ROMAN COMEDY--PLAUTUS TO TURPILIUS (254-103 B.C.).
Before entering upon any criticism of the comic authors, it will be well
to make a few remarks on the general characteristics of the Roman theatre.
Theatrical structures at Rome resembled on the whole those of Greece, from
which they were derived at first through the medium of Etruria, [1] but
afterwards directly from the great theatres which Magna Graecia possessed
in abundance. Unlike the Greek theatres, however, those at Rome were of
wood not of stone, and were mere temporary erections, taken down
immediately after being used. On scaffoldings of this kind the plays of
Plautus and Terence were performed. Even during the last period of the
Republic, wooden theatres were set up, sometimes on a scale of profuse
expenditure little consistent with their duration. [2] An attempt was made
to build a permanent stone theatre, 135 B.C., but it was defeated by the
Consul Scipio Nasica. [3]
The credit of building the first such edifice is due to Pompey (55 B.C.),
who caused it to have accommodation for 40,000 spectators. Vitruvius in
his fifth book explains the ground-plan of such buildings. They were
almost always on the same model, differing in material and size. On one
occasion two whole theatres of wood, placed back to back, were made to
turn on a pivot, and so being united, to form a single amphitheatre. [4]
In construction, the Roman theatre differed from the Greek in reserving an
arc not exceeding a semicircle for the spectators. The stage itself was
large and raised not more than five feet. But the orchestra, instead of
containing the chorus, was filled by senators, magistrates, and
distinguished guests. [5] This made it easier for the Romans to dispense
with a chorus altogether, which we find, as a rule, they did. The rest of
the people sat or stood in the great semicircle behind that which formed
the orchestra. The order in which they placed themselves was not fixed by
law until the later years of the Republic, and again, with additional
safeguards, in the reign of Augustus. [6] But it is reasonable to suppose
that the rules of precedence were for the most part voluntarily observed.
It would appear that in the earliest theatres there were no tiers of seats
(_cunei_), but merely a semicircle of sloping soil, banked up for the
occasion (_cavea_) on which those who had brought seats sat down, while
the rest stood or reclined. The stage itself is called _pulpitum_ or
_proscaenium_, and the decorated background _scaena_. Women and children
were allowed to be present from the earliest period; slaves were not, [7]
though it is probable that many came by the permission of their masters.
The position of poets and actors was anything but reputable. The manager
of the company was generally at best a freedman; and the remuneration
given by the Aediles, if the piece was successful, was very small; if it
failed, even that was withheld. The behaviour of the audience was
certainly none of the best. Accustomed at all times to the enjoyment of
the eye rather than the ear, the Romans were always impatient of mere
dialogue. Thus Terence tells us that contemporary poets resorted to
various devices to produce some novel spectacle, and he feels it necessary
to explain why he himself furnishes nothing of the kind. Fair criticism
could hardly be expected from so motley an assembly; hence Terence begs
the people in each case to listen carefully to his play and then, and not
till then, if they disapprove, to hiss it off the stage. [8] In the times
of Plautus and Ennius the spectators were probably more discriminating;
but the steady depravation of the spectacles furnished for their amusement
contributed afterwards to brutalise them with fearful rapidity, until at
the close of the Republican period dramatic exhibitions were thought
nothing of in comparison with a wild-beast fight or a gladiatorial show.
At first, however, comedy was decidedly a favourite with the people, and
for one tragic poet whose name has reached us there are at least five
comedians. Of the three kinds of poetry cultivated in this early period,
comedy, which, according to Quintilian [9] was the least successful, has
been much the most fortunate. For whereas we have to form our opinion of
Roman tragedy chiefly from the testimony of ancient authors, we can
estimate the value of Roman comedy from the ample remains of its two
greatest masters. The plays of Plautus are the most important for this
purpose. Independently of their greater talent, they give a truer picture
of Roman manners, and reflect more accurately the popular taste and level
of culture. It is from them, therefore, that any general remarks on Roman
comedy would naturally be illustrated.
