Metres of Roman comedy

Roman comedy is represented by two Latin playwrights, Plautus (writing between c.205 and 184 BC) and Terence (writing c.166-160 BC). The works of other playwrights such as Livius Andronicus, Naevius and Ennius are now lost except for a few lines quoted in other authors. 20 plays of Plautus survive complete, and 6 of Terence.

Various metres are used in the plays. As far as is known, the iambic senarii were spoken without music; trochaic septenarii (and also iambic septenarii and trochaic and iambic octonarii)[1] were chanted or recited (or possibly sung) to the sound of a pair of pipes known as tībiae (the equivalent of the Greek aulos), played by a tībīcen ("piper"); and other metres were sung, possibly in an operatic style, to the same tībiae. In Plautus about 37% of lines are unaccompanied iambic senarii,[2] but in Terence more than half of the verses are senarii. Plautus's plays therefore had a greater amount of musical accompaniment than Terence's. Another difference between the playwrights was that polymetric songs (using metres other than iambic and trochaic) are frequent in Plautus (about 14% of the plays), but hardly used at all by Terence.[1]

The different metres lend themselves to different moods: calm, energetic, comic, mocking, high-flown, grandiose, humorous, and so on. Certain metres are also associated with different kinds of characters; for example, old men frequently use the iambic senarius, while the iambic septenarius is often used in scenes when a prostitute is on the stage.

The metres

A publicly available database by Timothy J. Moore at the Washington University in St. Louis (see External links below) usefully identifies the metre of every line of the two poets (based on the work of Cesare Questa and Wallace Lindsay) and detailed statistics for the use of the various metres. From this database it is apparent that by far the commonest metres are the following two:

  • Iambic senarii (ia6): 11,170 lines
| x – x – | x – x – | x – u – |
  • Trochaic septenarii (tr7): 10,019 lines
| – x – x | – x – x || – x – x | – u – |

The following iambic and trochaic lines are less common:

  • Iambic septenarii (ia7): 1,718 lines
| x – x – | x – u – || x – x – | x – – |
  • Iambic octonarii (ia8): 1,267 lines
| x – x – | x – x – | x – x – | x – u – |
  • Trochaic octonarii (tr8): 211 lines
| – x – x | – x – x || – x – x | – x – – |

The following are found only in Plautus:

  • Anapaestic septenarii (an7): 216 lines
| u u – u u – | u u – u u – || u u – u u – | u u – – |
  • Anapaestic octonarii (an8): 212 lines
| u u – u u – | u u – u u – || u u – u u – | u u – u u – |
  • Anapaestic quaternarii (an4): (at least) 135 lines
| u u – u u – | u u – u u – |

The following are used for songs, and are found mainly in Plautus:

  • Bacchiac quaternarii (ba4): 375 lines
| x – – | x – – || x – – | x – – |
  • Cretic quaternarii (cr4): 259 lines
| – x – | – u – || – x – | – u – |

In the above schemata, the symbol "–" represents a long element or longum, "u" a short element or breve, and "x" an anceps, an element that can be either long or short. Note that the schemata above are the basic patterns, and do not take into account the variations which may occur, for example the substitution of two short syllables for a long one, or vice versa. These are explained in greater detail below.

Together, the metres listed above account for all but about 1% of the 27,228 lines of the two poets.

These metres are used in different proportions by the two playwrights. In Plautus, 47% of the lines are iambic, 43% trochaic, and 10% in other metres (mostly anapaestic, bacchiac, and cretic). In Terence, 75% of the lines are iambic, 24% trochaic, and only 1% in other metres (bacchiac and cretic).

In Plautus, 37% of the lines are unaccompanied iambic senarii, but in Terence 56%. More than 4% of Plautus's lines are anapaestic, but this metre is not used at all in Terence. The trochaic septenarius is much commoner in Plautus (41%) than in Terence (22%). The trochaic octonarius is slightly more frequent in Terence (1.5%) than in Plautus (0.6%).

A change of metre in Plautus often accompanies the exit or entrance of a character, and thus frames a scene.[3][4] At other times it indicates a change of pace, such as when Amphitruo's slave Sosia suddenly changes from iambic octonarii to a more excited cretic metre when he begins to describe a battle.[5] In Terence different metres accompany different characters: for example, in each of Terence's plays, the woman loved by a young man uses iambic septenarii; in the Heauton Timorumenos, Eunuchus, and Phormio, one of the two young men is associated with trochaics, the other with iambics.[6] Thus there can be frequent changes of metre within a single scene.

About 15% of Plautus's plays on average consists of polymetric cantica (songs in a mixture of metres).[7] In these, the most common metres are the bacchius (x – – ) and cretic (– x –), together with anapaests (u u –), but sometimes with other metres mixed in. One play (Miles) has no polymetric cantica, but Casina has four. Because of metrical ambiguities, the analysis of the metres of cantica can be disputed.

