here near to this house today."

As shown above in homin(em) and sin(am) unqu(am), a final syllable ending in -m will also usually be elided. Long open monosyllables such as dē, quae, hī, dum, quom, rem are sometimes totally elided, and sometimes merely shortened.[66][67]

How exactly an elision was pronounced is unknown. It is possible that a short vowel was completely omitted. When a long vowel was involved, however, it is probable that an element of it could still be heard,[68] for example in the following line, where complete omission might cause ambiguity:[69]

óptum(ō) óptum(ē) óptum(am) óperam // dās, datám pulchrē locās

| – u – u | – u uu – || – u – – | – u – |

"You are giving an excellent service excellently for the most Excellent; and you will be rewarded well for your gift."

Sometimes in Plautus (but not in Terence)[70] there can be a hiatus (i.e. no elision) between vowels at the break between the two halves of a verse, that is after the fifth element of a senarius or the 8th element of a septenarius. There can also be brevis in longō at this point. But frequently at the break there is no hiatus but an elision. Elision can also take place when there is a change of speaker in the middle of a line.

Prodelision (the removal of the first vowel of est or es) is also common, for example pugnātumst for pugnātum est and itūru's for itūrus est.[21] Also common is opust "there is need" for opus est.

Quite commonly in Plautus the two adjacent vowels in words such as eōsdem, ni(h)il, eum, eō, huius, eius, cuius, mi(h)ī, meās, tuom were merged into one syllable by a process known as synizesis. However, if it suited the metre, they could also be kept separate.

Vowels which later became shortened before -t or -r retained their length in Plautus, e.g. amāt, habitāt, vidēt, cavēt, audīt, velīt, habēt, fīt, dūcōr, loquōr, labōr, mātēr, etc.[71]

The words mīles, es, ter were pronounced mīless, ess, terr.[71]

Plautus also made use of alternative forms, such as sim/siem, dem/duim, surpiō/surripiō, dīxtī/dīxistī, mālim/māvelim, ille/illĭc, mē/mēd, tē/tēd, hau/haud, when it suited his metre.[72]

In both poets phrases like de illā, cum illā, cum eõ could be pronounced with the scansion u u –. In Plautus (but not Terence) are also found phrases like tuam amīcam, domi erat where the first word is scanned u u.[73] Lindsay compares forms in later Latin such as coeō, circuit where the preposition is similarly reduced to a short syllable but not completely elided.

In words ending in -us or -is, such as eru(s), esti(s), the final syllable was regularly scanned short before a consonant.[73]

Words of the rhythm | u u u x |, such as mulierem or facilius, are thought by some scholars to have been stressed on the first syllable, since they are frequently used in situations, such as the end of a line, where the rhythm is normally – u –.[74] The initial word-accent is however disputed by Questa.[75]

A mute plus liquid consonant (e.g. tr in patrem) did not make the previous syllable long in Plautus or Terence.

Some words ending in -e, such as nempe, unde, ille could be pronounced nemp’, und’, ill’ before a consonant.[21][76]

The pronoun hic "this man", which was later pronounced hicc,[77] was still pronounced with a single c in Plautus.

The combinations hic quidem, tū quidem and sī quidem can be pronounced with a short vowel in the first syllable, i.e. either | u u – | or | – u – |.[21][78]

Used for the prologues of plays and for the more serious speeches, the iambic senarius (ia6) is the most common metre in Roman comedy[79] and is the only metre which was unaccompanied by music. It is more common in Terence than in Plautus.

The Latin line is based on the Greek iambic trimeter, which goes as follows (in the notation used here, – is a long syllable, u a short one, and x an anceps, that is, either long or short):

| x – u – | x – u – | x – u – | (Greek)

The Latin equivalent of this is slightly different and has anceps syllables in place of the first and second shorts:

| x – x – | x – x – | x – u – | (Latin)

However, the various anceps syllables in the line are not equal. Those in the 3rd and 7th positions are long (or double short) in about 60% of lines; those in 1st and 5th positions are long in 80% of lines; and the one in the 9th position is long in 90% of lines.[80] Therefore, what was a short syllable in Greek (i.e. positions 3 and 7) is more often than not long in Latin. However, features such as the caesura after the 5th element and Meyer's law (see below) ensured that if the 3rd or 7th element was long, it was usually unaccented.

In most (but not all) iambic senarii there is a word-break or caesura seven elements from the end, corresponding to the dieresis in the same place in the trochaic septenarius. However, as can be seen from the examples below, there is usually no break in the sense at this point. The main effect of this caesura is that the fourth element of the line usually coincides with the word-accent, while the third is unaccented.

The iambic senarius is often used for exposition and explaining a situation, for example in the prologue of almost every play, such as Plautus's Amphitruo:[81]

haec urbs est Thēb(ae). in illīsc(e) habitāt aedibus

Amphitruō, nātus Argīs ex Argō patre,

quīc(um) Alcumēna (e)st nūpt(a), Ēlectrī fīlia.

is nunc Amphitruō praefectust legiōnibus,

nam cum Tēleboīs bellum (e)st Thēbānō poplō.

| – –  – –  | u – – uu | –  – u – | ia6
| – uu – –  | u – – –  | –  – u – |
| – –  u –  | – – – –  | –  – u – |
| – –  – uu | – – – –  | uu – u – |
| – –  – uu | – – – –  | –  – u – |

"This city is Thebes. In that house lives

Amphitruo, born in Argos from an Argive father,

with whom Alcmena is married, daughter of Electer (Electryon).

This Amphitruo is now in command of the legions,

for the Theban people are having a war with the Teleboans."

The iambic senarius is also used for dialogue, especially when old men are speaking (6235 out of 7659 lines spoken by old men, that is more than 80% of their dialogue, are in this metre).[82] An example is the following extract from Terence's Andria (35-39) spoken by the old man Simo to his freedman Sosia:

ego postquam t(ē) ēm(ī), ā parvol(ō) ut semper tibī

apúd me iūst(a) et clēmēns fuerīt servitūs

scīs. fēc(ī) ex serv(ō) ut essēs lībertus mihī,

proptereā quod servībās līberāliter:

quod habuī summum pretium persolvī tibī.

| uu –  –  – | –  –  u  –  | –  –  u  – | ia6
| u  –  –  – | –  –  –  uu | –  –  u  – |
| –  –  –  – | u  –  –  –  | –  –  u  – |
| –  uu –  – | –  –  –  –  | u  –  u  – |
| u  uu –  – | –  uu –  –  | –  –  u  – |

"After I bought you, how from childhood onwards

your servitude with me was always just and mild,

you know. From a slave I made you to be my freedman,

because you used to serve me generously.