Comedy, being based on the fluctuating circumstances of real life, lends
itself more easily than tragedy to a change of form. Hence, while tragic
art after once passing its prime slowly but steadily declines, comedy
seems endued with greater vitality, and when politics and religion are
closed to it, readily contents itself with the less ambitious sphere of
manners. Thus, at Athens, Menander raised the new comedy to a celebrity
little if at all inferior to the old; while the form of art which he
created has retained its place in modern literature as perhaps the most
enduring which the drama has assumed. In Rome there was far too little
liberty of speech for the Aristophanic comedy to be possible. Outspoken
attacks in public on the leading statesmen did not accord with the
senatorial idea of government. Hence such poets as possessed a comic vein
were driven to the only style which could be cultivated with impunity,
viz. that of Philemon and Menander. But a difficulty met them at the
outset. The broad allusions and rough fun of Aristophanes were much more
intelligible to a Roman public than the refined criticism and quiet satire
of Menander, even supposing the poet able to reproduce these. The author
who aspired to please the public had this problem before him,--while
taking the Middle and New Comedy of Athens for his model, to adapt them to
the coarser requirements of Roman taste and the national rather than
cosmopolitan feeling of a Roman audience, without drawing down the wrath
of the government by imprudent political allusions.
It was the success with which Plautus fulfilled these conditions that
makes him pre-eminently the comic poet of Rome; and which, though purists
affected to depreciate him, [10] excited the admiration of such men as
Cicero, [11] Varro, and Sisenna, and secured the uninterrupted
representation of his plays until the fourth century of
the Empire.
The life of Plautus, which extended from 254 to 184 B.C. presents little
of interest. His name used to be written M. ACCIUS, but is now, on the
authority of the Ambrosian MS. changed to T. MACCIUS PLAUTUS. He was by
birth an Umbrian from Sassina, of free parents, but poor. We are told by
Gellius [12] that he made a small fortune by stage decorating, but lost it
by rash investment; he was then reduced to labouring for some years in a
corn mill, but having employed his spare time in writing, he established a
sufficient reputation to be able to devote the rest of his life to the
pursuit of his art. He did not, however, form a high conception of his
responsibility. The drudgery of manual labour and the hardships under
which he had begun his literary career were unfavourable to the finer
susceptibilities of an enthusiastic nature. So long as the spectators
applauded he was satisfied. He was a prolific writer; 130 plays are
attributed to him, but their genuineness was the subject of discussion
from a very early period. Varro finally decided in favour of only 21, to
which he added 19 more as probably genuine, the rest he pronounced
uncertain. We may join him in regarding it as very probable that the plays
falsely attributed to Plautus were productions of his own and the next
generation, which for business reasons the managers allowed to pass under
the title of "Plautine." Or, perhaps, Plautus may have given a few touches
and the benefit of his great name to the plays of his less celebrated
contemporaries, much as the great Italian painters used the services of
their pupils to multiply their own works.
Of the 20 plays that we possess (the entire Varronian list, except the
_Vidularia_, which was lost in the Middle Ages) all have the same general
character, with the single exception of the _Amphitruo_. This is more of a
burlesque than a comedy, and is full of humour. It is founded on the well-
worn fable of Jupiter and Alcmena, and has been imitated by Molière and
Dryden. Its source is uncertain; but it is probably from Archippus, a
writer of the old comedy (415 B.C.). Its form suggests rather a
development of the Satyric drama.
The remaining plays are based on real life; the real life that is
pourtrayed by Menander, and by no means yet established in Rome, though
soon to take root there with far more disastrous consequences the life of
imbecile fathers made only to be duped, and spendthrift sons; of jealous
husbands, and dull wives; of witty, cunning, and wholly unscrupulous
slaves; of parasites, lost to all self-respect; of traffickers in vice of
both sexes, sometimes cringing, sometimes threatening, but almost always
outwitted by a duplicity superior to their own; of members of the _demi-
monde_, whose beauty is only equalled by their shameless venality, though
some of them enlist our sympathies by constancy in love, others by
unmerited sufferings (which, however, always end happily); and, finally,
of an array of cooks, go-betweens, confidantes, and nondescripts, who will
do any thing for a dinner--a life, in short, that suggests a gloomy idea
of the state into which the once manly and high-minded Athenians had sunk.
