CRITO[186], MYSIS, DAVUS.
_Crito._ (_to himself._) I am told, that this is the street in which
Chrysis dwelt; who chose to amass wealth here, in a manner not the
most unexceptionable, rather than live in honest poverty in her own
[187]country. That wealth, however, now devolves to me[188]. But I see
some persons of whom I can inquire. God save you.
_Mysis._ [189]Bless me! whom do I see? is not this Crito the kinsman of
Chrysis? It is.
_Crito._ Oh, Mysis! God save you.
_Mysis._ God save you, Crito.
_Crito._ Alas! [190]poor Chrysis is then gone.
_Mysis._ She is indeed: and the loss of her has almost ruined us.
_Crito._ What! you? how so? has any other misfortune happened to you?
how do you live now, Mysis?
_Mysis._ Oh! we live as we can, as the saying goes: since we cannot
live as we would.
_Crito._ Has Glycera discovered her parents here?
_Mysis._ Would to Heaven she had.
_Crito._ Not yet! In an evil hour then came I here: for, in truth, if
I had known that, I would not have set a foot in this city. Glycera
was always treated as, and called the sister of, Chrysis; and has in
possession what property she left: and the example of others will teach
me what ease, redress, and profit, I have to expect from [191]a suit at
law: besides, I suppose, by this time, she has some lover to espouse
her cause; for, she was no longer in her childhood, when she left
the isle of Andros. I should be railed at as a beggar, and a pitiful
legacy-hunter. Besides, I never could be cruel enough to reduce her to
poverty.
_Mysis._ O excellent Crito! I see you are still the same worthy soul
you used to be.
_Crito._ Well, since I am come, let me see the poor girl.
_Mysis._ By all means.
_Davus._ I will go with them: as I don’t wish to meet with our old
gentleman just at this time.
END OF THE FOURTH ACT.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
CHREMES, SIMO.
_Chremes._ Cease your entreaties, Simo; enough, [192] and more than
enough have I already shewn my friendship towards you: enough have I
risked for you. In my endeavours to oblige you, I have nearly trifled
away my daughter’s happiness.
_Simo._ Nay, Chremes, it is now more than ever that I beg, and even
implore that the kindness you granted me by promise, may now be
fulfilled in deed.
_Chremes._ Your eagerness to obtain what you desire makes you unjust,
and forgetful of your usual friendship and consideration; for, if you
reflected for a moment on what you ask of me, you would cease to urge
me to do myself such an injustice.
_Simo._ What injustice.
_Chremes._ Can you ask? you prevailed on me to choose as my daughter’s
husband, a young man distracted with love for another, and detesting
every thought of marriage: if this union had been consummated, it
would have inthralled her with a husband who would not have loved her,
and exposed her to all the miseries of an unhappy union: that, at the
expense of her happiness, I might attempt the cure of your son. You
obtained your request: the treaty went forward, while circumstances
allowed of it; but now the affair wears a different aspect, be
satisfied, and bear your disappointment with temper. It is said
that Glycera is a citizen of Athens; [193]and that she has a son by
Pamphilus: this sets us free.
_Simo._ I conjure you, Chremes, by the gods, not to suffer yourself
to be led away by those who wish to make their advantage of my son’s
follies: all those reports are invented and spread abroad, with a view
to prevent the marriage: when their cause ceases, they will cease also.
_Chremes._ You are mistaken: I myself saw the Andrian’s maid
quarrelling with Davus.
_Simo._ Oh, no doubt! that I can easily believe.
_Chremes._ But, in earnest; when neither knew that I was present.
_Simo._ I believe it: for Davus told me not long ago that it would
be so: and I can’t think how I could forget to tell you of it, as I
intended.
SCENE II.
CHREMES, SIMO, DAVUS.
_Davus._ (_to himself._) I banish care.
_Chremes._ Here comes Davus.
_Simo._ Where does he come from?
_Davus._ (_to himself._) By virtue of the stranger’s assistance, and my
sovereign skill and ingenuity.
_Simo._ What’s the matter now?
_Davus._ (_to himself._) I never saw any man arrive more opportunely.
_Simo._ Whom is this rascal praising?
_Davus._ (_to himself._) All now is safe.
_Simo._ What hinders me from speaking to him?
_Davus._ (_aside._) ’Tis my master, what shall I do?
_Simo._ (_sneering._) God save you, worthy Sir.
_Davus._ Oh! Simo, and our Chremes, all things are now prepared within.
_Simo._ You’ve taken good care, no doubt!
_Davus._ Send for the bride as soon as you please.
_Simo._ Very well, but Pamphilus is absent now: however, do you answer
me: what business had you in that house?
_Davus._ (_confused._) Who? I?
_Simo._ You.
_Davus._ I, do you say?
_Simo._ Yes, you, I say.
_Davus._ I went in just now.
_Simo._ As if I asked him how long it was ago.
_Davus._ With Pamphilus.
_Simo._ How! is Pamphilus there? wretch that I am! I’m half distracted!
ha! rascal, did you not tell me that they were at variance.
_Davus._ So they are.
_Simo._ Why then is he there?
_Chremes._ (_sneering._) Oh! he’s gone to quarrel with her, no doubt.
_Davus._ Oh yes, and Chremes, I will tell you of a most curious affair.
An old man, whose name I know not, arrived here just now; he seems
both shrewd and confident; his manners and appearance command respect;
there [194]is a grave severity in his countenance; and he speaks with
boldness.
_Simo._ What’s all this about, sirrah?
_Davus._ Nothing, truly, but what I heard him say.
_Simo._ And what does he say?
_Davus._ That he can prove Glycera to be a citizen of Athens.
_Simo._ (_in a passion._) Ho! Dromo! Dromo!
_Davus._ What’s the matter?
_Simo._ Dromo!
_Davus._ Only hear me.
_Simo._ If you dare to say another word.――Dromo, I say!
_Davus._ Hear me, Sir, I beseech you.
SCENE III.
SIMO, CHREMES, DAVUS, DROMO.
_Dromo._ What’s your pleasure, Sir.
_Simo._ Seize this rascal directly, and take him away[195].
_Dromo._ Whom?
_Simo._ Davus.
_Davus._ Why?
_Simo._ Because it is my pleasure. Away with him, I say.
_Davus._ What have I done?
_Simo._ Away with him.
_Davus._ If you find that I have spoken falsely, kill me.
_Simo._ I’ll not hear a single word. I’ll ruffle you now, rascal, I
will.
_Davus._ For all that, what I say is true.
_Simo._ For all that, Dromo, take care to keep him bound, [196]and, do
you hear? chain him up hands and feet together. Go, sirrah, if I live,
I’ll shew you what it is to impose upon your master, and Pamphilus
also shall learn that an indulgent father is not to be deceived with
impunity.
[_Exeunt Dromo and Davus._
_Chremes._ Ah! Simo, check your excessive rage.
_Simo._ Chremes, is this the duty that a father ought to expect from
his son? Do you not pity me, that I am made so anxious by a son? Oh
Pamphilus! Pamphilus! come forth: have you no shame?
SCENE IV.
SIMO, CHREMES, PAMPHILUS.
_Pam._ Who calls me? ’Tis my father! I am undone.
_Simo._ What can you say for yourself? of all the――――
_Chremes._ (_interrupting._) Ah! come to the point at once, and spare
your reproaches.
_Simo._ Reproaches! Can any be too severe for him? Tell me, (_to
Pamphilus._) do you assert that Glycera is a citizen of Athens?
_Pam._ I have heard that she is.
_Simo._ You have heard it! Oh impudence! Now does he seem to care for
what he says? does he seem to repent of his folly? does he betray any
symptoms of shame? can he be so weak? [197]so totally regardless of the
customs and laws of his country, and his father’s commands, as to wish
to degrade himself by an infamous union with this woman?
_Pam._ Unhappy wretch that I am!
_Simo._ Ah! Pamphilus, is it only now that you have discovered that?
long, long ago, I say, when you debased your inclinations, and were
willing to sacrifice every thing to your desires; then it was that you
might truly have called yourself unhappy. But what am I doing? why do I
torment myself? why should I suffer? why imbitter my old age with his
mad folly? Am I to pay the penalty of his offences? No: let him have
her: I bid him farewell: let her supply the place of his father.
_Pam._ Oh, my father!
_Simo._ What need have you of a father? you, who have chosen a wife,
children, and home, which are all of them disagreeable, and even
obnoxious to that father? Persons are suborned hither too, [198]who
say, that she is a citizen of Athens. You have conquered.
_Pam._ Dear Sir, hear me but for a moment.
_Simo._ What can you say?
_Chremes._ Yet hear him, Simo, I entreat you.
_Simo._ Hear him! Oh Chremes, what shall I hear?
_Chremes._ Nevertheless, permit him to speak.
_Simo._ Well, let him speak then, I permit it.
_Pam._ Oh! my father: I confess that I love; and, if to love be a
crime, I confess that I am guilty. But to you I submit: your commands
I promise implicitly to obey: if you insist on my marriage with
Philumena; and compel me to subdue my love [199]for Glycera, I will
endeavour to comply with your commands: I implore only, that you
will cease to accuse me of suborning hither this old man. Suffer me
to bring him before you; that I may clear myself from this degrading
suspicion[200].
_Simo._ What! bring him here?
_Pam._ Suffer it, my father.
_Chremes._ Simo, it is a just request: allow this stranger to come
before you.
_Pam._ Dear Sir, grant me this favour?
_Simo._ Well, be it so. (_Pamphilus goes in._) Oh! Chremes, what would
I not give, to be convinced that my son has not deceived me.
_Chremes._ However great may be the faults of a son, a slight
punishment satisfies a father.
SCENE V.
CHREMES, SIMO, CRITO, PAMPHILUS.
_Crito._ Say no more, Pamphilus, I would do what you wish either for
your sake, or for Glycera’s, or even my regard for truth would be a
sufficient inducement.
_Chremes._ Do I see Crito the Andrian? Yes, it is he!
_Crito._ Well met, Chremes.
_Chremes._ What brought you to Athens, who are such a stranger here?