I paid the highest price which I had for you."

Occasionally in iambic metres a non-monosyllabic word will end a metron, like amāns in the line below. If so, by a rule called "Meyer's law" (/ˈmaɪər/), the third element in the metron will usually be a short syllable.[83][84] (The final metron of a senarius, which always ends u –, is a special case of this.)

sed postqu(am) amāns accessit pretium pollicēns[85]

| –  –  u  – | –  –  –  uu | –  –  u  – | ia6

"But after a lover approached promising money..."

The same rule usually applies if a word ends at the 3rd element of a trochaic metron:

māter īrāta (e)st patrī uehementer quia scortum sibī[86]

| –  u  –  – | –  u  –  uu | –  –  uu  – | – u – | tr7

"Mother is very angry with father because (he got) a whore for himself"

The rule does not apply, however, to an elided word:[87]

ego iuss(ī), et dīxit sē factūr(am) uxōr mea[88]

| uu –  –  – | –  –  –  – | –  –  u  – | ia6

"I ordered it, and my wife said she would do it"

The effect of Meyer's law is to ensure that the 3rd element of an iambic metron (which is always short in Greek iambics) is either short, or, if long, is unaccented.

Although Meyer's law is observed in the majority of cases, there are quite a few lines where it is not observed, for example, the following where in the word vēmenter "very greatly" there is a long accented syllable in the third element of the metron, possibly to emphasise the word:[89]

amōqu(e) et laud(ō) et vēmenter dēsīderō[90]

| u  –  –  – | –  –  –  – | –  –  u  – | ia6

"I love and praise and oh, so badly miss her!"

It is usual for violations of Meyer's law in the second metron to be followed by a four-syllable word (like dēsīderō above)[91] or a monosyllable plus three-syllable (such as sī dīxerit);[92] so that even though there is a clash between ictus and accent in the second metron, coincidence is restored in the third.[93] Another example of a line where Meyer's law is broken is the following, where the word legiōnibus ensures that the iambic rhythm is restored:

is nunc Amphitruō praefectust legiōnibus[94]

| – – – uu | – – – – | uu – u – | ia6

"that Amphitruo is now in command of the legions"

When Meyer's law is violated in the first metron, the following element is usually a monosyllable, maintaining the usual caesura:[95]

veniāt quandō volt, atqu(e) ita nē mihĭ sīt morae[96]

| uu – – – | – – uu – | uu – u – | ia6

"Let him come whenever he wants, so I don't have to wait."

As noted above, in the final metron of an iambic senarius (| x – u – |), the anceps element is long in 90% of lines.[80] If there is a word-break in the centre of the final metron, then according to a law known as "Luchs's law" (English pronunciation: /lʊks/), or the "Bentley-Luchs law",[97] the anceps must be long or a resolved pair of short syllables.[98][99] The law also applies to the ending of the trochaic septenarius when it ends in a dissyllable, and at the 7th–8th elements of ia7 and ia8.

Thus phrases such as quemque cōnspicor[100] (– | u – u –) or contumēliae[101] (– | u – u –) or hūmānō patre[102] (– | – – u –) or ēveniat patrem[103] (– | uu – u –) are all acceptable as endings of a senarius or trochaic septenarius, but *optumō patre (– | u – u –) would not be acceptable.

Two groups of exceptions are found, however:[104] (1) when the final iambic word is preceded by a paeonic rhythm (u u u –), for example: in alium diem[105] (uu | u – u –) or at etiam rogās;[106] (2) when the two words are closely bound in sense, for example: in malam crucem[107] (– | u – u –) or bonā fidē.[108]

It is argued that the rationale behind this law is that an iambic word at the beginning of the third metron might give the false impression that the line had come to an end.[21] The rule inevitably means that when the last word is disyllabic, the word-accent will be heard on the first element of the metron (i.e. contrary to the presumed ictus); but apparently in the last metron rhythmical considerations were more important than stress.

When there is a word-break between the second and third metron of a senarius there is sometimes a hiatus (lack of elision) at this point. This is known as a locus Jacobsohnianus.[109][110] Sometimes there is a change of speaker:

edepol memoriā (e)s optumā. / – offae monent.[111]

| uu – u uu | – – u – || – – u – | ia6

"By the god Pollux, you have a good memory!" – "It's the dinners which prompt it!"

But in other instances there is no change of speaker:

vīdisse crēdō mulierem / in aedibus.[112] ia6

| – – u – | – uu u – || u – u – | ia6

"I believe I saw a woman in the house"

inter mortālīs ambulō / interdius[113]

| – – – – | – – u – || – – u – | ia6

"I am walking among mortals in broad daylight"

There are also several places where the fifth element before the end of a tr7 or ia6 line, though a short syllable, is found in a longum position, for example, in the following:

atque argentō comparandō fingere fallāciam.[114]

| – – – – | – u – – || – u – – | – u – | tr7

"And to invent a trick for getting money."

proin tū nē qu(o) abeās longius ab aedibus.[115]

| – – – uu | – – u – || u – u – | ia6

"So make sure you don't go anywhere too far from the house."

Usually, just as with a line end, the element immediately preceding the locus Jacobsohnianus is short.[116]

There are some verses where it is difficult to say whether there is a locus Jacobsohnianus or whether it is better to scan the verse with a resolved element split between two words, breaking Ritschl's law (Questa prefers the latter):[117]

quid 'bracchi(um)'? – illud dīcere uoluī femur'[118]

| – – u – | – – u uu | u – u – | ia6

"What, an arm?" – "I meant to say, a thigh."

Jacobsohn also claimed that a similar phenomenon can be found at the third element of a trochaic septenarius, but the evidence for this is not as strong.[119][120]

The locus Jacobsonianus does not appear to be used by Terence,[121] although there are several lines like the following where there is a hiatus at a change of speaker or syntactic pause:[122]

Hecyra (e)st huic nōmen fābulae. / haec quom datast[123]

| uu – – – | – – u – || – – u – | ia6

"Hecyra is the name of this play. When this was first produced..."

| x – x – | x – u – || x – x – | x – – |

The character of this metre is different from the iambic senarius or trochaic septenarius. In Plautus there almost always a break (diaeresis) in the middle of the line. Unless the diaeresis (central break) is omitted, then by Meyer's law there is always a short syllable in the penultimate place before the break.[124] At the end of the line there is always a word accent on the penultimate element.

