So in Plautus, wherever we have an intricate play that develops to a conclusion which could not be revealed by the characters, the prologue, if it has survived, discloses the outcome to the audience. In the _Poenulus_ the prologus anticipates the solution when he says (line 245) that the father will come and find his daughter. In the _Rudens_ the North Star not only has seen all that has occurred before the opening scene but he reveals the secret of the last act by saying that the girl is the old man’s daughter, and that the lover will appear presently (33 ff. and 80). In the _Amphitruo_, Mercury, one of the actors, can serve as prologue because he is omniscient. He tells the spectators how to distinguish the characters and says (140-48) that _Amphitruo_ is about to come. The rest was known to the audience because this play, like the tragedies, was based upon a myth. In the _Aulularia_, the Spirit of the Hearth narrates what it is necessary to know of the past and then adds, “I shall make our neighbor propose marriage to the girl so as to compel the young man to do so” (31 ff.). In the _Captives_ the prologue informs us that Tyndarus is Hegio’s unrecognized son who will come into his own presently and that the other son will also be found. The prologue of the _Casina_ concludes the exposition by the revelation that the girl will turn out to be a freeborn citizen. And this regard for the fullest preparation of the audience goes far beyond the prologue and the expository first act. Most of the intrigues devised to further the action are first explained, or at least discussed or suggested before they are actually carried out. Any student of Plautus will think of scores of examples: of how Mercury tells the spectators that he is going to climb to the roof to mock at Amphitruo (997), how in the _Miles_ the plan to rescue the girl is explained before it is carried out, how in the _Poenulus_ (550) the trick by which the slave-dealer is to be imposed upon is worked out on the stage before it is played,[6] etc.