_Crito._ I came hither on business: but is this Simo?
_Chremes._ Yes.
_Simo._ Does he ask for me? Well, Sir, I am Simo: do you dare to say
that Glycera is a citizen of Athens?
_Crito._ Do you deny it?
_Simo._ Are you come hither so well prepared?
_Crito._ Prepared! for what?
_Simo._ Do you ask? Can you think that you shall do these things
with impunity? Can you think that you will be suffered to insnare
inexperienced and respectable young men? and flatter them with fair
words and fine promises?
_Crito._ Are you in your senses?
_Simo._ And, at last, conclude this shameful fraud, by marrying them to
their mistresses?
_Pam._ (aside.) I am undone? Crito, I fear, will not be able to
maintain his ground.
_Chremes._ [201]Simo, if you knew this stranger as well as I do, you
would think better of him: he is a worthy man.
_Simo._ He a worthy man? but yes, it was very good of him to be sure to
come here so opportunely on the day of my son’s marriage! he! who was
never at Athens before! Chremes, ought such a man to be believed?
_Pam._ (_aside._) I could easily explain that circumstance; but I fear
my interference would offend my father.
_Simo._ A sycophant[202].
_Crito._ What!
_Chremes._ Bear with him, Crito, ’tis his humour.
_Crito._ Then let him look to it: if he persists in saying all he
pleases, I will make him hear something that will not please him. Do I
interfere in this affair? what have I to do with it? Can you not bear
your disappointment patiently. As for what I assert, it is easy enough
to ascertain whether it is true or false. Some years ago, a certain
Athenian was shipwrecked, and cast upon the isle of Andros: he was
accompanied by this very Glycera, who was then an infant: and, in great
distress, applied for assistance to the father of Chrysis.
_Simo._ Now he begins a tale.
_Chremes._ Suffer him to speak.
_Crito._ What! will he interrupt me?
_Chremes._ (_to Crito._) Pray proceed.
_Crito._ Chrysis’ father, who received[203] him, was my relation: and,
at his house, I’ve heard that shipwrecked stranger say, that he was an
Athenian: he died in Andros.
_Chremes._ (_eagerly._) His name was ――――
_Crito._ His name so quickly. Phania.
_Chremes._ Ah!
_Crito._ At least I think it was Phania: one thing I am sure of, he
said he was from[204] Rhamnus.
_Chremes._ Oh Jupiter!
_Crito._ Many other persons who were then in Andros heard of these
things.
_Chremes._ Heaven grant my hopes may be fulfilled: tell me, Crito, did
he call the child his own?
_Crito._ No.
_Chremes._ Whose then?
_Crito._ He said she was the daughter of his brother.
_Chremes._ Then she is surely mine!
_Crito._ What say you?
_Simo._ How can she be yours? What is it you say?
_Pam._ Listen, Pamphilus.
_Simo._ What are your reasons for believing this?
_Chremes._ That Phania was my brother.
_Simo._ I know it: I was well acquainted with him.
_Chremes._ That he might avoid the war, he quitted Greece: and,
following me, set sail for Asia: fearing to leave the child, he took
her with him: and this is the first account I have ever received of
their fate.
_Pam._ I am scarcely myself: my mind is so agitated by fear, hope, joy,
and astonishment, at this so great and unexpected happiness.
_Simo._ Believe me, Chremes, I rejoice most sincerely that Glycera
proves to be your daughter.
_Pam._ That, I believe, my father.
_Chremes._ But stay: I have yet one doubt, which gives me some
uneasiness.
_Pam._ Away with all your doubts and scruples; you seek a difficulty
where none exists.
_Crito._ What is it?
_Chremes._ The name does not agree.
_Crito._ I know she bore some other name when an infant.
_Chremes._ What was it? Crito, have you forgotten?
_Crito._ I am trying to remember it.
_Pam._ Shall I suffer his want of memory to retard my happiness, when
I myself can find a remedy? I will not. Chremes, the name you want is
Pasibula.
_Crito._ The very name[205].
_Chremes._ You are right.
_Pam._ I have heard it from herself a thousand times.
_Simo._ Chremes, I hope you are convinced how sincerely we all rejoice
at this discovery[206].
_Chremes._ I have no doubt of it.
_Pam._ And now, dear Sir.
_Simo._ The happy turn of the affair has reconciled me, my son: be all
unpleasant recollections banished.
_Pam._ A thousand thanks, my father. I trust that Chremes also consents
that Glycera should be mine.
_Chremes._ Undoubtedly: with your father’s approbation.
_Pam._ Oh! that is certain.
[207]_Simo._ I consent most joyfully.
_Chremes._ Pamphilus, my daughter’s portion is ten talents[208].
_Pam._ Dear sir, I am quite satisfied.
_Chremes._ I will hasten to my daughter: come with me, Crito, for I
suppose that she will not remember me.
[_Chremes and Crito go in._
SCENE VI.
SIMO, PAMPHILUS.
_Simo._ Why do you not immediately give orders for her removal to our
house[209]?
_Pam._ That is well thought of, Sir, I’ll intrust that affair to Davus.
_Simo._ He can’t attend to it.
_Pam._ Why not?
_Simo._ Because [210]he is now carrying on things of great weight, and
which touch him more nearly.
_Pam._ What are they?
_Simo._ He is chained.
_Pam._ Ah! dear Sir, that was not well done.
_Simo._ I am sure[211] I ordered it to be well done.
_Pam._ Order him to be set at liberty, my father, I entreat you.
_Simo._ Well, well, I will.
_Pam._ But, pray, let it be done directly.
_Simo._ I will go in, and order him to be released.
[_Exit Simo._
_Pam._ Oh what a joyous happy day is this to me!
SCENE VII.
PAMPHILUS, CHARINUS.
_Char._ (_to himself._) I came to see what Pamphilus is doing: and here
he is.
_Pam._ (_to himself._) Any one would think, perhaps, that I do not
believe this to be true, but I know it is, because I wish it so. I
am of opinion, that the lives of the gods are eternal, because their
pleasures are secure, and without end: for I feel that I am [212]become
immortal, if no sadness intrude on this joy: but whom do I wish to see
at this time? would that I had a friend here whom I might make happy by
relating to him my good fortune.
_Char._ (_to himself._) What can be the cause of these transports?
_Pam._ (_to himself._) I see Davus, whom of all men I had rather
meet: since I know he will rejoice more sincerely than any one at my
happiness.
SCENE VIII.
PAMPHILUS, CHARINUS, DAVUS.
_Davus._ Where is Pamphilus?
_Pam._ Davus.
_Davus._ Who is that?
_Pam._ ’Tis I.
_Davus._ Oh, Pamphilus!
_Pam._ You do not know what has happened to me.
_Davus._ No: but I know perfectly well what has happened to me.
_Pam._ And so do I.
_Davus._ This happens according to custom, that you should learn my
evil fortune before I hear of your good fortune.
_Pam._ My dear Glycera has discovered her parents.
_Davus._ Oh! glorious news!
_Char._ (_aside._) What says he?
_Pam._ Her father is our intimate friend!
_Davus._ His name?
_Pam._ Chremes.
_Davus._ I’m transported with joy.
_Pam._ There is now no impediment to our marriage[213].
_Char._ (_aside._) This man is [214]dreaming of what he wishes when
awake.
_Pam._ Then, Davus, as for the child――――
_Davus._ Ah, Sir! say no more――you are one of the chief favourites of
the gods!
_Char._ (_aside._) I am restored to life if these things be true. I
will speak to them.
_Pam._ Who is that? Ah! Charinus, you come in a most auspicious hour.
_Char._ I wish you joy.
_Pam._ How! have you heard then that――――
_Char._ I have heard all: and let me conjure you, my friend, to think
of me amidst your happiness. Chremes is now your own: and will, I am
very sure, consent to any thing you request of him.
_Pam._ I will not be unmindful of your happiness, I assure you: and,
as it would be tedious for us to wait their coming out, accompany me
now to my Glycera. Do you, Davus, go home, and order some of our people
hither, to [215]remove her to our house. Why do you loiter? Go: don’t
lose a moment.
_Davus._ I am going. (_To the spectators._) [216]You must not expect
their coming out: she will be betrothed within: where all will be
concluded. Farewell: and clap your hands[217].
[218]END OF THE FIFTH ACT.
NOTES.
NOTES.
NOTE 1.
_Caius Suetonius Tranquillus._
The history of the life of Terence is enveloped in more obscurity than
might have been expected, considering his many eminent qualities,
and the times in which he lived. Suetonius’s account is not very
comprehensive; it is, however, the best which has reached us, and
indeed the only one at all to be depended on. Caius Suetonius
Tranquillus, a correct and impartial biographer, was secretary to the
Emperor Adrian: and enjoyed the friendship of Pliny the younger: he
flourished about A.D. 115.
NOTE 2.
_Terentius._
This appellation was conferred on the poet by his patron Terentius
Lucanus: his true name is unknown, even conjecture is silent on this
subject. Slaves, who received their freedom, usually bore the name of
the person who manumitted them: sometimes also, during their slavery,
they were called by the name of their master. Terentius Lucanus does
not appear to have been a person of any particular note; as he is
never mentioned but as the friend and patron of Terence, to whom he is
indebted for rescuing his name from oblivion.
NOTE 3.
_Fenestella._
“Rome could never boast of a more accurate historian than Lucius
Fenestella; he was likewise a very learned antiquarian. He lived at
about the end of the reign of Augustus, or the beginning of that of
Tiberius: and wrote many things; particularly Annals: none of his works
are now extant.” MADAME DACIER.
NOTE 4.