Although not so frequent as the senarius, the iambic septenarius (ia7) is also reasonably common in Roman comedy. Certain characters and plays use this metre more than others; in Plautus' Pseudolus, for example, there are only ten lines of iambic septenarius, occurring in sections of one or two lines; but in Rudens there are 204 lines, in Miles Gloriosus 211, and in Asinaria 322. In Amphitruo this metre does not occur at all.

The iambic septenarius is sometimes known as the "laughing metre".[124] A typical use is the light-hearted banter of the two cunning slaves, Leonida and Libanus, in Plautus's Asinaria, when ribbing each other. Here Leonida speaks:[125]

Edepol virtūtēs quī tuās nōn possīs conlaudāre

sīc ut egŏ possim, quae domī duellīque male fēcistī.

n(ē) ill(a) edepol prō meritō tuō memorārī multa possunt

ubi fīdentem fraudāverīs, ub(ĭ) er(ō) īnfidēlis fuerīs,

ubi verbīs conceptīs sciēns libenter periūrārīs,

ubi parietēs perfōderīs, in fūrt(ō) ubi sīs prehēnsus,

ubi saepe causam dīxerīs pendēns adversus octō

artūtōs, audācīs virōs, valentīs virgātōrēs!

| uu –  –  – | –  – u – || –  –  –  –  | –  –  – | ia7
| –  uu u  – | –  – u – || –  –  u  uu | –  –  – |
| –  uu –  – | uu – u – || uu –  –  –  | u  –  – |
| uu –  –  – | –  – u – || uu –  u  –  | –  uu – |
| uu –  –  – | –  – u – || u  –  –  –  | –  –  – |
| uu uu u  – | –  – u – || –  –  uu –  | u  –  – |
| uu –  u  – | –  – u – || –  –  –  –  | u  –  – |
| –  –  –  – | –  – u – || u  –  –  –  | –  –  – |

"By Pollux, you could not praise your own virtues

as well as I could, all those things which at home or in war you've done wrong!

Indeed, by Pollux, there are a lot of things that can be mentioned to your credit:

when you defrauded those who trusted you, when you were unfaithful to your master,

when you deliberately perjured yourself with invented words,

when you made holes in walls, when you were caught stealing,

and all the times you pleaded your case when hanging in front of eight

burly unrestrained men, sturdy whippers!"

In Terence this metre is often used by love-struck young men, as in the following exchange (Heautontimorumenos 679–89) between the young man Clinia and the cunning slave, Syrus:

CLI. nulla mihĭ rēs posthāc potest i(am) intervenīre tanta

quae m(ī) aegritūdin(em) adferat: tant(a) haec laetiti(a) obortast.

dēdō patrī mē nunci(am) ut frūgāliōr sim quam volt!

SYR. nīl mē fefellit: cognitast, quant(um) audi(ō) huiu' verba.

istuc tib(ī) ex sententiā tu(ā) obtigisse laetor.

CLI. ō mī Syr(e), audīst(ī) obsecrō? SYR. quidnī? qu(ī) usqu(e) ūn(ā) adfuerim.

CLI. quoi aequ(e) audīstī commodē quicqu(am) ēvēnisse? SYR. nūllī!

CLI. atqu(e) ita mē dĭ ament ut egŏ nunc nōn tam meāpte causā

laetor qu(am) illīu'; qu(am) egŏ sci(ō) ess(e) honōre quōvīs dignam.

SYR. ita crēdō. sed nunc, Clīniā, age, dā tē mihĭ vicissim;

n(am) amīcī quoque rēs est vidend(a) in tūt(um) ut conlocētur.

| –  uu u  –  | –  –  u  – || –  –  u  –  | u  –  – | ia7
| –  –  u  –  | u  –  u  – || –  –  –  uu | u  –  – |
| –  –  u  –  | –  –  u  – || –  –  u  –  | –  –  – |
| –  –  u  –  | –  –  u  – || –  –  u  –  | u  –  – |
| –  –  u  –  | –  –  u  – || u  –  u  –  | u  –  – |
| –  –  u  –  | –  –  u  – || –  –  –  –  | –  uu – |
| –  –  –  –  | –  –  u  – || –  –  –  –  | u  –  – |
| –  uu –  uu | –  uu u  – || –  –  u  –  | u  –  – |
| –  –  –  –  | u  uu u  – || u  –  u  –  | –  –  – |
| uu –  –  –  | –  –  u  – || uu –  –  uu | u  –  – |
| u  –  –  uu | –  –  u  – || –  –  –  –  | u  –  – |

CLI. Nothing in future can ever happen to me so bad

that it might bring me ill, so great is this happiness that has arisen!

I will surrender myself to my father from now on and live even more frugally than he wishes!

SYR. (aside) I was right! She has been recognised, as far as I understand from these words.

(aloud) I'm delighted that that has turned out as you wished!

CLI. O my Syrus, did you hear, do tell me! SYR. How could I not? I was there with you.

CLI. Have you ever heard anything turn out so well for anyone? SYR. No, no one!

CLI. And so may the gods love me, I am now delighted not so much for my own sake

as for hers, whom I know to be worthy of any honour.

SYR. I am sure you’re right. But now, Clinia, listen to me in turn;

for we must do something about your friend’s situation too to make sure it is secure.

In Plautus, there is usually a clean break between the two halves of the line, and this is often true of Terence too. However, sometimes Terence smooths over the break with an elision, or even omits the break altogether.[126]

| x – x – | x – u – || x  – x – | x – u – | type A
| x – x – | x – x – |  x – x – | x – u – | type B

The iambic octonarius has two kinds, one with a break in the middle of the line, as the first pattern above. But often, instead of a mid-line break, there is a caesura or word-break 7 elements before the end of the line, in the same way as in a trochaic septenarius.[127]

In the first type, when the break is in the middle of the line, there may be brevis in longo (a short syllable standing for a long element) at that point, as in the word ingerĕ in the first of the two lines below:

tū qu(ī) urn(am) habēs, aqu(am) ingere; / face plēn(um) ahēnum sīt coquō;

tē cum secūrī, caudicālī praeficiō prōvinciae.[128]

| – – u – | u – u – || uu – u  – | – – u – | ia8
| – – u – | – – u – |  –  – uu – | – – u – |

"You who have the jar, bring in some water; make sure the pot is full for the cook;

you with the axe I'm putting in charge of the wood-cutting province."

The iambic octonarius is used more often by Terence (885 lines) than by Plautus (382 lines). In Terence's Eunuchus, this metre is particularly associated with one of the two brothers, Chaerea, who has 88 lines in this metre.[126] The following passage from Terence's Adelphoe ("The Brothers") is sung by another of two brothers, Ctesipho, as he enters the stage:[129]

abs quīvīs homine, cum (e)st opus, benefici(um) accipere gaudeās:

vēr(um) énimvēr(ō) íd dēmum iuvāt, sī, qu(em) aequum (e)st facer(e), is bene facit.

