Source edition
Terence. Publii Terentii Comoediae Sex. Parry, Edward St. John, editor. London: Whittaker and Co.; George Bell, 1857.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This Roman comedy depicts the misunderstandings surrounding a young couple's marriage and the resulting conflicts among their families. The young man Pamphilus marries Philumena while still harboring feelings for his former mistress, the courtesan Bacchis, but during his absence abroad, his wife returns to her parents' home, leading everyone to suspect a feud with her mother-in-law, Sostrata. Upon his return, Pamphilus discovers a shocking secret: his wife is about to give birth to a child conceived from a sexual assault by an unknown man before their wedding. Torn between love for his wife and filial duty, Pamphilus refuses to take her back, leading his father and father-in-law to mistakenly believe he is still obsessed with Bacchis. To clear her name, Bacchis is summoned, and through a ring she possesses, it is revealed that the unknown assailant was none other than Pamphilus himself. With the truth uncovered and kept as a private secret, the couple happily reunites, resolving all misunderstandings.