'I thought you'd do what the common run of slaves normally do, cheating and tricking me because my son's having an affair.'

Terence's comedies have provided plots and characters for comic drama from classical times to the present; the outstanding comic playwright of his generation at Rome, he has influenced authors from Molière and Wycherley to P. G. Wodehouse. Scheming slaves, parasites, prostitutes, pimps, and boastful soldiers populate his plays, which show love triumphing over obstacles of various kinds, and the problems that arise from ignorance, misunderstanding, and prejudice. Although they reflect contemporary tensions in Roman society, their insights into human nature and experience make them timeless in their appeal. Peter Brown's lively new translation does full justice to Terence's style and skill as a dramatist.

• Four Comedies: The Braggart Soldier; The Brothers Menaechmus; The Haunted House; The Pot of Gold (Oxford World's Classics)
• The Plays and Fragments (Oxford World's Classics)
• The Pot of Gold and Other Plays (Penguin Classics)
• Birds and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics)
• As The Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History