ō frāter frāter, quid egŏ nunc tē laudem? satĭs certō sciō;

nunqu(am) íta magnificē quicquam dīc(am) id virtūs quīn superēt tuā.

itaqu(e) ūn(am) hanc rem m(ē) habēre praeter aliōs praecipu(am) arbitror,

frātr(em) hominī nēmin(ī) esse prīmār(um) artium magis prīncipem.

| –  –  – uu | u –  u – || uu uu – uu | u  –  u – | ia8
| –  uu – –  | – –  u – || –  –  – uu | –  uu u – |
| –  –  – –  | – uu u – || –  –  – uu | –  –  u – |
| –  uu – uu | – –  – – || –  –  – –  | uu –  u – |
| uu –  – –  | u –  u – |  u  uu – –  | uu –  u – |
| –  uu – –  | u –  u – |  –  –  u –  | uu –  u – |

"From any man, when there's a need, you would be glad to receive a favour,

but in truth what is really nice is if someone does one who ought to do it.

O brother, brother, how can I praise you enough? One thing I know for sure,

I shall never be able to speak highly enough of your virtue.

And so I think I have this one thing above all more than anyone else,

that no man has a brother more endowed with the highest qualities!"

The iambic octonarius was apparently often used in Roman tragedy for messenger speeches,[130] and in Plautus it is often used by slave messengers, as in this account of the aftermath of a battle in Plautus's Amphitruo (256-261) sung by the slave Sosia. In this style the lines run smoothly on, without any central dieresis:

postrīdi(ē) in castr(a) ex urb(e) ad nōs veniunt flentēs prīncipēs:

vēlātīs manibus ōrant ignōscāmus peccātum suom,

dēduntque sē, dīvīn(a) hūmānaqu(e) omni(a), urb(em) et līberōs

in diciōn(em) atqu(e) in arbitrātum cūnctī Thēbānō poplō.

post ob virtūt(em) er(ō) Amphitruōnī patera dōnāt(a) aurea (e)st,

quī Pterela pōtitāre solitus est rēx. haec sīc dīc(am) erae.

| – –  u –  | – – –  –  | – uu – – | – – u – | ia8
| – –  – uu | u – –  –  | – –  – – | – – u – |
| – –  u –  | – – –  –  | u –  u – | – – u – | 
| – uu – –  | u – u  –  | – –  – – | – – u – |
| – –  – –  | u – uu –  | – uu u – | – – u – |
| – uu u –  | u – u  uu | u –  – – | – – u – |

"The next day into our camp from the city the chiefs came to us weeping;

with veiled hands they begged us to forgive their wrong-doing,

and they surrendered themselves, and all divine and human things, the city and their children

all for jurisdiction and judgment to the Theban people.

Afterwards on account of his courage my master Amphitruo was given a gold cup,

with which King Pterela used to drink. This is what I shall tell the mistress."

All the lines above except the second have a caesura or word break 7 elements from the end of the line.

| – x – x | – x – x || – x – x | – u – |

The second most common metre in Roman comedy in terms of lines (or the commonest, in terms of the number of words) is the trochaic septenarius (tr7). Like the other long iambic and trochaic lines, it is believed to have been chanted to the music of the tibiae (double pipes). There is usually a diaeresis in the centre of the line, and there may sometimes also be a hiatus (lack of elision) or brevis in longo (a short syllable made long by position) at this point. Trochaic lines generally start with a word which is stressed on the first syllable, making it clear that the line has a trochaic not an iambic rhythm.

According to an ancient metrical theory, the Greek version of this metre (trochaic tetrameter catalectic) was composed of an iambic trimeter with a cretic foot (– u –) added at the beginning. This seems to be true of the Latin trochaic septenarius too: the word break (dieresis or caesura) is in the same place seven elements before the end of the line, and Meyer's law and the locus Jacobsohnianus apply in the same way to both lines.[131]

In the following passage the god Mercury, disguised as the slave Sosia, is preventing the real Sosia from entering his own house:

M. Hic homŏ sānus / nōn est. S. Quod m(ih)ī // praedicās viti(um), / id tibī (e)st!

quid, malum, nōn / sum egŏ servos // Amphitruōnis / Sōsiā?

nōnn(e) hāc noctū / nostra nāvis // hūc ex portū / Persicō

vēnit, quae m(ē) ad/vexit? nōnne // m(ē) hūc erus mī/sit meus?

nōnn(e) egŏ nunc st(ō) an/t(e) aedēs nostrās? // nōn mī (e)st lantern(a) / in manū?

nōn loquŏr, nōn vigi/lō? nōnn(e) hic homō // modo mē pugnīs / contudit?

fēcit, hercle, / n(am) etiam miserō // nunc mihī mā/lae dolent.

quid igitur egŏ / dubit(ō)? aut cūr nōn // intr(ō) e(ō) in nos/tram domum?

| uu u  –  – | –  – –  – || –  u  – uu| – u – | tr7
| –  u  –  – | uu u –  – || –  uu – – | – u – |
| –  –  –  – | –  u –  – || –  –  – – | – u – |
| –  –  –  – | –  – –  u || –  u  – – | – u – |
| –  uu –  – | –  – –  – || –  –  – – | – u – |
| –  uu –  uu| –  – uu – || uu –  – – | – u – |
| –  u  –  u | uu – uu – || –  u  – – | – u – |
| uu u  uu u | uu – –  – || –  u  – – | – u – |

MER. This man isn't sane! SOS. The fault that you are preaching about me is yours!

What, dammit, aren't I Amphitruo's slave Sosia?

Didn't our ship come here last night from the Persian port,

which brought me? Didn't my master send me here?

Am I not now standing in front of our house? Isn't there a lantern in my hand?

Am I not talking? Am I not awake? Didn't this man just punch me with his fists?

He did, by Hercules! Since my wretched jaw is still aching!

So what am I waiting for? Why don't I just go into our house?

In the centre of the trochaic septenarius line (corresponding to the caesura in the iambic senarius) there is usually a word-break, and in Plautus (though not in Terence) there is sometimes a hiatus (lack of elision) at this point, as in the second line below:[70]

faciam quod iu/bēs; secūrim // capi(am) ancipit(em), atqu(e)/ hunc senem

osse fīnī / dēdolābō // assulātim / viscera.[132]

| uu – – u | – u – – || uu – uu – | – u – | tr7
| –  u – – | – u – – || –  u –  – | – u – |

I'll do what you order; I'll get a two-bladed axe and I'll hack off

this old man's meat as far as his bones and chop his guts to pieces.

