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_Dramatis Personae._--The stages and theatres of the Greeks and
Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to
have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in
order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by
the Latins _persona_, from _personare_ (to sound through); and
delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally
prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our
modern plays), as appears from the _Vatican Terence_. Hence
_dramatis personae_ (masks of the drama); which words, after masks
ceased to be used, were understood to mean _persons of the drama_.