English Erasto
In the publisher and author Francis Kirkman's (presumably autobiographical, though certainly unreliable) An Unlucky Citizen (1673), he describes a boyhood appetite for literature:
"Once I happened upon a Six Pence, and having lately read that famous Book, of the Fryar and the Boy, and being hugely pleased with that, as also the excellent History of the Seven Wise Masters of Rome, and having heard great Commendation of Fortunatus, I laid out all my mony for that, and thought I had a great bargain..." (p. 10).
Kirkman went on publish new versions of many of the books his character reported enjoying, including the Seven Wise Masters - specifically, an English translation of the popular Erasto narrative in 1674. This print was given the typically lengthy title "The history of Prince Erastus, son to the Emperour Dioclesian and these famous philosophers called the seven wife masters of Rome being a full account of all that was ever written of that antient, famous, pleasant, and excellent history / written originally in Italian, then translated into French, and now rendred English by F.K." This suggests that in London literary circles in the second half of the 17th century, readers were exposed to the Seven Sages in at least two different forms: the English version of Version H (referenced as the Seven Wise Masters in Kirkman's account of his childhood reading), as well as the French Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erasto, his source for the Prince Erastus text. In fact, Kirkman's Erastus blends the two versions: twice the narrator claims that while the Erasto-specific embedded story (Zelus, Caepulla) related is 'as I find it in the Originals Italian and French', that 'others say it was another Story' instead, which the narrator then also includes.
As in the Italian and French iterations of the narrative, the Empress is named Aphrodisia, and the expanded focus on the frame also remains. For example, Kirkman's text, the Empress becomes enamoured of Erastus before the two meet, and courts him from afar with gifts and love letters before he returns to Rome; his rejection of these preempts his rejection of her proposition. At the end of the narrative, despairing and defeated, Aphrodisia kills herself in prison before she can be executed.
General Information
Language & Composition
Literature & Editions
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
{{#if: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. London: Printed for Dorman Newman [...] and Benj. Alsop [...], 1684, Francis Kirkman, The history of Prince Erastus, son to the Emperour Dioclesian, and those famous philosophers called the seven wise masters of Rome. London: Anne Johnson, 1674
Adaptations
Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
| Has Short Title | Has Sequence Number | Has Narrator | Has Name Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canis – The Faithful Dog | 1 | Euprosigoro | Euprosigorus |
| Arbor – The Tree | 2 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 3 | Dimurgo | Dimurgus |
| Aper – The Boar and the Fruit | 4 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 5 | Terno | Thernus, Thermus |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 6 | Empress | |
| Zelus – Zeal | 7 | Enoscopo | Enoscopus |
| Puteus – The Well | 8 | ||
| Gaza – The Treasure | 9 | Empress | |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 10 | Filandro | Philantropus |
| Roma – Rome Besieged | 11 | Empress | |
| Corpus Delicti – The Discovered Corpse | 12 | Agato | Agathus |
| Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels | 13 | Empress | |
| Caepulla | 14 | Leuco | Lencus |
| Vidua – The Widow | 15 | ||
| Puer Adoptatus – The Adopted Son | 16 | Empress |