However, there is frequently an elision at this point, and just as in the Greek equivalent of this metre, (the trochaic tetrameter catalectic), some lines have no word-break at the centre point, for example the first and third below:[133]

decĕt et facta / mōrēsqu(e) hui(u)s ha//bēre mē simi/lēs item.

itaque mē mal(um) / ess(e) oportet, // callid(um), astūt(um) / admodum

atqu(e) hunc, tēlō / suō sibī, ma//liti(ā), ā foribus / pellere.

| uu – – u | –  – – u |  –  u –  uu | – u – | tr7
| uu u – u | –  u – – || –  u –  –  | – u – |
| –  – – – | uu u – u |  uu – uu –  | – u – |

It is fitting that I should have actions and character similar to this man's,

and so I ought to be wicked, cunning, very astute,

and drive him from the doors with his own weapon, malice!

The same tendencies which apply to the alternating anceps syllables in an iambic senarius also apply in a similar way to a trochaic septenarius, namely that those elements that are always short in Greek (the 1st, 3rd, and 5th anceps syllables) are long in about 60% of lines; while those which are anceps in Greek (namely the 2nd, 4th and 6th anceps in the trochaic septenarius) are long in about 80% to 90% of lines.[83] Meyer's Law and Luchs' Law also operate in the same places, counting from the end of the line backwards, as in the senarius.

| – x – x | – x – x || – x – x | – x – – |

Much less frequent is the trochaic octonarius (tr8), which is found in both poets. It is mostly very sporadically used with just a line or two here or there in the midst of other metres. The following four-line stretch comes from Plautus' Pseudolus (161-164), where a pimp is giving instructions to three slave-girls:

tib(ī) hŏc praecipi(ō) ut / niteant aedēs. // habĕs quod faciās: / proper(ā), ab(ī) intrō.

t(ū) estō lecti/sterniātōr. // t(ū) argent(um) ēluit(ō), / īd(em) exstruitō.

haec, qu(om) eg(ō) ā fo/rō revortar, // facit(e) ut offen/dam parāta,

vorsa sparsa, / tersa strāta, // lautaqu(e) ūnctaqu(e) / omni(a) ut sint!

| uu – uu – | uu – – – || uu – uu –  | uu u –  – |
| –  – –  – | –  u – – || –  – –  uu | –  – uu – |
| –  u –  u | –  u – – || uu u –  –  | –  u –  – |
| –  u –  u | –  u – u || –  u –  u  | –  u –  – |

"You, I'm instructing that the house should be sparkling clean. You've been told what to do; hurry up, go inside.

You, be couch-strewer. You, clean the silver and also set it out.

When I come back from the forum, make sure I find everything ready,

and that everything is turned, sprinkled, dusted, strewn, washed, and polished!"

In the above quotation there is a contrast between the anapaestic first two lines, where the double short syllables suggest bustle and hurry, and the last two lines, where the repeated trochaic rhythm emphasises how everything has got to be when it is ready.

Sometimes both in this metre and in the trochaic septenarius the verses split into four equal parts (the so-called "square" verse), as in the last line above.[134]

In Terence lines of trochaic octonarii (interspersed with trochaic septenarii) tend to occur in clusters at moments of great emotional intensity, such as at Hecyra 516–34.[135]

A common pattern in both poets, but especially in Terence, is for trochaic octonarii to be followed first by one or two lines of trochaic septenarii, then by one or more iambic octonarii. This tr8-tr7-ia8 pattern occurs 48 times in Terence, and 6 times in Plautus.[136]

This metre is used only by Plautus. It is a catalectic metre in which the last foot is shortened to a single long element. The basic scheme is theoretically:

| uu – uu – | uu – uu – || uu – uu – | uu – – |

The anapaestic foot | u u – | is frequently replaced by a spondee | – – | or a dactyl | – u u | and occasionally by a proceleusmatic | u u u u |. In the first half of the line, as in the anapaestic octonarius, the word-accent generally comes on the beginning of each foot. However, in the second half the stress tends to swing the other way, with the accent on the second half of each foot.

Apart from a long stretch of 82 lines in Miles Gloriosus, this metre is usually used sparingly, often with just a line or two mixed with other anapaestic metres. Frequently those who speak in this metre are old men or women. Here is a passage from the Bacchides (1160–65) where two old men, Nicobulus and Philoxenus, are talking:

NIC. sed quid ĭstuc est? etsī i(am) eg(o) ĭpsus   quid sīt probĕ scīre putō mē;

vēr(um) audīr(e) eti(am) ex tē studeō.   PHIL. Vidĕn hanc? NIC. vide(ō). PHIL. haud mală (e)st mulier.

NIC. pol ver(o) ista mal(a) et tū nihilī.   PHIL. Quid mult(a)? eg(o) am(o). NIC. an amās? PHIL. nai gar. (ναὶ γάρ)

NIC. tūn, homŏ pūtid(e), amātōr istāc   fier(ī) aetāt(e) audēs? PHIL. quī nōn?

NIC. quia flāgitium (e)st. PHIL. quid opust verbīs?   meŏ fīliŏ nōn s(um) īrātus,

neque tē tuŏst aequ(om) ess(e) īrātum:   sĭ amant, sapienter faciunt.

| – uu – –  | –  – uu – || –  – uu –  | uu –  – | an7
| – –  – uu | –  – uu – || uu – uu –  | uu uu – |
| – –  – uu | –  – uu – || –  – uu uu | –  –  – |
| – uu – uu | –  – –  – || uu – –  –  | –  –  – |
| uu – uu – | uu – –  – || uu – uu –  | –  –  – |
| uu – uu – | –  – –  – || uu – uu –  | –  uu – |

NIC. "But what's the problem? Even though I myself think I already know full well what it is,

all the same I'm keen to hear it from you. PHIL. D'you see this girl? NIC. I do. PHIL. She's not a bad woman.

NIC. By Pollux, she is a bad one, and you're worthless! PHIL. In short, I'm in love. NIC. You're in love? PHIL. I am indeed.

NIC. You disgusting man, how dare you become a lover at your age! PHIL. Why not?

NIC. Because it's a scandal! PHIL. What need for words? I'm not angry with my son,

and it's not fair that you should be angry with yours. If they're in love, they are doing wisely."

