[1][2] It is a Roman comedy, which describes how a girl, Palaestra, stolen from her parents by pirates, is reunited with her father, Daemones, ironically, by means of her pimp, Labrax.

The date of the play is unknown, but from the average amount of musical passages that it contains, it is thought that it probably belongs to Plautus's middle period, about 200 BC.

However, meanwhile the pimp had met a Sicilian man, who had persuaded him to break his oath and take her and another girl to Sicily, where they would earn a lot of money for him as prostitutes.

Suddenly, Daemones notices two men, shipwrecked, attempting to swim towards the shore; Plesidippus immediately leaves with his friends, in the hope that one of them might be Labrax.

Daemones, however, sharply tells Sceparnio that, should he wish to dine at his master's expense, he should get back to work of collecting mud and reeds to mend the roof.

5 The priestess sings in a rather pompous tone, asking the girls why they have turned up to the temple so poorly dressed, seemingly disregarding the fact that they have been shipwrecked.

However, Palaestra's desperate pleas for mercy and supplication soon soften her spirit, and, after complaining that she has barely enough resources to look after herself, she states that she has a moral duty to do what little she can to help the girls, and invites them into the temple.

3 On his way to the temple, to seek information from the priestess, Trachalio walks into Ampelisca, who is going to a nearby house (Daemones') to fetch water.

Towards the end of this scene, Ampelisca states that Palaestra's misery is being caused by the fact that she has lost a chest, in the shipwreck, containing articles which would identify her to her parents, should she ever find them again; this becomes extremely important later in the play.

They pointlessly argue for some time, blaming one another for the current situation; they suspect that the girls are both dead and that Plesidippus will not be happy, since he had paid a deposit for Palaestra.

However, Trachalio interjects, insisting that if any Cyrenian judge were summoned, he would agree that the girls should be free and that Labrax should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Finally, Labrax is defeated in his resolve, and converses with Trachalio, who threatens that even the slightest touch of the girls will result in him being beaten.

Daemones is outraged at the idea of Venus ever giving money to a pimp, and threatens him with further violence with even the slightest offense against them.

Labrax takes no notice of the threats, and makes for the villa, stating that he intends to fetch Vulcan (representative of fire), since he is an enemy of Venus.

On his return, Daemones carefully positions both slaves around the pimp, instructing them as to exactly how they should hold the clubs, threatening absolutely that any attempt to touch them whatsoever will result in their death, stressing also that he is not allowed to leave.

As he is led off, the girls are brought into the safety of Daemones’ villa, and Charmides, in soliloquy, states humorously that he intends to testify at the court...for the prosecution.

Gripus explains how he has been blessed with his prized catch because of his diligence, and then reveals that what he has caught is a wickerwork trunk[5] — because of its weight, he presumes that it is filled with gold, and gets carried away imagining that he can buy his own freedom and become rich and famous.

Trachalio finally suggests that the man living in the nearby villa (Daemones) should act as the arbitrator; to himself, Gripus utters that he cannot lose the trunk now, presuming that his master will side with him.

4 The scene moves to the entrance of the villa, where Daemones has been forced, by his jealous wife, to let the girls go from the house — Ampelisca and Palaestra are despairing once again.

Trachalio continues the story by stating that he does not claim anything in the trunk, and that he instead wishes to return an item to Palaestra — a box containing toys from when she was a baby.

They begin the proof of ownership, as Palaestra describes the items in the box; the first is a small golden sword with an inscription, "Daemones," which she states is her father's name.

The scene erupts into three simultaneous soliloquies — Daemones exclaiming his joy at finding his daughter, Gripus lamenting the loss of the articles in the trunk, Palaestra continuing to describe the items in the box.

In this play, when the young man catches up with the pimp, he takes him to court on the grounds of a broken contract, with no mention being made of the fact that the girl is free-born.

Sceparnio, Ampelisca, Charmides, and the priestess of Venus play an important role, and the setting is Cyrene in north Africa.

Another theory to explain the apparent inconsistencies in the play is that the characters of Sceparnio, Ampelisca, and Charmides may have been added by Plautus himself to Diphilus's Greek original.

[7] Another play which apparently had a very similar theme to Rudens is the fragmentary Vidularia of Plautus, named after the vidulus or travelling case which contained the tokens needed to prove the shipwrecked girl's identity.

In an article on the play, Katalin Dér writes: "Vidularia lacks the roles of the Sicilian and the priestess of Venus, of Ampelisca and Sceparnio".

Each section is rounded off by trochaic septenarii, which were apparently recited or sung to the accompaniment of tibiae (a pair of reed pipes).

In July 2005, a new translation by Peter Oswald entitled The Storm was produced at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London as part of the "World and Underworld" Season.

In 2007, a translation by UCLA academic Amy Richlin formed the basis for Tug of War, performed at the Getty Villa in California.