The ABC metrical pattern

It has been noted that in both playwrights, but especially in Plautus, the use of different metres tends to form a pattern, which Moore refers to as the "ABC succession".[8] Often a play can be divided into sections, which follow the pattern: A = iambic senarii, B = other metres, C = trochaic septenarii. In Plautus's Menaechmi, for example, the first four sections follow the ABC scheme, and only the 5th is different; thus the whole scheme is ABC, ABC, ABC, ABC, ACBCBC. In his Pseudolus, in the same way, the ABC pattern is used four times, followed by a final scene of 91 lines in other metres, making ABC, ABC, ABC, ABC, B. However, not all plays follow this scheme. For example, in Terence's Adelphoe, the pattern is ABCBAB, ABC, BCACB, AC, ABABC. In general it appears that Terence changes mode more frequently than Plautus.[9] Four of Plautus's plays (Cistellaria, Stichus, Epidicus, and Persa) open directly with music, omitting the customary expository speech in unaccompanied iambic senarii.[10]

The B-sections of the plays tend to be songs in which the characters express their mood or character, or sing of love. The C-sections (in trochaic septenarii) tend to be associated with advancement of the plot. "The beginning of the first long series of trochaic septenarii usually marks a moment at which, after exposition and presentation of character, the plot begins to proceed in earnest." (Moore)[11] When a playwright moves directly from A to C, it often marks urgency or an especially significant moment in the plot.[12]

Prosody of Plautus and Terence

Brevis breviāns (iambic shortening)

The prosody and grammar of Plautus and Terence differ slightly from that of later poets such as Virgil and Ovid, and they tend to follow the rhythms of spoken Latin rather than literary rules. One such difference is the phenomenon of brevis breviāns or "iambic shortening", in which an iambic rhythm (u –) can change to a pyrrhic (u u). (The literal meaning of brevis breviāns is "a short syllable which shortens (a following long one)".)[13]

Two conditions are necessary for brevis breviāns to take place: (a) the long syllable must be unstressed and (b) it must not coincide with a long element in the metre.

For example, apúd mē "at my house", in its normal pronunciation where púd is accented, will be scanned (u – –) as expected, but apŭd mē "at my house" (with emphasis on mē) is scanned (u u –).[2]

In some examples, a stressed syllable immediately follows the iamb: Iovĭs iússū, volŏ scīre, minŭs qu(am) ūllus, volŭptās mea; in others, the stressed syllable is further away: quid ĕst? quid métuis?, habĕs quod fáciās, tib(i) hŏc praecípiō, haud mală (e)st múlier.

As a rule, brevis breviāns is commonly found when a long element is resolved into two short ones;[14] it is also common in the double short element in an anapaest (u u –), as in vidĕn hanc? Less frequently, it is found in the second and third syllables of the sequence u u u –, as in nūlla mihĭ rēs or ut egŏ núnc. It cannot be found when the long syllable of the iamb coincides with a long element of the metre, as in sĭ amant (u u –) (anapaests) or in quia cultr(um) habēs; cocum decēt (uu – u – u – u –) (iambics).

It has been speculated that a condition for brevis breviāns is that the first syllable of the sequence u – should not have full stress, but that rather, in a phrase such as volŏ scíre, the first word must become de-stressed before the brevis breviāns can take place.[15]

Although iambic shortening is common in iambo-trochaic metres and anapaests, it is almost never found in cretics or bacchiacs.[16]

Elision

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".[17] For example, the trochaic septenarii lines which follow:

attat! illīc hūc itūrust. ībō egō illīc obviam,
neque egō hunc hominem hūc hodiē ad aedīs hās sinam umquam accēdere.[18]

are pronounced approximately as:

attat! illīc hūc itūrust. īb' eg' illīc obviam,
nequ' eg' hunc homin' hūc hodi' ad aedīs hās sin' umqu' accēdere.:
| – 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."

Note that a final syllable ending in -m (such as in hominem or umquam) will also be elided. Long open monosyllables such as dē, quae, hī, dum, quom, rem are sometimes totally elided, and sometimes merely shortened.[19][20]

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,[21] for example in the following line, where complete omission might cause ambiguity:[22]

optum(ō) optum(ē) optum(am) operam dās, datam 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)[23] 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

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.[14]

Synizesis

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.

Other metrical points

Vowels which later became shortened before -t, -l, or -r retained their length in Plautus, e.g. velīt, habēt, labōr, habitāt, fīt, mātēr, etc.[24] The word mīles was still pronounced mīless.[25]

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.[26] In words ending in -us, such as fluctibu(s), the -s could be omitted.

