Roman drama was, from the first, based on Greek models. Plautus, one of the earliest authors writing in Latin whose work has substantially survived the wreck of time, was a master of the stage, creating stories and characters that can still make an audience laugh out loud in the theater. One of characteristic traits of Plautine comedy is his use of "stock characters," or recognizable character-types who recur from play to play: the handsome youth, the nubile maiden, the courtesan, the dour old man, the clever slave. Among these is the parasitus or "parasite," the irritating type who lives by sponging off the generosity of others. In this passage we meet one such:

PENICULUS: The boys all call me Peniculus, which may sound ridiculous
But just means Table Duster and shows How Able an Adjuster
I am to dinner and meticulous in clearing...