It may, however, be questioned whether Plautus did not exceed his models
in licentiousness, as he certainly fell below them in elegance. The drama
has always been found to exercise a decided influence on public morals;
and at Rome, where there was no authoritative teaching on the subject, and
no independent investigation of the foundations of moral truth, a series
of brilliant plays, in which life was regarded as at best a dull affair,
rendered tolerable by coarse pleasures, practical jokes, and gossip, and
then only as long as the power of enjoyment lasts, can have had no good
effect on the susceptible minds of the audience. The want of respect for
age, again, so alien to old Roman feeling, was an element imported from
the Greeks, to whom at all times the contemplation of old age presented
the gloomiest associations. But it must have struck at the root of all
Roman traditions to represent the aged father in any but a venerable
light; and inimitable as Plautus is as a humourist, we cannot regard him
as one who either elevates his own art, or in any way represents the
nobler aspect of the Roman mind.
The conventional refinement with which Menander invested his characters,
and which was so happily reproduced by Terence, was not attempted by
Plautus. His excellence lies rather in the bold and natural flow of his
dialogue, fuller, perhaps, of spicy humour and broad fun than of wit, but
of humour and fun so lighthearted and spontaneous that the soberest reader
is carried away by it. In the construction of his plots he shows no great
originality, though often much ingenuity. Sometimes they are adopted
without change, as that of the _Trinummus_ from the _Thaesauros_ of
Philemon; sometimes they are patched together [13] from two or more Greek
plays, as is probably the case with the _Epidicus_ and _Captivi_;
sometimes they are so slight as to amount to little more than a peg on
which to hang the witty speeches of the dialogue, as, for example, those
of the _Persa_ and _Curculio_.
The _Menaechmi_ and _Trinummus_ are the best known of his plays; the
former would be hard to parallel for effective humour: the point on which
the plot turns, viz. the resemblance between two pairs of brothers, which
causes one to be mistaken for the other, and so leads to many ludicrous
scenes, is familiar to all readers of Shakespeare from the _Comedy of
Errors_. Of those plays which border on the sentimental the best is the
_Captivi_, which the poet himself recommends to the audience on the score
of its good moral lesson, adding with truth--
"Huiusmodi paucas poetae reperiunt comoedias
Ubi boni meliores fiant."
We are told [14] that Plautus took the greatest pleasure in his
_Pseudolus_, which was also the work of his old age. The _Epidicus_ also
must have been a favourite with him. There is an allusion to it in the
_Bacchides_, [15] which shows that authors then were as much distressed by
the incapacity of the actors as they are now.
"Non herus sed actor mihi cor odio sauciat.
Etiam Epidicum quam ego fabulum aeque ac me ipsum amo
Nullam aeque invitus specto, si agit Pellio."