Words of the rhythm | u u u x |, such as malitia or facilius, appear usually to have been stressed on the first syllable in both poets.[27]

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 could be pronounced nemp’, und’ before a consonant.[14]

The pronoun hic "this man", which was later pronounced hicc,[28] was still pronounced with a single c in Plautus. The combinations hic quidem and sī quidem can be pronounced with a short vowel in the first syllable, i.e. either | u u – | or | – u – |.[14][29]

Verse ictus and accent

There is some controversy among scholars over whether Greek and Latin verse had a regular "beat" (ictus) like modern western music.[30][31] On one side, supporting the idea of ictus, are scholars such as W. Sidney Allen,[32] Lionel Pearson,[33] and from an earlier generation E.H. Sturtevant and Wallace Lindsay.[34] Sturtevant writes: "It is scarcely possible any longer to doubt that accent was an important feature of early dramatic verse; the quantitative nature of the measures was carefully preserved, but at the same time accent was constantly taken into account."[35]

However, many scholars, such as Paul Maas, Cesare Questa, and Wolfgang de Melo argue that there was no beat or "ictus"; in their view, rhythm is "simply the regulated sequence of short and long syllables".[14] Similarly, Benjamin Fortson writes: "The theory that there was a verse-ictus, never universally accepted, has by now been thoroughly discredited."[36] Gratwick, in his edition of the Menaechmi, takes an intermediate position, rejecting "both the Anglo-German view that the lines are isochronous with a regular metrical beat attached to every longum, and the Franco-Italian view that there is no ictus at all in such verses".[37]

One fact which is generally agreed on is that in iambic and trochaic metres, there was usually a fairly strong agreement between where the ictus is assumed to be and the accent of the words. Thus in iambics a word-accent is generally heard on the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th elements of the line:

nē quis mīrētur quī sim, paucīs ēloquar.[38]
| – – – – | – – – – | – – u – |
"In case anyone is wondering who I am, let me explain briefly."

Whereas in trochaics, the accent is usually heard on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th elements:

vīvō fīt quod numquam quisquam mortuō faciēt mihī.[39]
| – – – – | – – – – || – u – uu | – u – |
"It's happening to me alive what no one will ever do to me when I am dead!"

Thus even though both lines begin with a series of long syllables, it is immediately obvious on reading them that the first is iambic and second trochaic. Those who argue that there is no ictus say that, given that there is generally a word-break (caesura) after the 5th element of the iambic senarius, the word accents tend to fall naturally on the second and fourth elements rather than on the anceps elements.[40] In the final metron, there is often a clash between ictus and accent. Gratwick's view is that so far from attempting to make the word accent match the ictus, Roman writers often deliberately tried to avoid such coincidence, especially at the beginning and end of the line, to avoid monotony.

Another question is whether, if there was a perceptible beat, it was heard at regular intervals as in modern western music, or irregularly. Gratwick argues that the ictus was not isochronous, but that the timing depended on whether the anceps syllables were long or short.[37] Not all scholars agree with this, however; Pearson, in his edition of Aristoxenus's treatise on rhythm, argues that it was possible or likely that in an iambic line the length of the syllables was adjusted to make the bars of equal length.[41]

Another point of interest is whether, if there was a beat, there was one beat per foot or one every metron (group of two feet); and if it was one per metron, on which of the two long elements was it heard? As far as Ancient Greek poetry was concerned, "Ancient discussions of the trochaic tetrameter and similar metres repeatedly refer to one percussiō per metron" (Moore).[42] Whether this also applied to Latin, where for example Horace describes the senarius as having six beats per line (sēnōs ictūs),[43] is unclear. Should the following trochaic septenarius be read with eight beats, for example?

nōnn(e) hāc noctū nostra nāvis hūc ex portu Persicō

Or is it better to read it with four beats, as follows?

nōnn(e) hāc noctū nostra navis hūc ex portū Persicō
Trio of musicians playing tībiae, cymbala, and tympanum (mosaic from Pompeii)

After examining the evidence Moore comes to the conclusion that in Roman comedy, the pipe-player (tībīcen) "provided some emphasis to all strong elements, maintaining the sense of feet, but that the "beats" on the odd-numbered feet were stronger."[42] Similarly Gratwick, although marking all the ictus-syllabus with sublinear dots, recommends that the 1st, 3rd, and 5th ictus-positions be given a stronger sound when reading a line, unless occupied by a definitely unstressed syllable, in which case the natural word-stress should be preferred.[44]

Various illustrations from the time of the Roman empire show a tībīcen wearing a sort of clapper, called a scabellum, on one foot. One such mosaic, showing a tībīcen accompanying a dancer, is illustrated in Moore's book Music in Roman Comedy.[45] Cicero mentions the word in connection with a mime performance.[46] However, there is no evidence that such a clapper was used to accompany Roman comedies.