The longest passage of anapaestic septenarii is Miles Gloriosus 1011–93. According to Moore there is a close resemblance between the metre in this passage and trochaic septenarii.[142] The German classicist Marcus Deufert claims that the style of writing in these lines is different from the usual anapaests, in that it is more regular and there are more long syllables. He draws the conclusion that the lines from Miles Gloriosus were recited in the same way as trochaic septenarii, while other anapaestic passages (which usually contain an admixture of other metres) were sung.[143]

| uu – uu – | uu – uu – || uu – uu – | uu – uu – |

Again, substitution of dactyl | – uu | or spondee | – – | or proceleusmatic | uu uu | for anapaest | uu – | is very common. As in a trochaic line, the word-accent usually comes on the first syllable of each foot, and unlike in the anapaestic septenarius, this is true of both halves of the line.

In the following extract from Plautus's Pseudolus (133-7), the pimp Ballio summons his slaves outside to give them instructions to prepare the house for his birthday:

exīt(e), agit(e) exīt(e), ignāvī! male habit(ī) et male conciliātī,

quōrum numquam quicquam quoiquam venit in ment(em) ut rēctē faciant,

quibus, nis(ī) ad hoc exempl(um) experior, nōn potĕst ūsūr(a) ūsurpārī.

nequ(e) eg(o) hominēs magis asinōs numquam vīd(ī), ita plāgīs costae callent:

quōs quom feriās, tibĭ plūs noceās; / e(ō) en(im) ingeni(ō) hī sunt flagritrībae.

| –  –  uu –  | –  – –  – || uu uu –  uu | – uu –  – | an8
| –  –  –  –  | –  – –  – || uu –  –  –  | – –  uu – |
| uu uu –  –  | –  – uu – || –  uu –  –  | – –  –  – |
| uu uu –  uu | uu – –  – || –  uu –  –  | – –  –  – |
| –  –  uu –  | uu – uu – || uu –  uu –  | – uu –  – |

"Come out, come on, come out, you lazy ones, worthless to own and a waste of money to buy,

To none of whom does it ever come into their mind to do the right thing;

and whom, unless I try this example (uses whip), it's impossible to get any work from them.

I've never seen any men more like donkeys, their ribs are so calloused with blows!

If you hit them you do yourself more harm than them, they're such whip-wearers-out by nature!"

After these five lines of anapaests, Ballio reverts to a mixture of trochaic and iambic lines for the rest of his speech.

In the following passage from Plautus's Rudens (220–228), five lines of anapaestic octonarius are followed by four of anapaestic septenarius. In this scene Ampelisca, a slave girl who has survived a shipwreck, is looking for her fellow slave Palaestra. The five octonarii go as follows:

quid mihi meliust, quid magis in remst, qu(am) ā corpore vīt(am) ut sēclūdam?

ita male vīv(ō) atqu(e) ita mihi mult(ae) in pectore sunt cūr(ae) exanimālēs.

ita rēs sĕ habent: vīt(ae) hau parcō, perdidĭ spem quā m(ē) oblectābam.

omnia iam circumcursāv(ī) atqu(e) omnibu(s) latebrīs perreptāvī

quaerere conservam, vōc(e) oculīs auribus ut pervestīgārem.

| –  uu uu – | –  uu –  – || – –  uu – | – –  – – | an8
| uu uu –  – | uu uu –  – || – uu –  – | – uu – – |
| uu –  uu – | –  –  –  – || – uu –  – | – –  – – |
| –  uu –  – | –  –  –  – || – uu uu – | – –  – – |
| –  uu –  – | –  –  uu – || – uu –  – | – –  – – |

"What is better for me, what better solution is there, than to separate my life from my body?

I am living so badly and there are so many depressing anxieties in my heart.

This is how things are: I don't care for life; I have lost the hope with which I used to comfort myself.

I have now run round everywhere and crept through all the hiding places

looking for my fellow slave, so that I can search her out with voice, eyes, and ears.

These five lines are followed by five lines of anapaestic septenarii:

nequ(e) e(am) usqu(am) inveniō neque quŏ eam neque quā quaeram consultumst,

neque quem rogitem respōnsōrem quemqu(am) intereā conveniō,

neque magis sōlae terrae sōlae sunt qu(am) haec loc(a) atqu(e) hae regiōnēs;

neque sī vīvit, eam vīv(a) umquam quīn inveniam dēsistam.

| uu –  –  uu | –  uu uu – || uu – –  – | –  –  – | an7
| uu –  uu –  | –  –  –  – || –  – uu – | –  uu – |
| uu uu –  –  | –  –  –  – || –  – uu – | uu –  – |
| uu –  –  –  | uu –  –  – || –  – uu – | –  –  – |

"But I don't find her anywhere not do I know which way to go or where I can look for her,

nor do I find anyone to answer me whom I can ask meanwhile,

nor are there any lands so deserted as these places and this region are;

nor, if she lives shall I ever as long as I am alive stop until I find her."

Anapaestic metra are often used in a long series or "system" where the division into lines is not always clear and may sometimes differ in different manuscript copies.[144] Usually, however, the metra come in pairs, and in Plautus there is usually a word break at the end of the pair, but not always in the middle.

An example is the following from the Bacchides, where the old man Philobulus comes on stage and sings as follows (the first two lines are anapaestic septenarii):[145]

quīcumqu(e) ub(i) ubī sunt, quī f(u)ērunt, quīque futūrī sunt posthāc

stultī, stolidī, fatuī, fungī, bardī, blennī, buccōnēs,

sōlus eg(ō) omnīs long(ē) antideō

stultiti(ā) et mōribus indoctīs.

periī, pudĕt: hoc(c)ine m(ē) aetātis

lūdōs bis fact(um) ess(e) indignē?

magi(s) qu(am) id reputō, tam magis ūror

quae meu(s) fīliu(s) turbāvit.

perditu(s) s(um) atqu(e) ērādīcātus s(um),

omnibus exemplīs excrucior.

omnia mē mala consectantur,

omnibus exitiīs interiī.

| –  –  uu –  | –  –  –  – || – uu – – | – – – ||
| –  –  uu –  | uu –  –  – || – –  – – | – – – ||
| –  uu –  –  | –  –  uu – |
| –  uu –  –  | uu –  –  – |
| uu –  uu –  | uu –  –  – |
| –  –  –  –  | –  –  –  – |
| uu –  uu –  | –  uu –  – |
| –  uu –  uu | –  –  – ||
| –  uu –  –  | –  –  –  – |
| –  uu –  –  | –  –  uu – |
| –  uu –  uu | –  –  –  – |
| –  uu –  uu | –  –  uu – |

Of all that there are anywhere, ever have been, and ever will be in future

stupid people, idiots, nitwits, blockheads, fools, nincompoops and dolts,

I alone surpass them all by a long way

in stupidity and uneducated behaviour.