The prologues prefixed to nearly all the plays are interesting from their
fidelity to the Greek custom, whereas those of Terence are more personal,
and so resemble the modern prologue. In the former we see the arch
insinuating pleasantry of Plautus employed for the purpose of ingratiating
himself with the spectators, a result which, we may be sure, he finds
little difficulty in achieving. Among the other plays, the _Poenulus_
possesses for the philologist this special attraction, that it contains a
Phoenician passage, which, though rather carelessly transliterated, is the
longest fragment we possess of that important Semitic language. [16] All
the Plautine plays belong to the _Palliatae_, i.e. those of which the
entire surroundings are Greek, the name being taken from the _Pallium_ or
Greek cloak worn by the actors. There was, however, in the Italian towns a
species of comedy founded on Greek models but national in dress, manners,
and tone, known as _Comoedia Togata_, of which Titinius was the greatest
master. The _Amphitruo_ is somewhat difficult to class; if, as has been
suggested above, it be assigned to the old comedy, it will be a
_Palliata_. If, as others think, it be rather a specimen of the _Hilaro-
tragodia_ [17] or _Rhinthonica_ (so called from Rhinthon of Tarentum), it
would form the only existing specimen of another class, called by the
Greeks _Italikae komodia_. Horace speaks of Plautus as a follower of
Epicharmus, and his plots were frequently taken from mythological
subjects. With regard, however, to the other plays of Plautus, as well as
those of Caecilius, Trabea, Licinius Imbrex, Luscius Lavinius, Terence and
Turpilius, there is no ground for supposing that they departed from the
regular treatment of palliatae. [18]
Plautus is a complete master of the Latin language in its more colloquial
forms. Whatever he wishes to say he finds no difficulty in expressing
without the least shadow of obscurity. His full, flowing style, his
inexhaustible wealth of words, the pliancy which in his skilful hands is
given to the comparatively rude instrument with which he works, are
remarkable in the highest degree. In the invention of new words, and the
fertility of his combinations, [19] he reminds us of Shakespeare, and far
exceeds any other Latin author. But perhaps this faculty is not so much
absent from subsequent writers as kept in check by them. They felt that
Latin gained more by terse arrangement and exact fitness in the choice of
existing terms, than by coining new ones after the Greek manner. Plautus
represents a tendency, which, after him, steadily declines; Lucretius is
more sparing of new compounds than Ennius, Virgil than Lucretius, and
after Virgil the age of creating them had ceased.
It must strike every reader of Plautus, as worthy of note, that he assumes
a certain knowledge of the Greek tongue on the part of his audience. Not
only are many (chiefly commercial) terms directly imported from the Greek,
as _dica_, _tarpessita_, _logi_, _sycophantia_, _agoranomus_, but a large
number of Greek adjectives and adverbs are used, which it is impossible to
suppose formed part of the general speech--e.g. _thalassicus_, _euscheme_,
_dulice_, _dapsilis_: Greek puns are introduced, as "_opus est Chryso
Chrysalo_" in the _Bacchides_; and in the _Persa_ we have the following
hybrid title of a supposed Persian grandee, "_Vaniloquidorus
Virginisvendonides Nugipolyloquides Argentiexterebronides Tedigniloquides
Nummorumexpalpouides Quodsemelarripides Nunquamposteareddides_!"
Nevertheless, Plautus never uses Greek words in the way so justly
condemned by Horace, viz. to avoid the trouble of thinking out the proper
Latin equivalent. He is as free from this bad habit as Cato himself: all
his Graecisms, when not technical terms, have some humourous point; and,
as far as we can judge, the good example set by him was followed by all
his successors in the comic drama. Their superiority in this respect may
be appreciated by comparing them with the extant fragments of Lucilius.
In his metres he follows the Greek systems, but somewhat loosely. His
iambics admit spondees, &c. into all places but the last; but some of his
plays show much more care than others: the _Persa_ and _Stichus_ being the
least accurate, the _Menaechmi_ peculiarly smooth and harmonious. The
Trochaic tetrameter and the Cretic are also favourite rhythms; the former
is well suited to the Latin language, its beat being much more easily
distinguishable in a rapid dialogue than that of the Iambic. His metre is
regulated partly by quantity, partly by accent; but his quantities do not
vary as much as has been supposed. The irregularities consist chiefly of
neglect of the laws of position, of final long vowels, of inflexional
endings, and of double letters, which last, according to some grammarians,
were not used until the time of Ennius. His Lyric metres are few, and very
imperfectly elaborated. Those which he prefers are the Cretic and
Bacchiac, though Dactylic and Choriambic systems are not wholly unknown.