Gratwick in his edition of the Menaechmi edition, and Barsby in his edition of Terence's Eunuchus, mark the position of the strong element in each foot in the iambo-trochaic metres. It is argued that this can help the reader with syllable division, the recognition of elisions, and division into feet.[47] An example is the following iambic septenarius (Terence Phormio 820), where the three elisions (s(um), ses(e), fratr(i)), the brevis breviāns (utŭt), and the pronunciation of m(e)ae as one syllable by synizesis make the rhythm of the line difficult for the untrained reader unless the ictus is marked:

laetús s(um), utŭt m(e)áe res sés(e) habént, frātr(ī) óptigísse quód volt.
| – – uu – | – – u – || – – u – | u – – |
"I am happy, however my own situation may be, that things have turned out for my brother as he wishes."

But though such markings may help with scansion and the rhythm with which the line should be read, these days it is not generally thought that the accent was heard on those syllables if there was a clash between the ictus and the natural accent of the word.[48] Where the word accent is at odds with the ictus, it is more natural to follow the accent (just as is the case when reading Virgil).[49] Occasionally, however, an apparent clash between ictus and accent may indicate the actual pronunciation; for example, it is believed that the phrase volŭptās mea "my darling" was pronounced with the accent on -tās. Similarly, vae miserō mihī "o wretched me!" appears to have been pronounced with the accent on -rō.[50]

Iambic metres

Iambic senarius

Used for the prologues of plays and for the more serious speeches, the iambic senarius (ia6) is the most common metre in Roman comedy[51] 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 – |

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 – |

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.[52] Therefore, what was a short syllable in Greek (i.e. positions 3 and 5) is more often than not long in Latin, but less likely to be long than what was an anceps in the Greek line.

As well as | – – | and | u – |, the group | x – | can be replaced by a dactyl | – uu | or by an anapaest | uu – |, except in the last two positions in the line. In the scansions below, a double short syllable replacing a long one is marked "uu". As a rule, in iambics, the dactyl is much more common than the anapaest, and the reverse is true in trochaics; that is to say, it is much more common for a longum syllable to be replaced by two short syllables than for an anceps to be replaced.[53] The final element of the line is always a single syllable, either long or brevis in longo.

In most (but not all) iambic senarius lines there is a word-break or caesura after the fifth element, corresponding to the dieresis in the centre of 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 break is that the fourth element of the line usually coincides with the word-accent.

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:[54]

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.
| – –  – –  | – – – uu | –  – u – |
| – 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).[55] 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  – |
| 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."

Meyer's law

Very frequently in a senarius, there will be a caesura (word-break) after the 5th element. Because Latin words are accented on the penultimate syllable if this is long, this will automatically put a stress on the 4th element. Occasionally, however, a non-monosyllabic word with unstressed final syllable will end a metron, like amāns in the line below. If so, by a rule called "Meyer's Law",[56] the preceding anceps will usually be a short syllable. The effect of this rule is that the 3rd element of the metron is usually either stressed or long, but not both. In this way the basic | x – u – | rhythm of the Ancient Greek iambic trimeter remains clear:

sed postqu(am) amāns accessit pretium pollicēns[57]
| – – u – | – – – uu | – – u – |
"But after a lover approached promising money..."

Sometimes, however, it seems that the poet will deliberately break Meyer's Law in the second metron to express a strong emotion, as in the word vēmenter "very greatly" in the following line, where the strong stress as well as the unexpected length on the normally weak 3rd position serve to emphasise the word:[58]

amōqu(e) et laud(ō) et vēmenter dēsīderō[59]
| u – – – | – – – – | – – u – |
"I love and praise and oh, so badly miss her!"

It is common for violations of Meyer's law in the second metron to be followed by a four-syllable word (like desīderō above)[60] or a monosyllable plus three-syllable (such as sī dī́xerit);[61] so that even though there is a clash between ictus and accent in the second metron, coincidence is restored in the third.[62] Similarly in the line quoted below, the long word legiōnibus, with its coincidence of ictus and accent, filling the third metron, makes up for the fact that the word-accent of praefectust clashes with the ictus:

is nunc Amphitruō praefectust legiōnibus[63]
| – – – uu | – – – – | uu – u – |
"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:[64]

veniat quandō volt, atqu(e) ita nē mihĭ sīt morae[65]
| uu – – – | – – uu – | uu – u – |
"Let him come whenever he wants, so I don't have to wait."

Luchs' law

Another law affecting the iambic senarius is "Luchs' Law", sometimes known as "Bentley-Luchs' Law".[56] This states that when an unstressed word-end coincides with the second element of the last metron, as with hūmānō below, the first element should normally be long (or double short), not short:[66]

hūmānā mātre nātus, hūmānō patre[67]
| – – – – | u – u – | – – u – |
"born from a human mother and a human father"

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.[14] The rule inevitably means that 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.

This law does not apply to the first metron of a line,[68] so in the following line, the word păter, which breaks the rule, is acceptable:

Pater nunc intus su(ō) animō mōrem gerit[69]
| u – – – | – uu u – | – – u – |
"At the moment Father is inside spending his time as he wishes."

The situation rarely arises in the second metron, because most lines have a caesura (word-break) after the fifth element.

