INTRODUCTION

fact. Successful in their conquests in nearly every direction,
from the early days of the Republic onwards, public celebrations
of all kinds became extremely popular. Victorious generals
upon their return to Rome celebrated their triumphal
entry into the city by a parade, and on those occasions general
festivity became the order of the day, part of which consisted
of ail sorts of cheap shows that catered to the tastes of the
commons. Huge arenas, and eventually enormous theaters,
were erected for public demonstrations of all kinds, and in these
the acting of plays was a regular feature, that is, plays were
introduced as part of the celebration, not, as in Athens, the only event of a particular day.

It is to be noted that the classical drama as it existed in the Age of Pericles was steeped with religious and patriotic significance. That was not true in Rome. While the records are rather vague on the subject, it seems that in Rome the literary drama had considerable vogue, especially in the earlier period and as far down as the first century A.D., or even later, but it was always a part of a larger demonstration. Religion and drama became once more associated with the rise of the Miracle plays in England and elsewhere, but it was not until the golden age of the Elizabethan era that plays were again definitely tinged with nationalism.

What the Romans liked best of all was some vast and exciting spectacle, such as chariot races, or rough so-called sports like gladiatorial contests, and struggles of criminals with wild beasts. Later on the burning of Christians at the stake, or tossing them into the arena to be torn to pieces by wild animals, were considered entertaining spectacles. But even in Rome it was not possible to have chariot races and gladiatorial contests every day. Certain days were set aside as public holidays, over a hundred in the time of the Empire, and onthese the bigger affairs were given, always interspersed with lesser forms of amusement, such as plays, farces, dances, music, uggling, acrobatics — anything at all that served to amuse the multitude, for these affairs were given largely as sops to the crowd by some politician or victorious general who aimed atinfluence or office. In this way public spectacles became more or less seasonal, not unlike our football and baseball seasons.

But it was always possible to give special shows for special occasions, again not unlike our prize-fights, given whenever two husky brutes can be offered enough money to appear in the arena to maul each other under the guise of " promoting the manly art of self-defence."



From the strictly dramatic point of view certain other forms
of drama have more historical value because they were of the
types that seem always to have been forms of amusement, and
keep on being so as the human race grows better or worse.
These were practically all of the farcical variety although disguised
under various names. The oldest were the Atellanae,
already in existence in the second century B.C. These were
crude comedies in which the country bumpkin was depicted
in humorous light. Then came the mimes, which differed from
the Atellanae in being of greater variety, and this eventually
became the common name of all farce comedy. Both the
Atellanae and the mimes were directly aimed to amuse the
lower and middle classes, but no doubt the aristocrats did not
disdain to witness them. Certain intellectuals, like Petronius
Arbiter, did make fun of them. His famous nouveau-riche
character Trimalchio buys a whole troupe to help entertain
his guests at dinner.

A third kind, the pantomime, was developed as entertainment
of a more intellectual order, although it became universally
popular in the long run. In its early form it was used
in the regular classic drama as an adjunct to the chorus or to
replace it. While the chorus spoke its lines a pantomimus
(actor of pantomime) occupied the center of the stage and interpreted
the lines by dance and gesture as they were recited by
the chorus. Later the chorus was dropped and the choral lines
were recited by an actor to the accompaniment of music,
usually that of a flute. As the art of pantomime developed,
this part of the play became so popular that even the parts of
the regular actors were replaced by the pantomimi. The play
was no longer the thing, but the dance, the most primitive of
all forms of amusement.

This reversion to the primitive was not new to the Romans, nor were they the last to undergo such a transformation of taste. It is a universal characteristic of the race. Witness an era no older than the first quarter of the twentieth century!

In addition to all sorts of public entertainments there were demands for amusement in connection withprivate functions, banquets  and celebrations of all kinds. For these, singers and dancers were most  in demand, always with accompanying musicians. It is fair to imagine that only the better performers were called to this type of service. The inferior artists  had to be content with a  street corner or whatever place they
could  secure to do their stunts. Besides singers and dancers there were the acrobats, the " strong men," the jugglers, the