His works form a most valuable storehouse of old Latin words, idioms, and
inflexions; and now that the most ancient MSS. have been scientifically
studied, the true spelling of these forms has been re-established, and
throws the greatest light on many important questions of philology. [20]
After Plautus the most distinguished writer of comedy was STATIUS
CAECILIUS (219-166? B.C.), a native of Insubria, brought as a prisoner to
Rome, and subsequently (we know not exactly when) manumitted. He began
writing about 200 B.C., when Plautus was at the height of his fame. He
was, doubtless, influenced (as indeed could not but be the case) by the
prestige of so great a master; but, as soon as he had formed his own
style, he seems to have carried out a treatment of the originals much more
nearly resembling that of Terence. For while in Plautus some of the oddest
incongruities arise from the continual intrusion of Roman law-terms and
other everyday home associations into the Athenian _agora_ or
_dicasteries_, in Terence this effective but very inartistic source of
humour is altogether discarded, and the comic result gained solely by the
legitimate methods of incident, character, and dialogue. That this
stricter practice was inaugurated by Caecilius is probable, both from the
praise bestowed on him in spite of his deficiency in purity of Latin style
by Cicero, [21] and also from the evident admiration felt for him by
Terence. The prologue to the _Hecyra_ proves (what we might have well
supposed) that the earlier plays of such a poet had a severe struggle to
achieve success. [22] The actor, Ambivius Turpio, a tried servant of the
public, maintains that his own perseverance had a great deal to do with
the final victory of Caecilius; and he apologises for bringing forward a
play which had once been rejected, by his former success in similar
circumstances. Horace implies that he maintained during the Augustan age
the reputation of a dignified writer. [23] Of the thirty-nine titles of
his plays, by far the larger number are Greek, though a few are Latin, or
exist in both languages. Those of Plautus and Naevius, it will be
observed, are almost entirely Latin. This practice of retaining the Greek
title, indicating, as it probably does, a closer adherence to the Greek
style, seems afterwards to have become the regular custom. In his later
years Caecilius enjoyed great reputation, and seems to have been almost
dictator of the Roman stage, if we may judge from the story given by
Suetonius in his life of Terence. One evening, he tells us, as Caecilius
was at dinner, the young poet called on him, and begged for his opinion on
the _Andria_, which he had just composed. Unknown to fame and meanly
dressed, he was bidden to seat himself on a bench and read his work.
Scarcely had he read a few verses, when Caecilius, struck by the
excellence of the style, invited his visitor to join him at table; and
having listened to the rest of the play with admiration, at once
pronounced a verdict in his favour. This anecdote, whatever be its
pretensions to historical accuracy, represents, at all events, the
conception entertained of Caecilius's position and influence as introducer
of dramatic poets to the Roman public. The date of his death is uncertain:
he seems not to have attained any great age.
The judgment of Caecilius on TERENCE was ratified by the people. When the
_Andria_ was first presented at the Megalesian games (166 B.C.) it was
evident that a new epoch had arisen in Roman art. The contempt displayed
in it for all popular methods of acquiring applause is scarcely less
wonderful than the formed style and mature view of life apparent in the
poet of twenty-one years.
It was received with favour, and though occasional failures afterwards
occurred, chiefly through the jealousy of a rival poet, the dramatic
career of Terence may, nevertheless, be pronounced as brilliantly
successful as it was shortlived. His fame increased with each succeeding
play, till at the time of his early death, he found himself at the head of
his profession, and, in spite of petty rivalries, enjoying a reputation
almost equal to that of Plautus himself.
The elegance and purity of his diction is the more remarkable as he was a
Carthaginian by birth, and therefore spoke an idiom as diverse as can be
conceived from the Latin in syntax, arrangement, and expression. He came
as a boy to Rome, where he lived as the slave of the senator Terentius
Lucanus, by whom he was well educated and soon given his freedom. The best
known fact about him is his intimate friendship with Scipio Africanus the
younger, Laelius, and Furius, who were reported to have helped him in the
composition of his plays. This rumour the poet touches on with great
skill, neither admitting nor denying its truth, but handling it in such a
way as reflected no discredit on himself and could not fail to be
acceptable to the great men who were his patrons. [24] We learn from
Suetonius that the belief strengthened with time. To us it appears most
improbable that anything important was contributed by these eminent men.