_Terence was born after the conclusion of the second Punic war, and
died before the commencement of the third._
The second Punic war ended 201 B. C. in the year of Rome 553: and the
third commenced 150 B. C. in the year of Rome 604, about three years
before the destruction of Carthage. Terence was born 189 B. C., which
was 12 years after the termination of the second Punic war, and he died
at the age of 36, three years before the beginning of the third Punic
war. If we suppose Terence to have been a freeborn Carthaginian, it
is very difficult to account for his being a slave at Rome; because
the Romans could not have taken him prisoner in war, as they were at
peace with the Carthaginians during the whole of his life. Neither
is it probable that he was made a prisoner, and sold to the Romans
either by the Numidians, or by the Gætulians, as his perfect knowledge
of the Latin and Greek languages, at twenty-five years of age, is a
most forcible reason for believing that he was removed to Rome in
extreme youth: long before he could have been able to undergo the
fatigue attendant on a military life. I can solve this difficulty in
no other way than by supposing, either that the parents of Terence
were themselves slaves at Carthage, and consequently he also was the
property of their master; (as the children of slaves shared the fate
of their parents;) or that he was sold to the Carthaginians by the
Numidians, or by the Gætulians. In either of these cases, it is by no
means improbable that during the peace which followed the second Punic
war, Terence might in his infancy have been sold by his Carthaginian
master to one of those Romans who visited Carthage during the peace.
NOTE 5.
_The Numidians or Gætulians._
Numidia and Gætulia, or Getulia, at the time of Terence’s birth, formed
a part of the dominions of the celebrated African prince Masinissa, who
so eminently distinguished himself as the firm and faithful ally of
the Roman Republic: and as the formidable enemy of the Carthaginians.
Numidia was situated S.W. of the territories of Carthage; and is now
that part of Southern Barbary, known by the name of Biledulgerid.
Gætulia (the boundaries of which were afterwards regulated by Marius)
was a most extensive country, and lay S.W. of Numidia: it is now very
little known, and reaches from the south of Barbary, or the country of
Dates, across the Great Desert or Sahara, almost as far south as the
river Niger. It may be conjectured that the northern region only of
this vast country was subject to the control of King Masinissa.
NOTE 6.
_Scipio Africanus._
Publius Cornelius Scipio Æmilianus Africanus Numantinus was the son
of Paulus Æmilius, whose conquest of Macedonia procured him the title
of Macedonicus. The young Æmilius was adopted (during the life of his
father) by the son of the conqueror of Hannibal, Publius Cornelius
Scipio Africanus, whose name he afterwards bore (in conformity with
the established custom): and it is not a little remarkable, that the
appellation of Africanus which the son of Æmilius then acquired by
adoption, he afterwards claimed in his own right, as the destroyer of
Carthage. The title of Numantinus was conferred on this hero, as a
tribute to his valour and conduct in the war against the inhabitants
of Numantia, who were totally destroyed with their city, after a long
and desperate resistance. Scipio was born in the year of Rome 569,
and died in the year 624. Some persons have been misled by a singular
coincidence of circumstances relative to the two Scipios, into a
belief that it was the elder of the two who honoured Terence with his
friendship. The error is evident, as the death of the first Scipio
Africanus took place before Terence was ten years of age. The elder
Scipio honoured with his particular regard Caius Lælius, who obtained
the consulship in the year of Rome 563: the connexion between them
was cemented by the strict ties of a virtuous friendship. It is a
circumstance worthy of remark, that the chosen intimate of the younger
Africanus was also called Caius Lælius.
NOTE 7.
_Caius Lælius._
Caius Lælius, whose virtues procured him the appellation of Sapiens, or
the Wise, is supposed to have been the son of the Lælius who enjoyed
the friendship of the elder Scipio. Caius Lælius Sapiens was the senior
Consul or Consul Prior in the year of Rome 613. Cicero’s treatise “De
Amicitiâ,” in which he represents Lælius discoursing on the nature
and delights of a pure and delicate friendship, is a monument of the
attachment of Scipio and Lælius, worthy of them and of himself.
NOTE 8.
_Who were about his own age._
Those who have read Suetonius in the original, will perceive that I
have passed by an imputation recorded by that writer, against Scipio,
Lælius, and our author: the refined delicacy by which the sentiments of
those eminent persons were distinguished, ought to protect them from so
disgusting and degrading a suspicion.
NOTE 9.
_Portius._
Licinius Portius, a Latin poet, who flourished about the year of Rome
610: he excelled as an epigrammatist. Fragments only of his writings
now remain.
NOTE 10.
_Furius._
Publius Furius, an eminent statesman, was the intimate friend of Scipio
and Lælius: he received the surname of Philus or the Lover. Furius was
elected the Consul Prior in the year of Rome 617.
NOTE 11.
_While he is frequently carried to the Albanian villa._
There were in Latium two towns called Alba, each of which were situated
on the borders of a lake.
Alba Longa, now called Albano, was built by Ascanius, and distant
16 miles from Rome. Alba Fucentis, situated about three times that
distance from the capital, on lake Fucinus, is now known by the name
of Celano. The Albanian mountain, where Scipio, Lælius, or Furius
probably possessed a villa, was in the immediate vicinity of Alba
Longa. Portius might have alluded to Terence accompanying his friends
to the Latinæ Feriæ, or Latin games, which were celebrated by the
Consuls on the Alban mountain on the 27th of April.
NOTE 12.
_And dies at Stymphalus, a town of Arcadia._
Stymphalus, a town of Arcadia, was situated about 25 miles S.W. of
Corinth, on the borders of a lake of the same name, which is said
to have been infested by a species of Harpies, who were called
Stymphalides. A festival called ΣΤΥΜΦΑΛΙΑ was celebrated at Stymphalus
in honour of Diana, who on that account received the appellation of
Stymphalia.
NOTE 13.
_The Ædiles._
All plays, previous to their appearance on the Roman stage, were
submitted to the perusal of the Ædiles, who chose from the number
offered them those which (in their judgment) were best suited for
representation: they were bound by oath to an impartial decision.
NOTE 14.
_Cærius._
Many have supposed Cæcilius the poet to have been the person meant in
this passage: this is a manifest error; as that poet died five or six
years before the representation of this play. Others read Acilius, who
was one of the Ædiles for the year in which the Andrian was exhibited:
this would be a plausible reading, but for one circumstance, which
must be considered as an insurmountable objection to it, viz.――The
Gens Acilia (of which Acilius was a member) was _a plebeian family_:
consequently, Acilius must have been a plebeian Ædile, whereas the
inspection of the Roman plays was the office of the Curule Ædiles: who,
in the time of Terence, were chosen from the _Patrician_ families.
NOTE 15.
_The Couch of Cærius._
The Cœna of the Romans (their principal meal) was usually taken at
three o’clock in the afternoon: when they partook of it, instead of
sitting in the modern manner, they reclined on couches which were
placed round the table in the form of the letter C; a space was left
unoccupied that the slaves in placing and removing the dishes might
not incommode the guests. The number of the couches was generally
limited to three; each of which was occupied sometimes by four, but
usually by only three persons. The body was raised, and supported by
the left arm; the feet of him who reclined at the upper end of the
couch lay at the back of the person next him: (though prevented from
touching his clothes by cushions placed between them) and the feet of
the second at the back of the third. To place more than three guests
on one couch was accounted both mean and vulgar. Cicero notices this
in his oration against Piso, “_Græci stipati, quini in lectulis, sæpe
plures_,” speaking of “_five, and often a greater number crowded
together on one small couch_.” The Romans indulged themselves with
couches only at supper: no ceremony was observed at their other
meals, which were taken sitting or standing, alone or in company, as
inclination prompted. In the earlier ages both Romans and Greeks sat
upright at their meals: Homer expressly mentions (_in Odyss. B. 10._)
“ἥμεθα δαινύμενοι,” “_we sat feasting_;” also Virgil. Æn. 7. v. 176.
NOTE 16.
_Volcatius._
Volcatius Sedigitus, a miscellaneous writer and poet, mentioned in
very high terms by the younger Pliny, flourished in the reign of one of
the 12 Cæsars: the exact time is unknown. His works are entirely lost,
with the exception of a few verses; amongst them are the following, in
which he classes ten of the most eminent Latin comic poets.
“Multos incertos certare hanc rem vidimus,
Palmam poëtæ comico cui deferant:
Hunc _meo judicio_ errorem dissolvam tibi;
Ut contra si quis sentiat, nihil sentiat.
CÆCILIO palmam STATIO do comico:
PLAUTUS secundus facile exsuperat cæteros:
Dein NÆVIUS, qui servet pretium, tertius est:
Si erit quod quarto detur, dabitur LICINIO:
Post insequi Licinium facio ATILIUM.
In sexto consequitur loco hos TERENTIUS:
TURPILIUS septimum, TRABEA octavum obtinet.
Nono loco esse facile facio LUSCIUM.
Antiquitatis causâ, decimum addo ENNIUM.”
Au: Gell: B. 15. C 24.
“Madame Dacier very well observes, that Volcatius has injured the
reputation of his own judgment, and not the fame of Terence, by this
injudicious arrangement.” Terence yields to none of the above.
NOTE 17.
_The Eunuch was acted twice in one day._
This circumstance is so much the more extraordinary, as a play was
seldom exhibited on the Roman stage oftener than on four or five
occasions, before it was laid aside; and new pieces were usually
provided for every festival: with what enthusiastic applause then,
must the Eunuch have been received, when the audience with the loudest
acclamations, called for a second representation of this admirable
comedy on the same day! It is necessary to explain that the actors had
sufficient time to repeat their performance, as dramatic entertainments
were usually frequented by the Romans, not in the evening as among the
moderns, but in the course of the day, and generally previous to the
hour of their principal repast.
NOTE 18.
_Eight thousand sesterces._
Eight thousand sesterces were equal to 64_l._ 11_s._ 8_d._ sterling.
The Romans reckoned their money by sesterces: the _sestertius_, which
was a brass coin, worth 1. d. 3 qrs. ¾, must not be confounded with the
_sestertium_, which was no coin, but money of account, and equal in
value to _one thousand sesterces_.
NOTE 19.
_Varro._
Marcus Terentius Varro was born at Rome in the year of the city 632;
at the time of the sedition of Caius Gracchus. Varro was the intimate
friend of Pompey: and obtaining the consulship in the year 680, had
the mortification to find the efforts of himself and his colleague,
inadequate to suppress the insurrection of Spartacus, whose successes
at the head of the rebellious gladiators, alarmed all Rome. The
military occupations of Varro did not prevent his close attention to
literature: his writings were very voluminous; and those of them which
remain are deservedly in high estimation.