Locus Jacobsohnianus

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, for example:[70][71]

PYR. edepol memoriā (e)s optumā. | ART. offae monent.[72]
| uu – u uu | – – u – || – – u – |
PYR. By the god Pollux, you have a good memory! ART. It's the dinners which prompt it!

Sometimes there is even a brevis in longo (short syllable standing for a long one), as if it were the end of a line, even when there is no break in sense:

PYR. quid, bracchi(um)? ART. illud dīcere | voluī, femur.[73]
| – – u – | – – u x || uu – u – |
PYR. What, its arm? ART. I meant to say thigh.

A locus Jacobsohnianus is also sometimes found in trochaic septenarii five elements before the end of the line. Usually, just as with a real line end, the element immediately preceding the locus Jacobsohnianus is short.[74]

Iambic septenarius
| 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.[75] At the end of the line there is always a stress 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".[75] A typical use is the light-hearted banter of the two cunning slaves, Leonida and Libanus, in Plautus's Aulularia, when ribbing each other. Here Leonida speaks:[76]

Edepol virtūtēs quī tuās nōn possīs conlaudāre
sīc ut egō 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  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 bold 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.[77]

Iambic octonarius

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

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, so that apart from the extra syllable at the beginning, this kind somewhat resembles a trochaic septenarius.

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.[78]
| – – 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."

Often the iambic octonarius and the trochaic septenarius are mixed in the same passage, although the trochaic septenarius, being shorter, is a faster metre and is often associated with onward movement of the plot.[79]

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.[77] The following passage from Terence's Adelphoe ("The Brothers") is sung by another of two brothers, Ctesipho, as he enters the stage:[80]

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 apparently was often used in Roman tragedy for messenger speeches,[81] 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 – | 
| – 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."

Trochaic metres

Trochaic septenarius
| – 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.[82]

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) advexit? nōnne m(ē) hūc erus mīsit meus?
nōnn(e) egŏ nunc st(ō) ant(e) aedēs nostrās? nōn mī (e)st lantern(a) in manū?
nōn loquŏr, nōn vigilō? nōnn(e) hic homŏ modo mē pugnīs contudit?
fēcit, hercle, n(am) etiam miserō nunc mihī mālae dolent.
quid igitur egŏ dubit(ō)? aut cūr nōn intr(ō) e(ō) in nostram domum?
| uu u  –  – | –  – –  – || –  u  – uu| – u – |
| –  u  –  – | uu u –  – || –  uu – – | – u – |
| –  –  –  – | –  u –  – || –  –  – – | – u – |
| –  –  –  – | –  – –  – || –  u  – – | – u – |
| –  uu –  – | –  – –  – || –  –  – – | – u – |
| –  uu –  uu| –  – uu – || uu –  – – | – 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:[23]

faciam quod iubēs; secūrim capi(am) ancipit(em), atqu(e) hunc senem
osse fīnī dēdolābō | assulātim viscera.[83]
| uu – – u | – u – – || uu – uu – | – u – |
| –  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:[84]

decĕt et facta mōrēsqu(e) hui(u)s habēre mē similēs item.
itaque mē mal(um) ess(e) oportet, callid(um), astūt(um) admodum
atqu(e) hunc, tēlō suō sibī, maliti(ā), ā foribus pellere.
:| uu – – u | –  – – u |  – u  –  uu | – u – | 
:| 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.[56] Meyer's Law and Luchs' Law also operate in the same places, counting from the end of the line backwards, as in the senarius.

Trochaic octonarius
| – 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 lectisterniātōr. t(ū) argent(um) ēluit(ō), īd(em) exstruitō.
haec, qu(om) eg(ō) ā forō revortar, facit(e) ut offendam 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.[85]

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.[86]

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.[87]

Mixed iambo-trochaic lines

In the examples seen so far the same metre is used for several lines at a time; but a glance at Moore's database shows that iambic and trochaic lines are often mixed together, as in the passage below from Terence's Phormio (485-492), which Moore discusses in an article.[88] In these lines the young man Phaedria pleads with the slave-owner Dorio for more time to raise the money to buy his girlfriend; Phaedria's cousin Antipho and the slave Geta secretly listen in on the conversation.

