Erastus, or, The Roman Prince

From The Seven Sages of Rome

Composed ten years after the publication of Francis Kirkman's History of Prince Erastus, the second English version of the Erastus story was printed by Dorman Newman and Benjamin Alsop in London in 1684, titled 'Erastus: Or, The Roman Prince; Being A more full Account of that Famous History of the Seven Wise Masters, With Many Pleasant Additions of Excellent, and Divertive Discourses, and Songs, not unsuitable to the Design of the Story'.

The 'Pleasant Additions' promised by the title are borne our in the inclusion of verses and songs - typically antifeminist, and not always clearly fitted to the plot - at several points in the narrative, including from the priest in Tentamina to the young bride and his would-be-lover (reportedly accompanied by a guitar!). Like other Erasto texts, this narrative also priviledges the frame story and the life of its protagonist, which it extends beyond the usual conclusion of the text. The narrative contains several long additional episodes that follow the main plot, including "The War of the Emperour Erastus with King Siwel, the manner of his Overthrow", and another chapter detailing the fate of the empire after these events.

While some elements are added, however, the main body of the Seven Sages narrative is abbreviated, and the stories of several sages are omitted. The first nine stories nearly follow the usual pattern for Erasto texts, with the sole exception that, as in Francis Kirkman's version, the story Puteus is here re-inserted into the embedded story order. In this case, however, there is no voice of a narrator inserting themselves into the text to equivocate about the original version of the story; in this case, the sage Philantropus simply tells both his usual story - Inclusa - and also Puteus. After this double-barrel narrative, the Empress threatens to return to her parents' home rather than tell a story, and the final tale is then related by the sage Lencus. As in Kirkman's version, in which the Erasto story Caepulla was followed by Vidua as its alternative, the replacement of the two tales is fully integrated here, and Vidua takes Caepulla's place and is the final story told. Roma, Corpus Delicti, Virgilius, Puer Adoptatus, and Vaticinium are also absent here.

Medicus - son of an Irish man

General Information
Language within Version
Narrative / Scholarly Group
Parent Versions English Erasto
Child Versions
Author
Title
Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages
Branch of the tradition Seven Sages of Rome
Language & Composition
Language of version English
Translated into (languages)
Place of composition London, UK
Date of composition 1684
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Literature & Editions
Modern research literature
Modern Editions
Recorded branch of this secondary version
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Adapted into (version)
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Languages in Use
Language of text English
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Notes
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Pattern of embedded stories in this version

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