NOTE 20.
_And as for what those malicious railers say, who assert
that certain noble persons assist the poet._
The chief of those railers, and the arch-enemy of Terence, was the
Luscius Lanuvinus to whom Volcatius in his list of poets assigns the
ninth place;――and the same person whom Donatus designates by the name
of Lucius Lavinius. Luscius was not singular in this imputation against
our author. Valgius and others seem to consider Terence but the mere
nominal author of the six pieces which bear his name. That Scipio and
Lælius assisted him with their advice, is highly probable, and his
vanity might feel flattered by the insertion among his own writings,
of short passages of their composition; but when we call to mind, that
Africanus and his friend, two persons of the most refined delicacy and
taste, distinguished by their friendship, and selected as a companion
in their hours of retirement and relaxation, a freedman! a man whose
rank was infinitely inferior to their own; we must naturally suppose
that those eminent persons courted the society of Terence, as admirers
of his extraordinary genius, and elevation of sentiment. As they could
not have become thoroughly acquainted with our author’s engaging
qualifications, but from his dramatic compositions, it is most probable
that the ANDRIAN at least, was published, before he was honoured with
the intimacy of either Scipio, Lælius, or Furius. Indeed there can be
but little doubt that the success of this play, (which he wrote when
he was too little known, perhaps, to receive assistance from any one,)
was the means of drawing him from the obscurity of his low rank, and of
obtaining the notice and approbation of the great men of his age, and
their patronage for his future productions.
NOTE 21.
_Quintus Memmius._
The oration alluded to by Suetonius was written by Memmius to defend
himself against a charge of bribery. The Memmii were a plebeian family,
though several of them attained to the highest dignities. Quintus was
nearly related to the Caius Memmius who was assassinated by Lucius
Apuleius Saturninus: and is supposed to have been the son of the
Memmius to whom Lucretius dedicated his celebrated poem, “_De Rerum
naturâ_.” _Vide_ Cicero in Catilin. and Florus, B. 3., c. 16.
NOTE 22.
_Cornelius Nepos._
Cornelius Nepos, a celebrated biographer of the Augustan age, was born
on the banks of the Po, which he quitted in his youth; and, attracted
by the splendour and pleasures of a gallant and polite court, removed
to Rome, where his talents and taste for literature procured him the
friendship of Cicero, and many other eminent persons. Of all his
much-admired writings nothing remains but his “_Lives of the most
illustrious Greeks and Romans_.”
NOTE 23.
_Puteoli._
Puteoli, or, as it is now called, Puzzoli, was much frequented by the
Romans for the sake of its hot-wells: being at a convenient distance
from the capital, not more than a day’s journey. It is now become
comparatively inconsiderable, while Naples, in its vicinity, has grown
into importance. Puzzoli, however, still affords some attraction to
the curious; as there are the ruins of a temple of Jupiter Apis, or
Serapis, to be seen there. This town was originally called Dicearchea:
named, probably, after _Dice_, a daughter of Jupiter.
NOTE 24.
_On the first of March._
The Roman ladies were allowed to exercise extraordinary authority on
this day, on which they celebrated the festival called MATRONALIA,
instituted in gratitude to Mars, who permitted a termination of the war
between the Romans and Sabines; in which the women were particularly
concerned. The privileges allowed to ladies on the first of March,
were, I believe, confined to the matrons, in commemoration of the
_successful interference of the married women_, in the year 749, B. C.,
which put an end to the war between the Romans and the Sabines, who
had taken up arms to revenge the rape of their women by the Romans, at
a festival to which Romulus had invited them. (_Vide Note 28._)
NOTE 25.
_Santra._
Little is known of Santra, but that he was cotemporary with Cicero, and
author of some biographical Memoirs, and “A Treatise on the Antiquity
of Words,” which are now entirely lost. His family, probably, were
plebeians, and of no great note.
NOTE 26.
_He would not have requested it from Scipio and
Lælius, who were then extremely young._
Santra’s argument is of no force: for when Terence published the
Andrian, in the year of Rome 587, at twenty-seven years of age, Scipio
was eighteen, and might, at that age, have been perfectly capable
of assisting Terence; for, independent of his excellent education,
on which his father had bestowed infinite care and pains, he was
possessed of a very superior genius: and nature had united in him all
the fine qualities of his father, and of his grandfather by adoption,
Scipio the Great. Velleius Paterculus wrote his eulogium as follows,
“_Publius Scipio Æmilianus inherited the virtues of his grandfather
Publius Africanus, and of his father Lucius Paulus, excelled all
his cotemporaries in wit and learning, and in all the arts of war
and peace; and, in the course of his whole life never did, said, or
thought, any thing, but what was worthy of the highest praise_.”
“We have seen princes in France, who, at the age of eighteen, were
capable of assisting a poet, as well with respect to the conduct and
arrangement of his subject; as in what related to the manners, the
diction, and the thoughts. Menander published his first piece at
twenty years of age. It is clear, then, that there have been persons
of eighteen, capable of assisting a poet. It appears, moreover, that
the enemies of Terence did not publish this imputation against him till
the latter years of his life, for the poet complains of it only in the
prologues to the Self-tormentor and the Brothers: the first of which
was played three years, and the last but one year before his death.
When the first appeared, he was thirty-one, and Scipio twenty-two:
and when the last was published, he was thirty-four, and Scipio was
twenty-five.”――MADAME DACIER.
NOTE 27.
_Cneus Sulpicius Gallus._
Cneus Sulpicius Galba, surnamed Gallus, was by no means the least
illustrious member of the noble family of the Sulpicii, and filled the
office of Consul for the year in which the Andrian was acted. The first
of the Sulpicii took the name of _Galba_, from his diminutive stature,
that word signifying “_a small insect_;” and the name was afterwards
assumed by several of his descendants.
NOTE 28.
_Who procured the representation of comedies at the
Consular Games._
The Ludi Consulares and Ludi Consuales were probably the same, as we
have no account of the institution of any games particularly in honour
of the Consuls, to be celebrated either at their entering on, or
resigning their office; for the _Latinæ Feriæ_, though superintended
particularly by the Consuls, and a part of their office, were not
called Consular Games. The Consual, or Consular Games were instituted
on the following occasion. Romulus, the first king of Rome, had no
sooner assumed the government of the small band of adventurers who were
the ancestors of that illustrious race of heroes, who long held all the
nations of the earth in subjection, than he found his kingdom in danger
of being totally destroyed in its birth; as none of the inhabitants of
the neighbouring states were willing to form a matrimonial alliance
with his subjects; many of whom were refuged criminals and exiled
foreigners. To obtain wives for his people, he was compelled to have
recourse to a stratagem, which Plutarch describes as follows: “_He
(Romulus) circulated a report that he had discovered, concealed under
ground, the altar of a certain god, whom they called_ CONSUS, _the God
of counsel, whose proper appellation is Neptunus Equestris, or Neptune,
the inventor of riding; for, except at horse-races, when it is exposed
to sight, this altar is kept covered in the great circus; and, it was
said, that it was not improperly concealed, because all counsels ought
to be kept secret and hidden. Romulus, having found the altar, caused
proclamation to be made, that, on an appointed day, a magnificent
sacrifice would be offered; and public games and shows exhibited, which
were to be open to all who should choose to attend them. Upon this,
great numbers went there. The king, dressed in a purple robe, was
seated on high, surrounded by the chief patricians: he was to arise,
take up his robe, and throw it over him, as a signal for the attack:
his subjects, with ready weapons, kept their eyes intently fixed upon
their sovereign; and, when the sign was given, they drew their swords
with a shout, and seized, and carried off the daughters of the Sabines,
who fled, without offering resistance._”――PLUTARCH.
The games which were instituted on this singular occasion were
afterwards celebrated annually on the 12th of the calends of September,
and considered to be an imitation of the Olympian Games of the
Greeks. The Consuales, being celebrated in the Circus were sometimes
called Circenses. The conduct of the Romans in the before-mentioned
circumstances, and that of the Benjamites in a like predicament is so
uniformly similar, that whoever attentively compares them, cannot think
it very improbable that Romulus derived the idea of his stratagem from
that passage of Jewish history. _Vide_ Judges, C. 21.
NOTE 29.
_Quintus Fabius Labeo._
If the accuracy of Plutarch may be depended on, Santra must have
been mistaken in supposing Quintus Fabius Labeo to be still living
at the time of the Andrian’s publication, or for several years
before its appearance. This conclusion is deduced from the following
circumstances: Quintus Fabius Maximus, whose prudent method of delaying
a battle, and harassing his enemy, (in his campaigns against Hannibal,)
procured him the surname of _Cunctator_, or _Delayer_, enjoyed the
dignity of the consulship _five_ several times: he was first chosen
in the year of Rome 525, and, supposing that he obtained that office
in what Cicero calls _suo anno_, his own year, that is, as soon as
he had attained the age required by law, Fabius must then have been
forty-three years of age, and, as he died in his one hundredth year,
he could not have been alive after the year 582. Quintus Fabius Labeo,
who was the son of this hero, died (Plutarch informs us) some years
before his father; and, consequently, could not have assisted Terence,
even in his first play, the Andrian, which did not appear till the year
of Rome 587. That Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator was the father of
Quintus Fabius Labeo can admit of no doubt, though some authors who
have mentioned them have omitted to notice their relationship. Plutarch
expressly informs us, that the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus was of
consular dignity, and, with the exception of the Cunctator, Quintus
Fabius Labeo was the only Fabius whose name appears on record as
consul, from the year of Rome 521 to the year 611.
NOTE 30.