I'm done for! I'm ashamed! At my age

to have been twice made a fool of so unworthily!

The more I think about it, the more I'm furious

about the confusion my son has caused!

I'm lost! I'm torn up by the root,

I'm tortured in every possible way!

Every evil is catching up with me,

I've died by every kind of death!

Since the short lines above come in couplets, some editors such as Lindsay (Oxford Classical Text) write them as single long lines of octonarii or septenarii.

| x – – | x – – | x – – | x – – |

The bacchiac quaternarius (ba4) is the commonest bacchiac metre. The usual form of the foot is | u – – | or | – – – |, but variations such as | u – uu | and | uu – – | are also found. Sometimes other similar metres are mixed in. There is generally no word break (diaeresis) in the middle of the line.

The bacchiac is used both for humorous songs and for tragic. In the following passage from the Bacchides the prostitute Bacchis and her sister mock the two old men Philoxenus and Nicobulus who have knocked on their door, calling them "sheep":[149]

SOR. ecastor sin(e) omn(ī) arbitror malitiā (e)sse.

PHIL. merit(ō) hoc nōbīs fīt, quī quid(em) hūc vēnerīmus!

BACCH. cogantur quid(em) intr(ō). SOR. haud sciō quid e(ō) opus sit,

quae nec lac nec lān(am) ūll(am) habent. sīc sin(e) astent.

exsolvēre quantī fuēr(e), omni(s) frūctus

i(am) illīs dēcidit. nōn vidēs, ut pālantēs

sōlae līberae

grassentur? quīn aetāte crēd(ō) esse mūtās:

nē bālant quidem, qu(om) ā pecū cēter(ō) absunt.

stult(ae) atqu(e) haud malae videntur!

SOR. revortāmur intrō, sorōr. NIC. īlic(ō) ambae

manēt(e)! haec ovēs volunt vōs.

| u  – – | u – – | u – uu | u – – |
| uu – – | – – – | u – –  | u – – |
| –  – – | u – – | u – uu | u – – |
| –  – – | – – – | u – –  | u – – |
| –  – – | u – – | u – –  | – – – |
| –  – – | u – – | u – –  | – – – |
| –  – – | u – |
| –  – – | – – – | u – –  | u – – |
| –  – – | u – – | u – –  | u – – |
| –  – – | u –  || u – –  |
| u  – – | u – – | u – –  | u – – |
| u  – – | u –  || u – –  |

SISTER. By Castor, I think they're perfectly harmless.

PHIL. (aside) We deserve this, since we have come here!

BACCHIS. Let them be driven inside. SIS. I don't know what use that would be,

since they have neither milk nor wool. Let them stand outside.

They've paid all they were worth. All their fruit

has already fallen from them. Don't you see how, they're straggling

and walking about freely

on their own? No, I think they're silent because of their age;

they don't even bleat, even though they're away from the rest of the flock!

They seem stupid and not bad!

SIS. Let's go back inside, sister. – NIC. Wait right there,

both of you! These sheep want you!

The tenth and twelfth lines above illustrate the "syncopated" bacchiac rhythm, where one syllable is omitted from the foot. When this happens, there is generally a word-break after the syncopated foot.[150]

Bacchiac rhythms can also be used for serious, contemplative songs, such as Alcumena's lament on the sudden departure of her husband in Plautus's Amphitruo 633ff, which begins:

satin parva rēs est voluptāt(um) in vīt(ā) atqu(e) in aetāt(e) agundā

praequam quod molestum (e)st? ita quoiqu' comparātum (e)st in aetāt(e) hominum;

ita dīvīs est placitum, voluptāt(em) ut maerōr comes consequātur:

quīn incommodī plūs malīqu(e) īlic(ō) adsit, bonī s(ī) optigit quid.

| u  – – u –  – || u  – – – – – || u – – u   –  – | ba6
| –  – – u –  – || uu – – u – – || u – – (u) uu – | ba4 + reiz
| uu – – – uu – || u  – – – – – || u – – u   –  – |
| –  – – u –  – || u  – – u – – || u – – u   –  – |

Is it not the case that the amount of pleasure in life and in leading our existence is small

in comparison to what is disagreeable? So it has been allotted in each person's life.

So it has pleased the gods, that sadness should follow pleasure as her companion;

On the contrary, that more unpleasantness and evil should immediately follow, if anything nice happens.

In the above quotation there is always a word-break at the end of each metron, so that there is usually a word-stress on the penultimate element of each metron.

This particular metre (the bacchiac senarius) is very rare, occurring only in this passage. Note that the words in aetāt(e) hominum are analysed by Questa as a colon reizianum, rather than a bacchiac with a hiatus after aetate.

| – x – | – u – || – x – | – u – |

The cretic metre consists of feet usually of the form | – x – |, although occasionally | uu u – | or | – u uu | can be found.[124] Occasionally, as in lines 5 and 6 of the extract below, feet of other metres are mixed in, such as trochaic. In the quaternarius, there is usually a diaeresis (break) in the middle of the line, although elision may also be found at this point.

The cretic metre seems to have a more epic or tragic quality than the bacchiac. In the following passage, after a long description of preparations for a battle in stately iambic octonarii, the slave Sosia suddenly breaks into cretic quaternarii to describe the excitement of the battle itself (Amphitruo 219–247). The cretic passage begins as follows (note that the fourth and fifth lines contain trochaic elements):

postqu(am) utrimqu(e) exitum (e)st maximā cōpiā,

dispertītī virī, dispertit(ī) ōrdinēs,

nōs nostrās mōre nostr(ō) et mod(o) īnstruximus

legiōnēs, it(em) hostēs contrā legiōnēs suăs īnstruont. (tr7)

deind(e) utrīqu(e) imperātōrēs in medi(um) exeunt, (cr2+tr2)

extrā turb(am) ōrdinum colloquontur simul.

| –  u – | – u – || – u – | – u – | 
| –  – – | – u – || – – – | – u – |
| –  – – | – u – || – u – | – u – |
| uu – – u | – – – – || uu – – uu | – u – | (tr7)
| –  u – | – u – | – – – uu | – u – | (cr2 + tr2)
| –  – – | – u – || – u – | – u – |

A line with both resolutions (uu u – and – u uu) is Amphitruo 235:

dēniqu(e), ut voluimus, nostra superāt manus

| – u – | uu u – || – u uu | – u – |

"Finally, as we wanted, our army is winning."

