The Plays of Roswitha

Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim

Translated by Christopher St. John

94 chapters · about 2 h

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The opening

ARGUMENT

The conversion of GaUicanus, Commander-in-Chief. On the eve of his departure for a campaign against the Scythians, GaUicanus is betrothed to the Emperor Constantine’s daughter, Constance, a consecrated virgin.

When threatened with defeat in battle, GaUicanus is converted by John and Paul, Grand Almoners to Constance. He is immediately baptized and takes a vow of celibacy.

Later he is exiled by order of Julian the Apostate, and receives the crown of martyrdom. John and Paul are put to death by the same prince and buried secretly in their own house. Not long after, the son of their executioner becomes possessed by a devil. He is cured after confessing the crime committed by his father. He bears witness to the merits of the martyrs, and is baptized, together with his father.

The whole book is in the Sphinx app.

About this edition

The words
Christopher St. John's English translation, copied word for word.
Left out
  • Page numbers and running heads from the printed pages, in 7 places
  • The library's marks on the scanned cover (OCR specks) (4 blocks)
  • The title page and opening pages before chapter 1, in 2 places
  • Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 7 places
  • The printer's imprint and rights line (4 blocks)
  • The printed table of contents (the app makes its own)
  • The play's title repeated over its first scene (6 blocks)
  • The play's title repeated over the first scene of Part II
  • Scan noise on an unreadable page (no letter in it) (4 blocks)
  • Other material that isn't the author's, in 2 places
  • The printer's colophon
  • A library number on a blank end page