_Marcus Popilius Lænas._
Madame Dacier thinks that the person here meant was Caius Popilius
Lænas, who shared the consular government with Publius Ælius Ligur in
the year of Rome 581; but that learned and celebrated lady assigns no
reason why we should suppose either Suetonius or Santra to have been
incorrect in affirming Marcus the brother of Caius to have been the
reputed assistant of Terence. Marcus was a man of high reputation,
and eminent abilities: the following anecdote, related by Velleius
Paterculus, (_Book_ I. _Chap._ 10.) will afford some idea of the
resolute decision of his character. “_The king of Syria, Antiochus
Epiphanes, (or the illustrious) was at that time besieging Ptolemy,
king of Egypt. Marcus Popilius Lænas was sent ambassador to Antiochus,
to desire him to desist: he delivered his message; the king replied
that he would consider of it; upon which Popilius drew a circle round
him in the sand on which they stood, and told him, that he insisted
on his final answer before he quitted that circumscribed space. This
resolute boldness prevailed, and Antiochus obeyed the Roman mandate._”
Marcus Popilius Lænas was the junior Consul for the year of Rome 580:
the name of his colleague was Lucius Posthumius Albinus.
NOTE 31.
_Persons of Consular dignity._
Those who had filled the office of consul were afterwards always
called consulares, _of Consular dignity_; those who had been Prætors
were styled Prætorii, _of Prætorian dignity_; in a similar manner the
Censors took the title of Censorii, the Quæstors of Quæstorii, and
the Ædiles of Ædilitii, though it does not appear that they were very
strict in taking precedence accordingly.
NOTE 32.
_Quintus Consentius._
If any Latin writer called Quintus Consentius ever existed, all traces
are lost both of his compositions and of his history; even the name of
his family is unknown. It is possible that instead of Consentius, Cn.
Sentius may be the person meant in this passage. Several of the Sentii
were authors of some celebrity.
NOTE 33.
_Menander._
Menander was born at Athens, 345 B. C., and educated with great
care by Theophrastus the peripatetic, whose labours must have been
amply repaid, when he witnessed the proficiency of his pupil, who
distinguished himself by successful dramatic compositions before he
had attained his 21st year. With the exception of a few fragments,
his works are entirely lost. Comedy was invented at Athens, and
divided into three kinds; _the old_, _the middle_, and _the new_. The
old comedy was that in which both the names and the circumstances
were real; the middle, was where the circumstances were true, but
the names disguised. To these two kinds, Menander had the glory of
adding a third, which was called the new comedy, where both the plot
and the characters were wholly fictitious. His style is said to have
been elegant, and his ideas and sentiments refined. Dion Chrysostom
considers his writings to be an excellent model for orators. This great
poet wrote from 100 to 108 plays; from which Terence took four of his,
viz., his Andrian, Eunuch, Self-tormentor, and Brothers. Menander
obtained a poetical prize, eight several times; his chief competitor
was called Philemon.
NOTE 34.
_Leucadia._
Leucadia, or as it is now called Santa Maura, or Lefcathia, is
an island about 50 miles in circumference, in that part of the
Mediterranean which was known among the ancients by the name of the
Ionian sea. This island was rendered famous by one of its promontories
called Leucas, and Leucate, which overhangs the sea at a very
considerable perpendicular height: a leap from this promontory into
the water beneath, was reckoned among the Greeks as an infallible
cure for unhappy lovers of either sex, and most of those who made
the experiment, found their love, and all the rest of their cares
effectually terminated by this wise step. The famous poetess Sappho
perished in this leap. _Vide The Spectator, Nos. 223, 227, 233._
NOTE 35.
_The consulate of Cneus Cornelius Dolabella, and
Marcus Fulvius Nobilior._
This was in the year of Rome 594, and about 7 years after the
appearance of our author’s first play. As his last production, The
Brothers had been published but one year before this period; this
circumstance alone, is sufficient to decide the degree of credit which
ought to be accorded to the absurd report of Terence having translated
108 plays from Menander.
NOTE 36.
_A Roman Knight._
The Romans were divided into three classes. 1. _The Patricians_, or
nobility. 2. _The Equites_, or knights. 3. _The Plebeians_, or the
commons: that is, all who were not included in the two first ranks. The
Equites, or knights, were in fact the Roman cavalry, as they usually
had no other: though all of them were men of fortune; it being required
by law (at least under the Emperors, if not before) that each Eques
at his enrolment should possess 400 sestertia: a sum equal to between
3,000_l._ and 4,000_l._ sterling: a person worth double that sum might
be chosen senator. Each knight was provided with a horse, and a gold
ring, at the public expense; and at a general review, which took place
every five years, the Censor was empowered ignominiously to deprive of
his horse, and degrade from his rank, any knight who by disgraceful
conduct had proved himself unworthy of his dignity.
NOTE 37.
_A garden of XX jugera._
The jugerum, or Roman acre, contained 28,800 feet; consequently,
Terence’s estate must have been equal to rather more than 13 English
acres: and (_as a garden_) must have been of considerable value: land
in Italy, especially in the vicinity of the capital, bearing a high
price; though not so high as in the reign of Trajan, who passed a law
that every candidate for an office should hold a third part of his
property in land. The Romans were particularly partial to gardens; to
improve and beautify them, they bestowed great care, and expended large
sums of money; some of these gardens were of vast extent, and most
magnificently embellished with statues, paintings, aqueducts, &c., as
were those of Cæsar and Sallust.
NOTE 38.
_The Villa Martis._
The ancient Roman villas were built with extraordinary magnificence,
according to those descriptions of them which have reached modern
times, and are not unworthy of attention. The great pleasure the
Romans took in their villas, and gardens adjoining, may be seen in
the writings of many of the most eminent among them; Varro, Cicero,
Pliny, Cato, and others, have described these delightful retirements
in a particular manner. In the villas of the richest, were concentred
all the attractions that art or nature could be made to yield; and
magnificence was every where blended with convenience. For the site
of a villa of this description they chose the centre of a fine park,
well stocked with game and fish: the building was generally lofty;
(nearly 100 feet in height) for the advantage of an extensive view;
as the _cœnatio_ where the family met at meals was selected in the
upper story. The villa was divided into two parts, called _urbana_ and
_rustica_: the first contained the chambers used by the family and
guests, together with the places of amusement and refreshment; as the
baths, terraces, &c. The _villa rustica_ was that part allotted to the
slaves and domestics, who were extremely numerous. Those who wish for
a minute description of the habits and manners of the Romans, in the
country, may be fully gratified by consulting the following writers
on the subject; Varro and Cato _de re rustica_; Dickson on _Roman
agriculture_; and the works of Columella, and Dionysius Halicarnasseus.
NOTE 39.
_Afranius._
Lucius Afranius, a comic writer, was contemporary with Terence, and
elevated himself into notice, by his imitations of that favourite poet,
and of his great prototype Menander. Fragments of the compositions of
Afranius are still extant: in his work quoted by Suetonius he probably
gave a poetical description of the festival called Compitalia, or
Compitalitia, and mentioned Terence as the author of comedies, which
had been represented at that festival.
NOTE 40.
_Compitalia._
The Compitalia or Compitalitia were _originally_ ceremonies, (for
nothing could be more improperly denominated _festivals_) of a nature
at once extraordinary, disgusting and barbarous. It was never possible
to ascertain where, or by whom, they were first instituted; though
it is generally agreed that they were revived by _Servius Tullius_,
the sixth king of Rome, who first introduced the observance of them
among his subjects about the year 200. They were celebrated in honour
of the goddess _Mania_, and of the _Lares_, who were supposed to be
her offspring. The _Lares_ were the household gods of the Romans, and
placed in the innermost recesses of their houses. These household gods
were small images of their ancestors, which they always kept wrapped
in dog’s skin, (which was intended for an emblem of _watchfulness_) as
being for the protection of the house and its inhabitants. They were
also called the _Manes_ of their forefathers, from _Mania_. It was
pretended, that on consulting an oracle respecting the religious means
to be employed for ensuring domestic security, the oracular response
commanded that _Heads should be sacrificed for Heads_, meaning, that as
divine vengeance required the lives of the culprits, the people should
offer the heads of others instead of their own, and accordingly the
Compitalia were instituted on this occasion, and _human victims_ were
on this preposterous pretence sacrificed with a sow, to ensure family
safety. The Romans, however, had too much good sense to suffer a long
continuance of this diabolical folly: and they threw off the yoke of
the tyrannical Tarquin, and this obnoxious custom at the same time.
Lucius Junius Brutus abolished the sacrifice of human beings; and as
the oracle required the offering of heads, he fulfilled its commands
by substituting the heads of onions and poppies. They afterwards made
figures of wool, which they suspended at their doors, imprecating all
misfortunes on the images, instead of themselves. Slaves were allowed
their liberty during the celebration of the Compitalia; and with
freedmen officiated as priests on the occasion. Being rendered harmless
by Brutus’ convenient interpretation of the oracle, the Compitalia were
continued till the reigns of the emperors. The word Compitalia is by
some derived from Compita, crossways, because during the ceremonies,
the statues of the _Lares_ were placed in a spot where several streets
met, and crowned with flowers. I think it not improbable that the
original name was _Capitalia_, from _capita_, _heads_, because _heads_
were the requisite offerings.
NOTE 41.
_Nævius._
Cneus Nævius flourished about the year 500, and acquired great fame
by some successful comedies which are now lost: he offended Lucius
Cæcilius Metellus, a man of great power, and consular dignity, by whose
influence the unfortunate poet was banished to Africa, where he died.
Volcatius assigns to Nævius the third place.
NOTE 42.
_Plautus._
Marcus Accius Plautus was a native of Sarsina, a town of Umbria, near
the Adriatic sea, and died at Rome, 182 B. C., at the age of forty,
leaving behind him a literary reputation which very few, of any age
or county, have ever been able to equal. Of those who refused to
allow Plautus the title of the _First comic poet of Rome_, scarcely
any have disputed his right to be second in the list, where Terence
holds the _first_ place: some critics, indeed, have gone so far as
to prefer Plautus, even to Terence himself; but Volcatius Sedigitus,
whose judgment did Terence great injustice, makes Plautus second only
to Cæcilius. The saying of Ælius Stilo is worthy of being recorded;
“Musas Plautino sermone locuturas fuisse, si Latinè loqui vellent,”
_that if the Muses wished to speak in Latin, they would speak in the
language of Plautus_. This celebrated man wrote 27 or 28 comedies,
which, notwithstanding the change of manners, kept possession of the
stage for nearly 500 years; and were performed with applause as late
as the reigns of Carus and Numerian. Only 20 of them are now extant.