The same metre was also used in Roman tragedies, as in the following quotation from Ennius's Andromacha, cited more than once by Cicero:[151]

quid petam praesid(i) aut exequar? quōve nunc

auxiliō exilī aut fugae frēta sim?

arc(e) et urb(e) orba sum. qu(ō) accidam? qu(ō) applicem?

| – u  – | – u – || – u – | – u – |
| – uu – | – u – || – u – | – u – |
| – u  – | – u – || – u – | – u – |

"What protection am I to seek or request? What help

may I depend on now in my exile or flight?

I am deprived of citadel and city. Who am I to approach? To whom may have recourse?"[152]

The above tragic aria was presumably sung at a slow tempo. At other times, however, the cretic metre indicates a faster tempo than the iambics it follows, as with the battle description above, or the scene discussed by Moore (p. 332) from Plautus's Pseudolus 920ff, where Pseudolus tries to get Simia to speed up his walking, by changing from iambics to cretics:

P. ambul(ā) ergō cit(ō). S. imm(ō) ōtiōsē volō!

| – u – | – u – || – u – | – u – |

P. Walk quickly therefore. S. No, I want to go at a leisurely pace!

Two lines later Simio changes the metre back into iambics to slow the pace:

SI. quid properās? placidē, nē timē!

| – uu – uu | – – u – |

S. Why are you hurrying? Slowly, don't be afraid!

Sometimes a cretic dimeter is followed by a rhythm | – u u u – |, known as a thymelicus, almost always to "comic effect",[153] as with the following line from Plautus's Mostellaria:[154]

nunc dormītum iubēt m(ē) īre: minimē!

| – – – | – u – | – u uu – |

Now she wants me to go to bed with her – no way!

The colon reizianum, named after the 18th-century classicist Friedrich Reiz /raɪts/ (1733–90) of Leipzig University, is a short piece of iambic metre of the following form:

| x – x – – |

The first anceps is almost always long; any of the first four elements (especially the first and third) can be replaced by two short syllables. Sometimes the colon reizianum is used on its own (e.g. Casina 721–28), but more often as the second half of a line in another metre, especially the versus reizianus (see below).[155]

The versus reizianus (reiz) consists of an iambic quaternarius followed by a colon reizianum.[156] But the iambic dimeter is unusual in that it often begins with a double short syllable, which gives it a certain vigour:

| uu – x – | x – u – || – – x – – |

Usually the versus reizianus is used singly or as a couplet in the midst of other metres, but there is one long stretch of 32 lines in Aulularia (415-446) entirely in this metre. In the following extract, the miserly old man Euclio has just chased the hired cook Congrio out of his house:

EVC. Redi. quó fugís nunc? ténĕ, tené. / CON. Quid, stólide, clámas?

EVC. Qui(a) ad trís virós i(am) ego déferám / nomén tuom. CON. Qu(am) ób rem?

EVC. Quia cúltr(um) habés. CON. Cocúm decét. / EVC. Quid cómminátu's

mihi? CON. Ístud mále fact(um) árbitrór, / quia nón latus fódi.

EVC. Homo núllust té sceléstiór / qui vívat hódie,

neque qu(oi) égo d(e) indústri(a) ámpliús / male plús libĕns fáxim.

CON. Pol étsi táceas, pál(am) ĭd quidém (e)st: / res ípsa téstist:

ita fústibús sum mólliór / magi(s) qu(am) úllu(s) cináedus!

| uu –  u –  | –  uu u – || –  uu u  –  – | 
| uu –  u –  | uu –  u – || –  –  uu –  – |
| uu –  u –  | u  –  u – || –  –  u  –  – |
| uu –  – uu | –  –  u – || uu –  uu –  – |
| uu –  – –  | u  –  u – || –  –  –  uu – |
| uu uu – –  | u  –  u – || uu –  uu –  – |
| u  –  – uu | –  uu u – || –  –  u  –  – |
| uu –  u –  | –  –  u – || uu –  uu –  – |

EUC. Come back! Where are you running away to? CON. Why are you shouting, you idiot?

EUC. Because I'm going now to report your name to the magistrates! CON. What for?

EUC. Because you have a knife! CON. That's normal for a cook! EUC. Why did you threaten

me? CON. I think it's a pity I didn't go further and run you through!

EUC. No man alive today is more criminal than you,

nor is there any that I'd rather do harm to on purpose!

CON. By Pollux, even if you were to say nothing, it's evident. The thing itself is witness!

I've been so beaten by your sticks that I'm softer than a poofter!

The wilamowitzianus (wil), named after the German classicist Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, is a short line of the following shape, ending in a choriamb (note that the two anceps syllables are never both short):

| – x x – | – uu – |

It is used in about 51 lines of Plautus and 5 of Terence, as in the following exchange from Bacchides between the two young men Pistoclerus and Mnesilochus:[157]

PIS. Mnēsiloche, quid fīt? MN. Periī!

PIS. Dī melius faciant. MN. Periī!

PIS. Non tacĕs, īnsipiēns? MN. Taceam?

PIS. Sānu(s) satis non es. MN. Periī!

multa mala m(i) in pectore nunc

ācri(a) ătqu(e) acerb(a) ēveniunt.

crīminin m(ē) habuisse fidem?

immeritō tib(i) ĭrātu(s) fuī.

| – uu u  –  | – uu – |
| – uu –  uu | – uu – |
| – uu –  uu | – uu – |
| – uu –  –  | – uu – |
| – u  uu –  | – uu – |
| – uu u  –  | – uu – |
| – u  –  uu | – uu – |
| – uu –  uu | – uu – |

PIS. Mnesilochus, what's the matter? MN. I'm done for!

PIS. May the gods make it better. MN I'm done for!

PIS. Won't you be quiet, you fool? MN. Be quiet?

PIS. You're not right in the head. MN. I'm done for!

There are so many harsh and bitter evils now arising in my heart!

That I could have trusted that accusation! I was angry with you for no reason!

Sometimes a wilamowitzianus is followed by a colon (part line) in cretic metre, as the following exchange between the fisherman Gripus and the slave Trachalio in Plautus's Rudens:[158]

GRI. sī fidem modo dās mihi te / nōn for(e) īnfīdum

TRA. dō fidem tibi, fīdus erō / quisquis es. GRI. audī

| – u – uu | – uu – || – u – | – – |
| – u – uu | – uu – || – u – | – – |

GRI. If you give a pledge to me that you will not be unfaithful.

TRA. I give you my pledge, I will be faithful, whoever you are. GRI. Listen...