Here the iambic octonarius and iambic senarius are used when Dorio is denying Phaedria's request. When he seems willing to listen and the plot seems to be moving forward, the trochaic septenarius is used. The aside by the eavesdropping Antipho and his slave Geta (between dashes below) is in the distinctive iambic septenarius. It is possible that in the line with ia6 the music stopped altogether for a few moments:

PH. Dōriō,
aud(ī) obsecrō . . DO. nōn audiō! PH. parumper . . DO. quīn omitte mē!
PH. audī quod dīc(am). DO. at enim taedēt i(am) audīr(e) eadem mīliēns!
PH. at nunc dīcam quod lubenter | audiās. DO. loquer(e), audiō.
PH. nōn queŏ t(ē) exōrār(e) ut maneās trīdu(om) hoc? quō nunc abīs?
DO. mīrābar sī tū mihĭ quicqu(am) adferrēs nov(ī). – AN. ei!
metuō lēnōnem nēquid . . GE. suō suāt capit(ī)? id(em) egŏ vereor! –
PH. nōndum mihĭ crēdis? DO. hariolāre. PH. sīn fidem dō? DO. fābulae!
| –  u  – |
| –  –  u  – | –  –  u  – || u  –  –  –  | u  –  u – | ia8
| –  –  –  – | uu –  –  – || –  –  uu –  | –  u  – | tr7
| –  –  –  – | –  u  –  – || –  u  –  uu | –  u  – | tr7
| –  uu –  – | –  –  uu – || –  u  –  –  | –  u  – | tr7
| –  –  –  – | –  uu –  – |  –  –  u  –  |           ia6
| uu –  –  – | –  –  –  – |  u  –  uu uu | u  uu – | ia7
| –  –  uu – | –  uu u  – |  u  –  u  –  | –  –  u – | ia8
PH. Dorio!
Listen, I beg you! DO. I'm not listening! PH. Just a little! DO. Let me go!
PH. Listen to what I'm saying. DO. But I'm tired of hearing the same things a thousand times!
PH. But now I'm going to say something which you'll want to hear. DO. Speak, I'm listening.
PH. Can’t I beg you to wait for these three days? Where are you off to now!
DO. I was wondering if you were going to bring me anything new. – AN. (aside) O no!
I'm afraid in case the pimp… GE. Stitches up a plan in his head? I fear the same! –
PH. Don't you believe me yet? DO. You're raving! PH. But if I give a pledge? DO. Nonsense!

Anapaestic metres

Anapaestic metres are used frequently by Plautus (about 4.5% of all his lines), but are not found in Terence. They are based on the foot | u u – |; two feet make a metron or "dipody". The frequent substitution of dactyls (– u u) or spondees (– –) for anapaests (u u –), and the frequent use of brevis breviāns and synizesis are typical of anapaestic metres.[75]

Anapaestic lines are usually based on the dimeter or quaternarius, that is a length of two metra, or four feet. According to the ancient grammarian Marius Victorinus, it is characteristic of anapaestic poetry that there is usually a word-break at the end of every metron or dipody; in Seneca's plays this is always the case.[89] In Plautus it is mostly true, but there are exceptions.[90]

In Greek anapaestic poetry it is generally assumed that the verse-ictus was heard on the second half of the foot. However, in Plautus, except in the second half of the anapaestic septenarius, the word-stress generally comes on the first half of each foot. For those scholars who believe there was no ictus in ancient poetry, this presents no problem; the fact that each metron usually ends with a word-break automatically means that the stress will be heard on the early part of the feet. But for those that support the idea of ictus, it does present a problem. As Lindsay[91] puts it, "It seems difficult to believe that the same poet, who in other metres so successfully reconciles accent with ictus, should tolerate lines like:

Trin. 239: blandiloquentulus, harpagŏ, mendāx,
Bacch. 1088: stultī, stolidī, fatuī, fungī, bardī, blennī, buccōnēs,
Pers. 753: hostibus victīs, cīvibus salvīs, etc."

Other Roman writers who wrote anapaests, such as Seneca and Boethius, also regularly placed the word-accent on the beginning of each foot.[92] Whether Roman poets wrote anapaests without regard for ictus, or whether the Roman anapaest differed from the Greek in that the ictus came on the beginning of each foot, as in the trochaic metre, is unclear. For this reason, the ictus has not been marked in the samples below. Some half lines (such as | u u – u u – | u u – – – |) are identical in the trochaic and the anapaestic metres; and the tendency to form "square" verses is another point in common with the trochaic metre.

Anapaestic septenarius

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:

| u u – u u – | u u – u u – || u u – u u – | u u – – |

The anapaestic foot | u u – | is frequently replaced by a spondee | – – | or a dactyl | – 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.
| – u u – – | – – u u – || – – u u – | u u – – |
| – – – u u | – – u u – || u u – u u – | u u u u – |
| – – – u u | – – u u – || – – u u u u | – – – |
| – u u – u u | – – – – || u u – – – | – – – |
| u u – u u – | u u – – – || u u – u u – | – – – |
| u u – u u – | – – – – || u u – u u – | – u u – |
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."

Concerning the longest passage of anapaestic septenarii (Miles Gloriosus 1011-93), Moore notes the close resemblance between the metre in this passage and trochaic septenarii.[93] The German classicist Marcus Deufert notes 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.[94]

Anapaestic octonarius
| u u – u u – | u u – u u – || u u – u u – | u u – u u – |

Again, substitution of dactyl | – u u | or spondee | – – | for anapaest | u u – | is very common. As in a trochaic line, the word-accent comes regularly on the first syllable of each foot, and unlike in the 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 – – |
| – – – – | – – – – || 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.