The following is the poet’s epitaph, written (as is supposed) by Varro,
though Pietro Crinito affirms it to be the production of Plautus
himself, of whom Crinito has written a biographical account.
“_Postquam est morte captus Plautus,
Comœdia luget, scena est deserta,
Deinde risus, ludus jocusque et numeri
Innumeri simul omnes collacrymarunt._”
The comic muse bewails her Plautus dead,
And silence reigns o’er the deserted stage;
The joyous train that graced the scene are fled,
And weep to lose, the wittiest of his age.
While jests and sports their patron’s death deplore,
And even laughter, now can smile no more.
NOTE 43.
_Cæcilius._
Cæcilius Statius was born in Gaul, and raised himself into eminence,
from the condition of a slave, by his poetical talents: he died at Rome
five or six years before the Andrian was first published. Volcatius
gives Cæcilius the first place: Horace draws a sort of comparison
between him and Terence in the following line,
“Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.”
_Cæcilius
Excelled in force, and grandeur of expression,
Terence in art._
Quintilian tells us, “Cæcilium veteres laudibus serunt.” _The ancients
resounded the praises of Cæcilius._――Also Varro, “Pathè vero, Cæcilius
facile moverat.” That _Cæcilius knew how to interest the passions_.
Cæcilius wrote more than 30 comedies, now lost.
NOTE 44.
_Licinius._
Publius Licinius Tegula, a comic poet, flourished during the _second
Punic war_. Aulus Gellius mentions him by the name of Caius Licinius
Imbrex, author of a comedy called Neæra, but there can be little doubt
but that Imbrex, and the Tegula above-mentioned were the same person.
NOTE 45.
_Cicero in his_ ΛΕΙΜΩΝ.
“Cicero wrote a poem, to which he affixed the title of λειμων, a Greek
word signifying _a meadow_; he gave it this name, probably, because,
as meadows are filled with various kinds of flowers, his work was a
numerous collection of flowers (_of literature_) affording an agreeable
variety. This poem, it seems, consisted entirely of panegyrics on
illustrious persons. Nothing can be more erroneous than a supposition
that these verses were the forgery of some grammarian: the Latin is
too elegant, and they are too finely written, to allow us to suppose
them a spurious production; and if Cicero had never written any lines
inferior to these; his fame as a poet, might have equalled his fame as
an orator. Ausonius had these verses in his mind, when he wrote
Tu quoque qui Latium lecto sermone Terenti,
Comis, et astricto percurris pulpita socco.
What is still more remarkable, Cæsar commences his lines on Terence, in
Cicero’s words, Tu quoque, &c., for there is not the least doubt but
that Cæsar undertook this work, merely with a view to irritate, and to
contradict Cicero.”
MADAME DACIER.
The name of Cicero is too well known, to need any further mention here;
suffice it to say, that this great orator was totally unsuccessful in
his poetical attempts, the chief fault of which was want of harmony
in the measure: it may be remarked of Cicero, that very frequently
his prose was written with the music of verse, and his verse with the
roughness of prose.
NOTE 46.
_Caius Julius Cæsar._
The poem, of which these lines formed a part, is entirely lost; what
remains of it, however, proves Julius Cæsar to have been no mean poet,
but he seems to have excelled in every art of war and peace;――
quem Marte, togâque
Præcipium.
The first alike in war, and peace.
OVID.
If the lines quoted by Suetonius were written in ridicule of Cicero,
they are another proof in support of an opinion that has been very
prevalent, that the orator was not very high in the good graces of
Cæsar, whose dislike of him may be easily traced to Marc Antony,
Cæsar’s intimate and favourite companion, and the most inveterate enemy
of Cicero.
NOTE 47.
_The Megalesian Games._
The Megalesian games were celebrated annually at Rome, in the beginning
of April, with solemn feasts, in honour of Cybele, otherwise called
Rhea, the mother of the gods. Opinions vary as to their duration, some
fixing it at six days, and others at not more than one. Originally
instituted in Phrygia, these ceremonies were introduced at Rome, during
the _second Punic war_, when the statue of the goddess was carried
thither from Pessinus. They consisted chiefly of scenic sports; and
women danced before this statue, which was held so sacred, that no
servant was allowed to approach it, or to take any part in the games.
They were called Megalesian, from the Greek words, μεγαλη, great,
Cybele being known by the name of the Great Goddess, and Ευαλωσια,
another name of Cybele, as presiding over husbandry. The festival
ΘΕΣΜΟΦΟΡΙΑ, celebrated in Athens, Sparta, and Thebes, in honour of the
same goddess resembled in many circumstances the Roman Megalesia; the
Latins appear to have adopted partially, on various occasions, the
religious ceremonies of the Greeks, particularly in their imitation
of certain of the solemnities which were observed at the _Eleusinian_
mysteries.
NOTE 48.
_Curule Ædilate._
The Curule Ædiles, created in the year of Rome 388, were at first
elected from among the patricians. These magistrates were appointed
to inspect all public edifices, (whence their name) to fix the rate
of provisions, to take cognizance of disorders committed within the
city, and to examine weights and measures: but their chief employment
was to procure the celebration of the various Roman games, and to
exhibit comedies and shews of gladiators; on which account, though
inferior in rank to the Consuls, they precede them in the title of
this play. The Ædilate was an honourable office, and a primary step to
higher dignities in the republic. Curule magistrates were those who
were entitled to use the _sella curulis_, viz., the consuls, prætors,
curule ædiles, and censors: this chair was called _curulis_, because
those privileged to use it, always carried it in their chariots, to and
from the tribunals at which they presided. Tacitus informs us in his
annals (_Book XIII. Chap. XXX._) that in the year 809, the power of the
Ædiles, both curule, and plebeian, was very much circumscribed; that
their salary was regulated anew; and limits fixed, as to the sum they
were allowed to impose as a fine.
NOTE 49.
_Marcus Fulvius._
Son of the Consul for the year 564, and great grandson of the
illustrious Servius Fulvius Pætinus Nobilior, the companion of Regulus;
Pætinus was consul in the year 498. Marcus Fulvius obtained the
consulate eight years after his Ædilate: the name of his colleague
was Cneus Cornelius Dolabella. It is probable that this branch of
the Fulvian family assumed the agnomen of _Nobilior_, to distinguish
themselves as _nobiles_ from the rest of the Fulvii, who might not
have had any claim to that title. None but those, and the posterity
of those, who had borne some curule office, (_vide note 48_) were
_nobiles_, or nobles. The _nobiles_ possessed the exclusive right of
making statues of themselves; which were carefully preserved by their
posterity, and usually carried in procession on solemn occasions: they
painted the faces of these images
“Quid prodest, Pontice, longo
Sanguine censeri, pictosque ostendere vultus
Majorum.”
_What avails it to be thought,
Of ancient blood? and to expose to view,
The painted features of dead ancestors?_
JUVENAL.
NOTE 50.
_Marcus Glabrio._
This person was doubtless distinguished by another appellation which
is not set down in the title to this play: under the name of Glabrio,
there is no account of him extant. As Glabrio does not appear to have
been the name of any _Gens_, or family in Rome, it was probably the
_Agnomen_ of Marcus only, and not common to his kindred.
NOTE 51.
_By the company of Lucius Ambivius Turpio, and
Lucius Attilius._
These were the principal actors of their company, but otherwise persons
of little note; for contrary to the customs of Greece, where men of
the highest rank thought it no degradation to appear on the stage; the
actors at the Roman theatres were not treated with that consideration
to which persons of talent, who furnish the public with a polite and
rational amusement, united with instruction, have a just and undeniable
claim. However unjust the Romans might have been in this particular,
they made an exception in favour of transcendent merit; as in the case
of the admirable Roscius, though the mention made of this favourite
performer by his friend Cicero, shews the truth of the foregoing
remark. “Cum artifex ejusmodi sit, ut solus dignus videatur esse qui
in scenâ spectetur; tum vir ejusmodi fuit, ut _solus dignus videatur
qui non accedat_;” _so excellent an actor, that he only seemed worthy
to tread the stage, and yet so noble a man, that he seemed to be the
very last person that ought to appear there_. Though the Roman actors
were not allowed their due privileges as citizens, yet some of the most
eminent were often very great favourites with the people, and created
so much interest among them, that (as Suetonius tells us) the parties
of rival performers disputing for precedence, have proceeded so far as
to terminate the quarrel in bloodshed. Turpio and Attilius were actors
of the first class, and were said (_vid. Terence Phorm:_) _agere primas
partes_, because they always personated the principal characters in the
piece.
NOTE 52.
_Præneste._
Præneste was a town of Latium, about twenty-four miles from Rome, and
founded by Cæculus, as we are told by _Virgil, B. 7._
“Nec _Prænestinæ fundator_ defuit _urbis_,
_Vulcano genitum_que omnis quem credidit ætas
_Cæculus_.”
Nor was the founder of Præneste absent,
Cæculus, the reputed son of Vulcan.
Præneste was deemed a place of military importance, from its situation,
and Cicero (_in Catal._) tells us that Catiline, when foiled in his
attempt to seize the capital, endeavoured to make himself master of
Præneste. This town was particularly celebrated for very cold springs,
which were held in high esteem, as Strabo assures us, and Horace
mentions the circumstance in one of his odes.
“seu mihi _frigidum
Præneste_, seu Tibur supinum,
Seu liquidæ placuere Baiæ.”
NOTE 53.
_Equal flutes right and left handed._
Flutes were called in Latin _tibiæ_, because they were made of the
shank or shin-bone of some animal, until the discovery of the art of
boring flutes, when they began to use wood,
“_Longave multifori delectat tibia buxi._”――OVID.