They might have given hints, and perhaps suggested occasional expressions,
but the temptation to bring their names forward seems sufficiently to
account for the lines in question, since the poet gained rather than lost
by so doing. It has, however, been supposed that Scipio and his friends,
desiring to elevate the popular taste, really employed Terence to effect
this for them, their own position as statesmen preventing their coming
forward in person as labourers in literature; and it is clear that Terence
has a very different object before him from that of Plautus. The latter
cares only to please; the former is not satisfied unless he instructs. And
he is conscious that this endeavour gains him undeserved obloquy. All his
prologues speak of bitter opposition, misrepresentation, and dislike; but
he refuses to lower his high conception of his art. The people must hear
his plays with attention, throw away their prejudices, and pronounce
impartially on his merits. [25] He has such confidence in his own view
that he does not doubt of the issue. It is only a question of time, and if
his contemporaries refuse to appreciate him, posterity will not fail to do
so. This confidence was fully justified. Not only his friends but the
public amply recognised his genius; and if men like Cicero, Horace, and
Caesar, do not grant him the highest creative power, they at least speak
with admiration of his cultivated taste. The criticism of Cicero is as
discriminating as it is friendly: [26]
"Tu quoque, qui solus lecto sermone, Terenti,
Conversum espressumque Latina voce Menandrum
In medio populi sedatis vocibus effers;
Quidquid come loquens atque omnia dulcia dicens."
Caesar, in a better known epigram, [27] is somewhat less complimentary,
but calls him _puri sermonis amator_ ("a well of English undefiled").
Varro praises his commencement of the _Andria_ above its original in
Menander; and if this indicates national partisanship, it is at least a
testimony to the poet's posthumous fame.
The modern character of Terence, as contrasted with Plautus, is less
apparent in his language than in his sentiments. His Latin is
substantially the same as that of Plautus, though he makes immeasurably
fewer experiments with language. He never resorts to strange words,
uncouth compounds, puns, or Graecisms for producing effect; [28] his
diction is smooth and chaste, and even indelicate subjects are alluded to
without any violation of the proprieties; indeed it is at first surprising
that with so few appeals to the humourous instinct and so little witty
dialogue, Terence's comic style should have received from the first such
high commendation. The reason is to be found in the circumstances of the
time. The higher spirits at Rome were beginning to comprehend the drift of
Greek culture, its subtle mastery over the passions, its humanitarian
character, its subversive influence. The protest against traditional
exclusiveness begun by the great Scipio, and powerfully enforced by
Ennius, was continued in a less heroic but not less effective manner by
the younger Scipio and his friends Lucilius and Terence. All the plays of
Terence are written with a purpose; and the purpose is the same which
animated the political leaders of free thought. To base conduct upon
reason rather than tradition, and paternal authority upon kindness rather
than fear; [29] to give up the vain attempt to coerce youth into the
narrow path of age; to grapple with life as a whole by making the best of
each difficulty when it arises; to live in comfort by means of mutual
concession and not to plague ourselves with unnecessary troubles: such are
some of the principles indicated in those plays of Menander which Terence
so skilfully adapted, and whose lessons he set before a younger and more
vigorous people. The elucidation of these principles in the action of the
play, and the corresponding interchange of thought naturally awakened in
the dialogue and expressed with studied moderation, [30] form the charm of
the Terentian drama. In the bolder elements of dramatic excellence it must
be pronounced deficient. There is not Menander's many-sided knowledge of
the world, nor the racy drollery of Plautus, nor the rich humour of
Molière, nor the sparkling wit of Sheridan,--all is toned down with a
severe self-restraint, creditable to the poet's sense of propriety, but
injurious to comic effect. His characters also lack variety, though
powerfully conceived. They are easily classified; indeed, Terence himself
summarises them in his prologue to the _Eanuchus_, [31] and as a rule is
true to the distinctions there laid down. Another defect is the great
similarity of names. There is a _Chremes_ in four plays who stands for an
old man in three, for a youth in one; while the names _Sostrata, Sophrona,
Bacchis, Antipho, Hegio, Phaedria, Davus_, and _Dromo_, all occur in more
than one piece. Thus we lose that close association of a name with a
character, which is a most important aid towards lively and definite
recollection. The characters become not so much individuals as
impersonations of social or domestic relationships, though drawn, it is
true, with a life-like touch. This defect, which is shared to a great
extent by Plautus, is doubtless due to the imitative nature of Latin
comedy. Menander's characters were analysed and classified by the critics,
and the translator felt bound to keep to the main outlines of his model.