The ictus marks above are placed in accordance with the word-accents, rather than on the second half of each foot as is sometimes done.

Anapaestic systems

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.[95] 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):[96]

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.
| – – u u – | – – – – || – u u – – | – – – ||
| – – u u – | u u – – – || – – – – | – – – ||
| – u u – – | – – u u – |
| – u u – – | u u – – – |
| u u – u u – | u u – – – |
| – – – – | – – – – |
| u u – u u – | – u u – – |
| – u u – u u | – – – ||
| – u u – – | – – – – |
| – u u – – | – – u u – |
| – u u – u u | – – – – |
| – u u – u u | – – u u – |
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.

Bacchiac and cretic metres

The bacchiac (x – –) and cretic (– x –) metres (together with anapaests) are used in polymetric cantica (songs).[97] They are mostly found in Plautus and are rare in Terence, who has only 4 lines of bacchiacs (Andria 481-84) and 15 of cretics (Andria 625–38, Adelphi 610-17).[98]

According to Eduard Fraenkel these two metres are "incomparably suited to the Latin language".[99] They differ from anapaests in that popular pronunciations such as brevis breviāns and synizesis are avoided.[75]

A law called Spengel and Meyer's law (similar to Meyer's law in the iambic senarius) applies to bacchiacs and cretics, namely that a polysyllabic word may not end on the 5th or 11th element of a bacchiac or on the 3rd or 9th element of a cretic unless the preceding anceps is short.[14] To put it more simply, the elements marked x in bold in the patterns below cannot be both long and stressed:

| x – – | x – – | x – – | x – – | (bacchiac)
| – x – | – u – || – x – | – u – | (cretic)

In bacchiacs the word-accent quite often comes after the short syllable (ecastor sin' omnī: u – – u – –), rather than before it, as it tends to with cretics (maximā cōpiā: – u – – u –); some editors, therefore, mark these elements as an ictus.

Bacchiac quaternarius
| 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":[100]

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.[101]

Bacchiac senarius

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 – – |
| – – – 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.

Cretic quaternarius
| – 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.[75] 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:[102]

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?"[103]

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!

Thymelicus

Sometimes a cretic dimeter is followed by a rhythm | – u u u – |, known as a thymelicus, almost always to "comic effect",[104] as with the following line from Plautus's Mostellaria:[105]

nunc dormītum iubēt m(ē) īre: minimē!
| – – – | – u – | – u u u – |
Now she wants me to go to bed with her – no way!

Other metres

The following metres used mainly by Plautus may also be mentioned.

Colon reizianum

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).[106]

Versus reizianus

The versus reizianus (reiz) consists of an iambic quaternarius followed by a colon reizianum.[107] 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!

Wilamowitzianus

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:[108]

PIS. Mnesiloche, quid fit? MN. Perii!
PIS. Di melius faciant. MN. Perii!
PIS. Non tacĕs, insipiens? MN. Taceam?
PIS. Sanu(s) satis non es. MN. Perii!
multa mala m(i) in pectore nunc / acr(ia) atqu(e) acerb(a) eveniunt.
criminin m(e) habuisse fidem? / immerito tib(i) ĭratu(s) fui.
| – uu u – | – uu – |
| – uu – uu | – uu – |
| – uu – uu | – uu – |
| – uu – – | – uu – |
| – u 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:[109]

GRI. si fidem modo das mihi te / non for(e) infidum
TRA. do fidem tibi, fidus ero / quisquis es. GRI. audi
| – 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...