The manner in which these instruments were played on the stage, and
the distinction of right- and left-handed flutes, has never been
ascertained with any degree of certainty: few subjects have more
obstinately baffled the researches of the learned. The most perspicuous
detail of all that the moderns are acquainted with respecting the
ancient flutes, is written by the learned Madame Dacier, part of which
is quoted in the Preface to this Translation.
NOTE 54.
_It is taken from the Greek._
All Terence’s comedies were of this class, which was called _Palliatæ_,
viz., plays in which the scene was laid in Greece. The class, called
_Togatæ_, were pieces entirely Roman. The palliatæ were generally _new_
comedies, of which Menander was the inventor; but Pacuvius wrote the
_middle_, and Livius Andronicus the _old_ comedy. (_Vide Note 33._)
In the age in which Terence wrote his comedies, the Romans were some
degrees less advanced in the refinements of civilization, than the
Greeks. But little more than a century before, Pyrrhus, king of Epirus,
thought them worthy of no better epithet than that of “_barbarians_”
in comparison with his own subjects, who were not themselves the
most polished nation in the world. The Romans, therefore, omitted no
opportunity of improving the manners and perfecting the education of
their youth, by sending them to mix with the Greeks, and to unite
themselves to the disciples of those Grecian sages, who, as far as the
light of reason, unassisted by _divine revelation_, could penetrate,
dispelled the clouds of ignorance, and taught their followers that
happiness and wisdom can be attained only by the virtuous. It was,
doubtless, on this account, that Terence chose Greece as the scene
of his comedies, which he intended should portray to the Romans the
manners, customs, and characters of those whom they often held up as
a pattern of polished refinement, worthy the imitation of the rising
generation.
It is to this, doubtless, that we must attribute Terence’s choice
of Athens in preference to Rome as the scene of his plays; as,
particularly, in the comedy which the critics call the _comedy of
intrigue_, the best judges agree that the scene is preferably laid in
that country in which it is meant to be performed. But the comedies of
Terence were more of that description which Dr. Blair denominates the
_comedy of character_, and preferable to what he calls the _comedy of
intrigue_, because “it exhibits the prevailing manners which mark the
character of the age in which the scene is laid. _Incidents_ should
afford a proper field for the exhibition of character: the action
in comedy, though it demands the poet’s care in order to render it
animated and natural, is a less significant and important part of the
performance than the action in tragedy; as, in comedy, it is what men
say, and how they behave, that draws our attention, rather than what
they perform or what they suffer.”
NOTE 55.
_The consulate of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and
Cneus Sulpicius Galba._
The consuls, the chief magistrates of the Roman republic were first
created at the expulsion of the kings in the year 244: they were two in
number, and chosen annually. The consuls were the head of the _Senate_,
which they assembled and dismissed at pleasure, though it was not
their exclusive privilege, as a dictator, his master of the horse, the
prætors, military tribunes, and even the tribunes of the people, might
also, on certain occasions, assemble the Senate. The consuls, however,
were the supreme judges of all differences; they commanded the armies
of the republic, and, during their consulate, enjoyed almost unbounded
power, which could only be checked by the creation of a dictator,
to whom the consuls were subordinate. It was requisite that every
candidate for the consulship should be _forty-three_ years of age, and
that he should previously have discharged the functions of Prætor,
Ædile, and Quæstor. The consuls were always patricians till the year
388, when, by the influence of their tribunes, the people obtained a
law, that henceforth one of them should be a plebeian. The ensigns of
consular dignity were twelve guards, called _lictors_, (who bore the
_fasces_,) and a robe, fringed with purple, worn by these magistrates,
during their consulate. The names of the consuls are mentioned in the
title of this play, merely to fix its date, as the Roman method of
reckoning their years was by the names of the consuls. This custom
continued for 1,300 years. Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the grandson
of the great Marcellus, slain in the year 545; for Caius Sulpicius
Galba, _vide_ Note 27.
NOTE 56.
_Prologue._
Madame Dacier grounds on the first line of this Prologue an opinion,
that the Andrian was not Terence’s first play: but, if that learned
and justly-celebrated lady had attentively considered the relation
the sixteen following lines of the Prologue bear to the first, she
could not have made this deviation from her usual extreme accuracy.
Whether the Andrian was, or was not, our Author’s first production, is
a question of more curiosity than real importance: it has, however,
undergone some discussion among the learned; and, in my opinion, it may
be clearly ascertained by an attentive perusal of the Prologue to the
Andrian, and learned and unlearned are equally competent to decide upon
it. Let us now examine the proof. The first seven lines inform us,
that “when the poet began to write, he thought he had only to please
the people, but that he finds it far otherwise; as he is obliged to
write a Prologue to answer the objections of an older bard.”
If we stop here, it is natural enough to conclude, that in the Prologue
to the Andrian, he is alluding to censures passed on some former play.
But, if we look at the next nine lines we see that _in the prologue to
the Andrian_, he repels a censure _not passed on any former production,
but on the_ ANDRIAN _itself_. Listen, says he, to their objections,
which are, in short, that in the composition of _this very Andrian_, he
has made a confused mixture of two of Menander’s plays. What allusion
is made to any former writings? None: the snarling criticisms of the
older bard were directed _only_ against the _Andrian_. I imagine
that the case was thus: Terence wrote the Andrian, and procured its
representation, probably without any Prologue, (which was sometimes
dispensed with, as we see in Plautus,) the play, and its author, were,
probably, cried down and abused by this older bard and his admirers,
who might envy the visible superiority of Terence, who _afterwards_
composed the Prologue in question, to answer their objections. The
reader is referred for further proof, to Suetonius’s Life of Terence, a
translation of which is prefixed to this play.
NOTE 57.
_To answer the snarling malice of an older poet._
According to Donatus, the name of this older bard was Lucius Lavinius:
but there can be little doubt but that name is a corruption of Luscius
Lanuvinus, the arch-enemy of Terence, whom he handles so roughly in
his Prologue to the Eunuch. Luscius was a poet of considerable talent.
Volcatius gives him the ninth place,
“Nono loco esse facilè facio Luscium.”
Luscius undoubtedly I make the ninth.
NOTE 58.
_Menander wrote the Andrian and Perinthian._
The _Perinthian_ (a fine comedy now lost) was so called from Perinthus,
a town of Thrace, the name of which was afterwards changed to Heraclea,
and that name is now corrupted to Herecli, or Erekli, its present
appellation. Erekli is a town in the Turkish province of Romania,
on the north of the sea of Marmora, and about sixty miles from
Constantinople. It is a place of some consequence from its vicinity to
the Turkish capital. For the _Andrian_, _vide_ Note 69.
NOTE 59.
_They censure Nævius, Plautus, Ennius._
An account of Nævius has been given in Note 41, and of Plautus in Note
42. Ennius was the tenth comic poet of Rome, according to Volcatius,
who says, “Antiquitatis causâ decimum addo Ennium.” If it be true that
Ennius was but the tenth in poetical merit, the greatest glory of the
nine who were above him, must have been the distinguished honour of
excelling this highly extolled poet. Ennius was born in the year of
Rome 515, and died in 585; though he obtained the privileges of a Roman
citizen, he was, by birth, a Calabrian, as _Ovid_ expressly tells us,
and informs us, that his statue was placed on the tomb of the Scipios,
because he had so nobly celebrated their renowned actions:
“Ennius emeruit, Calabris in montibus ortus,
Contiguus poni, Scipio, magne tibi.”
_Ennius, among Calabrian mountains born,
Deserves, O Scipio, to be placed by thee._
The reader cannot become acquainted with the enthusiastic admiration of
the Romans for the brilliant performances of Ennius, better than by a
perusal of some of the many and great encomiums passed on him by those
who, though they lived after him, may be called his competitors for
literary fame. _Cicero_ calls him,
“Ingeniosus, poeta et auctor valde bonus.”――_A man of great abilities
and wit, and an admirable writer both of poetry and of prose._ _Horace_
also
“Ennius et sapiens, et fortis, et alter Homerus.”
_Ennius the wise, and strong, another Homer._
_Quintilian_ speaks of him thus, “Ennium sicut sacros vetustate lucos
adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua robora jam non tantam speciem
habent quam religionem.”――_We revere Ennius, as we revere the groves,
sacred for their antiquity, in which the great and ancient oaks are not
reckoned precious for their beauty, but because they are consecrated to
religious purposes._
_Lucretius_ thus,
“Ennius―――――――――――――― primus amœno
Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam.”
_Ennius first wore the never-fading crown,
Gain’d at the Muses’ seat, the pleasant Helicon._
And, lastly, _Ovid_,
“Ennius ingenio maximus, arte rudis.”
_Ennius, the first in wit, though wanting art._
Ennius wrote tragedies, comedies, annals, _&c._, of which some
fragments remain: he died of the gout, brought on by drinking. _Horace_
tells us, that Ennius was in the habit of raising his imagination by
large draughts of wine, when he intended to write a description of any
warlike action.
NOTE 60.
Simo. _Carry in these things directly._
What “_those things_” were, though a subject of no great importance,
has been discussed with extreme diligence by various learned
commentators, who have not a little differed in opinion. The idea of a
French commentator, who supposed Simo to allude to furniture bought by
him for his son’s wedding, is ridiculed by the learned Madame Dacier,
who has herself suffered the same treatment under the hands of some
of our English critics, for interpreting them in the sense I have
adopted. That Simo should provide furniture for a marriage which he had
but slight hopes of negotiating at that time, is not very probable.
But Athenian slaves performed all domestic offices in their masters’
houses: and Sosia, even after he became a freedman might have practised
cookery, in which, perhaps, he excelled. He uses the words “_mea ars_,”
_my art_, and Simo answers him with “_isthac arte_,” _that art_, by
which it is clear that he means some particular art. The word art has
in English both a general and particular sense; but, in Latin, “_ars_”
is generally used only in the latter.
“Rara quidem facie, sed rarior _arte_ canendi.”――OVID.
_Her beauty charms us; and oh! how much more
Her matchless skill in_ arts _of melody._
Again,
“Hac _arte_ Pollux, et vagus Hercules
Innixus, arces attigit igneas.”――HORACE.
