About the work
'Miles gloriosus' ('The Braggart Soldier') is a comedy by the Roman playwright Plautus, adapted from a now-lost Greek original titled 'Alazon'. Its dating to around 206 BC rests on an allusion in the text (lines 211f.) to the brief imprisonment of the poet Gnaeus Naevius. At 1,437 lines, it is Plautus's longest surviving play.
Plot
The vain soldier Pyrgopolynices is holding Philocomasium, abducted from Athens, in his house. Her lover Pleusicles arrives in Ephesus with the help of the resourceful slave Palaestrio; through a supposed twin sister and a procuress disguised as a neighbour's wife, the soldier is tricked into letting Philocomasium leave with gifts. In the end, Pyrgopolynices is lured into a stranger's house, beaten and robbed.
Cultural significance
The braggart-soldier character established a stage type that remains influential today, echoing through commedia dell'arte's Il Capitano and Shakespeare's Ancient Pistol to Stephen Sondheim's musical 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.