References
  1. Fortson (2008), p. 22.
  2. A.S. Gratwick (1982), in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 2 part 1, pages 85-86.
  3. Moore in Terentius Poeta, p. 95.
  4. Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 491.
  5. Amphitruo 219ff.
  6. Moore in Terentius Poeta, p. 96.
  7. Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 487-8.
  8. Moore, Music, pp. 237-42, 253-8, 305-8, 367-71.
  9. Moore, Music, p. 255.
  10. Moore, Music, pp. 243-5.
  11. Moore, Music, p. 249.
  12. Moore, Music p. 255.
  13. Article "Brevis Brevians", Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition.
  14. de Melo (2007).
  15. A. M. Devine , Laurence D. Stephens (1980). Review Article: Latin Prosody and Meter: Brevis Brevians. Classical Philology, 75, No. 2, pp. 142-157; p. 157.
  16. Moore, Music, pp. 191, 197.
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  18. Plautus, Amphitruo 263-4.
  19. Gratwick, Menaechmi p. 50.
  20. Barsby (1999), p. 299.
  21. See discussion in W. Sidney Allen, Vox Latina, 2nd ed. (1978) pp. 78-82.
  22. Plautus, Amphitruo 278.
  23. Gratwick, Menaechmi, p. 54.
  24. Lindsay, Captivi, p. 15.
  25. W. de Melo, Amphitryon (etc.), (Loeb Classical Library), introduction, p. lxxxvi.
  26. Gratwick, Menaechmi, p. 49.
  27. Lindsay Captivi p. 367.
  28. W. Sidney Allen Vox Latina, pp. 64-77.
  29. Barsby (1999), p. 297.
  30. Denniston, J.D., Article "Metre, Greek", Oxford Classical Dictionary 2nd ed. p. 680.
  31. See also Sturtevant (1929); Beare (1953).
  32. Allen, W.S. Vox Graeca, 2nd ed. (1974) p. 120, 3rd ed. (1987) p. 132.
  33. Pearson, Lionel (1990). Aristoxenus: Elementa rhythmica. The fragment of Book II and the additional evidence for Aristoxenean rhythmic theory (Oxford), p. xxxiii.
  34. Lindsay, Captivi, pp. 861ff.
  35. Sturtevant (1919), p. 244.
  36. Fortson, B. in James Clackson "A Companion to the Latin Language". Wiley-Blackwell (2011); Fortson (2008), pp. 30-33.
  37. Groton (1995).
  38. Plautus Aulularia 1
  39. Plautus Amphitruo 459.
  40. Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 481.
  41. Pearson (1990), pp. xli–xlvi.
  42. Moore, Timothy J., Music in Roman Comedy, p. 162.
  43. Horace, Ars Poētica 253.
  44. Gratwick Menaechmi, pp. 61-2
  45. Moore, T.J. Music in Roman Comedy, p. 160; the page is available on the Internet.
  46. Cicero, pro Caelio 65.
  47. Barsby, Eunuchus, p. 293.
  48. Sonnenschein (1929); Fortson (2012).
  49. Gratwick, Menaechmi, p. 62; Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 481.
  50. Lindsay Captivi p. 366.
  51. Moore, Music in Roman Comedy, p. 175.
  52. Gratwick, Menaechmi, p. 44.
  53. Moore, Music, p. 220.
  54. Plautus, Amphitruo 97-101.
  55. Moore, Meters of Roman Comedy database.
  56. Gratwick Menaechmi, p. 56.
  57. Terence, Andria 76.
  58. Gratwick in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol 2 part 1, pp 91.
  59. Terence, Hecyra 490; translation by Gratwick.
  60. Gratwick in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 2 part 1, pp. 90-91.
  61. Traill (2009); Fortson, p. 68.
  62. cf. Fortson, p. 71.
  63. Plautus Amphitruo 100.
  64. Fortson p. 54.
  65. Plautus Bacchides 224.
  66. For exceptions see Fortson (2008), pp. 37ff.
  67. Plautus Amphitruo 28.
  68. Gratwick in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 2, part 1, p. 90.
  69. Plautus Amphitruo 131.
  70. Laidlaw (1936).
  71. Traill (2009).
  72. Plautus Miles 45.
  73. Plautus, Miles 27.
  74. Fortson, pp. 76-8.
  75. J.F. Mountford, article "Metre, Latin", The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition, p. 684.
  76. Plautus, Asinaria, 556-565
  77. Moore, Music, p. 184.
  78. Plautus, Pseudolus, 157-8; cf Moore, Music, p. 313.
  79. Moore, Music, pp. 355-363.
  80. Terence, Adelphoe 254ff.
  81. Moore, Music, p. 183
  82. Fontaine & Scafuro (eds), p. 486.
  83. Plautus, Menaechmi, 858-59
  84. Plautus Amphitruo 267-9.
  85. Gratwick Menaechmi, p. 42.
  86. Moore, Music, pp. 179-80.
  87. Moore, Music, p. 211.
  88. Moore (2012b), pp. 221-3.
  89. Danckaert, p. 2, p. 40.
  90. Danckaert, p. 26.
  91. Lindsay, Captivi, 76-78.
  92. Examples in Danckaert (2013).
  93. Moore, Music p. 202.
  94. Fontaine & Scafuro (eds), p. 487.
  95. Lindsay, Captivi, p. 62.
  96. Plautus Bacchides 1087ff
  97. Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 488.
  98. Moore in Terentius Poeta, p. 93-95.
  99. Fraenkel, E. Plautine Elements in Plautus, p. 233.
  100. Plautus, Bacchides, 1130-1141
  101. Fontaine & Scafuro, p. 488 note.
  102. Cicero, Tusc. Disp. 3.44
  103. Translation from E. Fraenkel, Plautine Elements in Plautus, p. 232.
  104. Moore Music, p. 209.
  105. Plautus, Mostellaria 693; cf. 696, 702, 706.
  106. Moore, Music, pp. 203-5.
  107. Moore, Music, p. 204.
  108. Plautus Bacchides, 625-8.
  109. Plautus Rudens 951-2; cf. Moore, Music, p. 206.

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