_Supported by this_ art,
_Pollux and Hercules were raised to heaven._
Sosia speaks in this character also at the end of the scene, “Sat est
_curabo_,” curo, meaning to cook; he uses also more than once the
word _rectè_, which is peculiarly a term of cookery, thus “_rectiùs
cœnare_,” PLAUTUS; and, at Rome, when patrons invited their clients or
followers to supper, where a very plentiful banquet was always served
up: the supper was particularly designated CŒNA RECTA. The art of
cookery, in Greece, was, in the earlier ages, far from being accounted
degrading, and was, indeed, frequently practised by men very far above
a servile station.
I mention this, lest those who are unacquainted with these customs,
might object against our author, that _Simo_ was guilty of an
inconsistent condescension, in making a confidant of one who held an
office of this nature.
NOTE 61.
_When I first bought you as my slave._
Slaves, among the Greeks, formed a very considerable portion of the
population of a city, and, in some places, were more numerous than the
citizens themselves. In Athens, all domestic offices were performed by
slaves, who were employed also in the capacities of tutors, scribes,
stewards, overseers, and husbandmen, according to their respective
talents: when a slave manifested great abilities, he was taught the art
or science for which he seemed most fitted. Some were instructed in
literature, and often so distinguished themselves by their writings,
that they obtained their freedom. The slaves of the Athenians were
either taken in war, or purchased, or reduced to slavery for some
crime: they were divided into _two_ classes: 1. those who were natives
of some part of Greece, who had the privilege of redeeming themselves;
who, if cruelly treated, might appeal to the archons, and change their
master; and whose lives were not in their master’s power; 2. those
slaves who were transported from barbarous nations, who were wholly at
the disposal of their owners in every respect. The price of a slave
varied according to his qualifications; some were worth about 10_l._
sterling, some were valued at 20_l._, and others much higher. The
Athenians were celebrated for the gentleness with which they treated
their slaves. Xenophon informs us, that they frequently spoiled them
by excessive indulgence. Slaves were made free, if they rendered any
essential service to the government; and frequently received their
liberty as a reward for their fidelity and attachment to their master,
and his family. For further information respecting the Athenian slaves,
and remarks on their habits and manners, _vide_ Notes 62, 63, 64, 68, 86,
88, 110, 131, 154ᴮ, 195, 196.
NOTE 62.
_I gave you freedom._
The ceremony of Ἀπελεύθερια, or giving a slave his liberty, was
performed in Athens as follows, the slave kneeled down at the feet
of his master, who struck him a slight blow, saying, “_Be free_;” or
he took the slave before a magistrate, and there formally declared
him at liberty. These ceremonies were extremely similar to those
used by the Romans on the same occasion. The Greeks sometimes
set their slaves at liberty in a public assembly, which Æschines
describes as follows, Ἄλλοι δέ τινες ὑποκηρυξάμενοι, τοὺς αὑτῶν
οἰκέτας ἀφίεσαν ἀπελευθέρους, μάρτυρας τῆς ἀπελευθερίας τοὺς Ἕλληνας
ποιούμενοι.”――_Others, when they had obtained silence by means of
the heralds, gave their household slaves their liberty; and made the
assembled Greeks witnesses of their manumission._
The same author mentions a very singular law, which stigmatized
with infamy any person who should proclaim the freedom of a slave
in the theatre. “Καὶ διαῤῥήδην ἀπαγορεύει μήτε οἰκέτην ἀπελευθεροῦν
ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ――――――――ἢ ἄτιμον εἶναι τὸν κήρυκα.”――_And_ this law
_clearly forbids that any person shall manumit a slave in the
theatre――――――――and decrees infamy to the herald who shall proclaim his
freedom there_.
Slaves were called οἰκέται, and πελάται, but, after they became free,
received the appellation of ἀπελεύθεροι, and enjoyed all the privileges
granted to the νόθοι, or illegitimate citizens, who were not admitted
to all the rights of those whose parents were both freeborn Athenian
citizens. It was usual for a freedman to continue with his master, who
was called his προστατης, or patron; he was also allowed to choose a
sort of guardian, who was called ἐπίτροπος.
NOTE 63.
_Nor have you given me any cause to repent that I
did so._
An emancipated slave was bound to perform certain services for his
former master: he was to assist him in any emergency to the utmost of
his power: and, if he proved remiss in these duties, was liable to
a severe punishment. No freedman could appear in a court of justice
against his patron, either to give evidence in his own suit, or in that
of another.
NOTE 64.
_It pains me to be thus reminded of the benefits you have conferred
upon me, as it seems to upbraid me with having forgotten them._
By the Athenian laws, any freedman convicted of ingratitude to his
former master, was reduced a second time to a state of slavery: but,
if a freedman was brought to a trial on a charge of this nature, and
acquitted of it, he was declared τελέως ἐλεύθερος, _perfectly free_,
and was then wholly released from all obligations of service to his
former patron.
NOTE 65.
_You shall hear every thing from the beginning._
This is the _initium narrationis_, the first part of the narration,
and, by far the longest: it is, in the original, inimitably beautiful.
Scarcely any branch of dramatic writing is more difficult than
_narration_, which, unless composed in that happy vein, attainable by
so few, generally proves embarrassing to the actor, and tiresome to the
auditors. The writings of Terence abound with narrations, a necessary
consequence of his strict adherence to the unities. A judicious French
writer, whose opinions (_as a critic_,) have ever been treated with
deference, speaking of our author’s excellence in this branch of the
drama, makes his eulogium in just and forcible terms.
“Terence is without a rival, especially in his narrations,
which flow along with a smooth and even course, like a
clear and transparent river. We see no parade of sentiment,
no glare of obtrusive wit: no smart epigrammatical
sentences, which Nicole and Rochefoucault only can make
acceptable. When he applies a maxim, it is in so plain and
familiar a manner, that it has all the simplicity of a
proverb. He introduces nothing but what appertains to the
subject. I have perused, and re-perused the writings of
this poet with the greatest attention, and have laid them
aside with the impression that there is not a scene too
much in any play, nor a line too much in any scene.”
DIDEROT _on dramatic poetry_.
For further remarks on the narrations of the Andrian, _vide_ Notes.
Nos. 89. 95. 101. I shall postpone a continuance of observations on
the very obvious inconvenience attendant on narrations; and pursue a
remark made in the commencement of this note, respecting the source
from which has flowed so many of these narrations, which require all
the _art_ and wit of a Terence to prevent them from seeming too prolix.
This source may be found in those irksome _unities_ of _time_ and
_place_, those leaden fetters of dramatic genius, which, by chaining
down the imagination and talents of many of the ancient, and even some
of the modern, dramatic writers, have deprived the world of more, than
the embellishments they may have given to composition can ever repay.
Terence, in all his works, in compliance with the reigning taste of
his age, observed the unities of _action_, _time_, and _place_, with
the most scrupulous exactness: and this observance is the chief reason
that his comedies can never succeed on any modern stage. His plays
are crowded with narratives, which, however beautifully written, will
never yield that attraction to an audience, which they find in busy
and lively action. He cannot bring on the stage what is supposed to
happen in the next street, or adjoining house, it must therefore be
_related_. All the story of the piece _must_ be supposed to pass in a
very few hours: all those events which cannot be imagined to take place
in _one day_, and which, when represented to the spectators in the
_modern drama_, are often of the greatest interest, must, by the law
of the unity of time be _related_. Of what a scene, to instance one of
_many_, has the unity of place robbed us in Terence’s Eunuch! where
Laches (_Act 5_) rushes into the house of Thais. How many modern plays,
in which the unities were preserved, ever kept the stage a month?
None: if we except Ben Jonson’s “_Silent Woman_,” “_The Adventures
of Five Hours_,” and a very few others; and it may well be doubted
whether even our immortal SHAKSPEARE himself, if he had shackled his
genius with these rules, would not have been generally confined to the
closet. The practice of that great poet, and of most of the modern
dramatists of all countries; who have observed _only_ (the rule of all
stages, ancient and modern,) unity of action, is a tacit condemnation
of the other two: and the fiat of Dr. Johnson speaks a yet plainer
language. He has decided on the value of the unities in his preface to
Shakspeare: and though what he has written respecting them is too long
to be inserted here, the following extracts will not be unacceptable,
as they shew the grounds on which it is assumed that dramatic writers
ought, in general, to dispense with the unities of _time_ and _place_.
“The critics hold it impossible, that an action of months or years can
be possibly believed to pass in three hours. The spectator, who knows
that he saw the first act at Alexandria, cannot suppose that he sees
the next at Rome; he knows that he has not changed his place, and that
the place cannot change itself; that what was a house can never become
a plain; that what was Thebes, can never be Persepolis. Such is the
triumphant language with which a critic exults over the miseries of an
irregular poet; it is time, therefore, to tell him, that he assumes as
an unquestionable principle, a position, which, while his breath is
forming it into words, his understanding pronounces to be false. It
is false, that any representation is mistaken for reality; that any
dramatic fable, in its materiality was ever credible, or, for a single
moment, was ever credited. The objection arising from the impossibility
of passing the first hour at Alexandria, and the next at Rome, supposes
that when the play opens, the spectator really imagines himself at
Alexandria; and believes that his walk to the theatre has been a voyage
to Egypt, and that he lives in the days of Antony and Cleopatra.
Surely he that can imagine this may imagine more. He that can take
the stage at one time for the Palace of the Ptolemies, may take it in
half an hour for the promontory of Actium: delusion, if delusion be
admitted, has no certain limitation. The truth is, that (judicious)
spectators are always in their senses, and know from the first act to
the last, that the stage is only a stage, and that the players are
only players: and by supposition as place is introduced, time may be
extended.” Dr. Johnson concludes this subject as follows; “He that,
_without diminution_ of any other _excellence_, shall preserve all the
unities unbroken, deserves the like applause with the architect, who
shall display all the orders of architecture in a citadel, without any
deduction from its strength; but the principal beauty of a citadel is
to exclude the enemy; and the greatest graces of a play are to copy
nature, and instruct life.”