It is said that Terence was not satisfied with his delineation of Greek
life, but that shortly before his death he started on a voyage to Greece,
to acquaint himself at first hand with the manners he depicted. [32] This
we can well believe, for even among Roman poets Terence is conspicuous for
his striking _realism_. His scenes are fictitious, it is true, and his
conversation is classical and refined, but both breathe the very spirit of
real life. There is, at least, nothing either ideal or imaginative about
them. The remark of Horace [33] that "Pomponius would have to listen to
rebukes like those of Demea if his father were living; that if you broke
up the elegant rhythmical language you would find only what every angry
parent would say under the same circumstances," is perfectly just, and
constitutes one of the chief excellences of Terence,--one which has made
him, like Horace, a favourite with experienced men of the world.
Terence as a rule does not base his play upon a single Greek original, but
levies contributions from two or more, and exercises his talent in
harmonising the different elements. This process is known as
_contamination_; a word that first occurs in the prologue to the _Andria_,
and indicates an important and useful principle in imitative dramatic
literature. The ground for this innovation is given by W. Wagner as the
need felt by a Roman audience for a quick succession of action, and their
impatience of those subtle dialogues which the Greeks had so much admired,
and which in most Greek plays occupy a somewhat disproportionate length.
The dramas in which "contamination" is most successfully used are, the
_Eunuchus_, _Andria_, and _Adelphoe_; the last-mentioned being the only
instance in which the two models are by different authors, viz. the
_Adelphoi_ of Menander and the _Synapothnaeskontes_ of Diphilus. So far as
the metre and language went, Terence seems to have followed the Greek much
more closely than Plautus, as was to be expected from his smaller
inventive power. Quintilian, in commending him, expresses a wish that he
had confined himself to the trimeter iambic rhythm. To us this criticism
is somewhat obscure. Did the Romans require a more forcible style when the
long iambic or the trochaic was employed? or is it the weakness of his
metrical treatment that Quintilian complains of? Certainly the trochaics
of Terence are less clearly marked in their rhythm than those of Ennius or
Plautus.
Terence makes no allusion by name to any of his contemporaries; [34] but a
line in the _Andria_ [35] is generally supposed to refer to Caecilius, and
to indicate his friendly feeling, somewhat as Virgil indicates his
admiration for Ennius in the opening of the third Georgic. [36] And the
"_vetus poeta_," (Luscius Lavinius) or "_quidam malevoli_," are alluded to
in all the prologues as trying to injure his fame. His first play was
produced in the year that Caecilius died, 166 B.C.; the _Hecyra_ next
year; the _Hauton Timorumenos_ in 163; the _Eunuchus_ and _Phormio_ in
161; the _Adelphoe_ in 160; and in the following year the poet died at the
age of twenty-six, while sailing round the coast of Greece. The maturity
of mind shown by so young a man is very remarkable. It must be remembered
that he belonged to a race whose faculties developed earlier than among
the Romans, that he had been a slave, and was therefore familiar with more
than one aspect of life, and that he had enjoyed the society of the
greatest in Rome, who reflected profoundly on social and political
questions. His influence, though imperfectly exercised in his lifetime,
increased after his death, not so much through the representation as the
reading of his plays. His language became one of the chief standards of
classical Latin, and is regarded by Mr. Munro as standing on the very
highest level--the same as that of Cicero, Caesar, and Lucretius. His
moral character was assailed soon after his death by Porcius Licinius, but
probably without good grounds. More might be said against the morality of
his plays--the morality of accommodation, as it is called by Mommsen.
