Querolus sive Aulularia. Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione e commento

The present volume is devoted to the so-called Querolus siue Aulularia, a Late Antique comedy by an anonymous author. The introduction engages with the numerous questions raised by the work, beginning with its date and place of composition, as well as the identification of the author and the dedicatee, Rutilius. The Querolus holds a prominent place within the Plautine revival of the fourth and fifth centuries. Certain linguistic and literary features, together with evidence of reminiscences from authors such as Cicero, Seneca the tragedian, and Juvenal, lend further support to the most widely accepted view, which situates its composition in the early fifth century. The introductory essay also considers the form of the comedy (‘rhythmic’ prose) without excluding a possible connection with the editorial presentation of Plautine and Terentian comedies in Late Antiquity. One of the work’s most distinctive features is its engagement with earlier literary tradition, starting with Plautus’ Aulularia. The setting and philosophical background, as well as the original reception, are also investigated. The preliminary study then turns to the main linguistic and stylistic features and considers with particular attention the influence of rhetorical tradition. An examination of the codices transmitting the comedy, a survey of its editions, and a review of its Fortleben conclude the introductory section. The second part of the volume presents a new critical text, based primarily on the collation of the two principal manuscripts, H (Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, in scrin. 185) and V (Vat. Lat. 4929). My reconstruction follows the stemma established by Brandenburg (2023), while departing from his edition in a number of cases. The text is accompanied by a new Italian translation, the first to take full account of the testimony of H. The ensuing commentary addresses philological issues as well as linguistic and stylistic aspects, extra-textual references, and the reuse of earlier literary models. I consider the so-called Lex Conuiualis, transmitted together with the Querolus, to be an integral part of the comedy itself; accordingly, the monograph includes its critical edition and commentary. A list of loci similes concludes the volume.