There is no strong grasp of the moral principle, but decency and propriety
should be respected; if an error has been committed, the best way is, if
possible, to find out that it was no error after all, or at least to treat
it as such. In no point does ancient comedy stand further apart from
modern ideas than in its view of married life; the wile is invariably the
dull legal partner, love for whom is hardly thought of, while the
sentiment of love (if indeed it be worthy of the name) is reserved for the
Bacchis and Thais, who, in the most popular plays turn out to be Attic
citizens, and so are finally united to the fortunate lover.
But defective and erroneous as these views are, we must not suppose that
Terence tries to make vice attractive. On the contrary, he distinctly says
that it is useful to know things as they really are for the purpose of
learning to choose the good and reject the evil. [37] Moreover, his lover
is never a mere profligate, but proves the reality of his affection for
the victim of his wrong-doing by his readiness and anxiety in all cases to
become her husband.
Terence has suggested many modern subjects. The _Eunuchus_ is reflected in
the _Bellamira_ of Sir Charles Sedley and _Le Muet_ of Brueys; the
_Adelphi_ in Molière's _Ecole des Maris_ and Baron's _L'Ecole des Pères_;
and the _Phormio_ in Molière's _Les Fourberies de Scapin_.
We need do no more than just notice the names of LUSCIUS LAVINIUS, [38]
the older rival and detractor of Terence; ATILIUS, whose style is
characterised by Cicero [39] as extremely harsh; TRABEA, who, like
ATILIUS, was a contemporary of Caecilius, and LICINIUS IMBREX, who
belonged to the older generation; TURPILIUS, JUVENTIUS, and VALERIUS, [40]
who lived to a considerably later period. The former died as late as 103
B.C., having thus quite outlived the productiveness of the legitimate
dramatic art. He seems to have been livelier and more popular in his
diction than Terence; it is to be regretted that so little of him remains.
The earliest cultivation of the national comedy (_togata_) [41] seems to
date from after the death of Terence. Its first representative is
TITINIUS, about whom we know little or nothing, except that he based his
plays on the Attic comedy, changing, however, the scene and the costumes.
The pieces, according to Mommsen, were laid in Southern Latium, _e.g._
Setia, Ferentinum, or Velitrae, and delineated with peculiar freshness the
life of these busy little towns. The titles of his comedies are--_Coccus,
Fullones, Hortensius, Quintius, Varus, Gemina, Iurisperita, Prilia,
Privigna, Psaltria, Setina, Tibicina, Velitema, Ulubrana_. From these we
should infer that his peculiar excellence lay in satirizing the weaknesses
of the other sex. As we have before implied, this type of comedy
originally arose in the country towns and maintained a certain antagonism
with the Graecized comedy of Rome. In a few years, however, we find it
established in the city, under T. QUINTIUS ATTA and L. AFRANIUS. Of the
former little is known; of the latter we know that he was esteemed the
chief poet of _togatae_, and long retained his hold on the public.
Quintilian [42] recognises his talent, but condemns the morality of his
plays. Horace speaks of him as wearing a gown which would have fitted
Menander, but this is popular estimation, not his own judgment.
Nevertheless, we may safely assert that the comedies of Afranius and
Titinius, though often grossly indecent, had a thoroughly rich vein of
native humour, which would have made them very valuable indications of the
average popular culture of their day.