tura, written in verse and set to the flute, which was acted by professed histriones, with suitable songs and gestures; and then, after a lapse of several years, Livius Andronicus ventured to convert the satura into a regular poem, and to make a distinction between the singing (canticum) and the dialogue (diverbia), the latter alone being reserved to the histrio. Upon this, the Roman youth, leaving the regular play to the professed actors, revived the old farces, and acted them as afterpieces (exodia) to the regular drama. These farces, he expressly says, were of Oscan origin, and akin to the Fabulæ Atellana; and they had the peculiar advantage of not affecting the civic rights of the actors. It is manifest from this passage that the Roman youth were not satisfied with either the Tuscan or the Greek importations, and that it was their wish to revive something not foreign, but national. Of course Livy cannot mean to say that the Oscan farce was not introduced at Rome till after the time of Livius Andronicus Muso, and that it was then imported from Atella. For whereas Muso did not represent at Rome till the second Punic war,* Atella shared in the fate of Capua ten years before the battle of Zama, and the inhabitants were compelled to migrate to Calatia.† Now it appears from the coins of this place that its Oscan name was Aderla ;‡ and the Romans always pronounced this as Atella, by a change of the medial into a tenuis, as in Mettus for Meddix, imperator for embratur, fuit for fuid, &c. This shows that the name was in early use at Rome; and we may suppose that, as an essential element in the population of Rome was Oscan, the Romans had their Oscan farces from a very early period, and that these farces received a great improvement from the then celebrated city of Aderla in Campania. It is also more than probable that these Oscan farces were * Porcius Licinius, apud Aul. Gell. XVII. 21: Intulit se bellicosam in Romuli gentem feram. See also Hor. II. Epist. I. 162. † Livy, XXVI. 16, XXII. 61, XXVII. 3. ↑ Leipsius ad Inscriptiones, p. 111 common in the country life of the old Romans, both before they were introduced into the city,* and after the expulsion of the histriones by Tiberius.† For the mask was the peculiar characteristic of the Atellanæ,‡ and these country farces are always spoken of with especial reference to the masks of the actors. We may be sure that the Oscan language was not used in these farces when that language ceased to be intelligible to the Romans. The language of the fragments which have come down to us is pure Latin,§ and Tacitus describes the Atellana as "Oscum quondam ludicrum." Probably, till a comparatively late period, the Atellana abounded in provincial and rustic expressions ;** but at last it retained no trace of its primitive simplicity, unless we are to seek this in the gross coarseness and obscenity†† which seem to have superseded the old-fashioned elegance of the original farce.‡‡ -DONALD. Varr. p. 99. 4. Ennius §§ introduced the didactic satire, hence he is called, Sat. I. 10, rudis et Græcis intacti carminis auctor. Of his satires but a few verses remain. From these fragments, however, and some brief no * Virgil. Georg. II. 385, sqq.: Nec non Ausonii, Troja gens missa, coloni Comp. Horat. II. Epist. I. 139, sqq. Juvenal, Sat. III. 172, sqq.: Ipsa dierum Festorum herboso colitur si quando theatro Majestas, tandemque redit ad pulpita notum Exodium, quum personæ pallentis hiatum In gremio matris formidat rusticus infans. Festus, s. v. personata fabula, p. 217, "per Atellanos qui proprie vocantur personati." § See Diomed. III. pp. 487, 488, Putsch. Ann. IV. 149. **Varro L. L. VII. c 84, p. 152. tt Schober, über die Atellan. Schauspiele, pp. 281, sqq. Donat. de Trag. et Com. "Atellanæ salibus et jocis compositæ, quæ in se non habent nisi vetustam elegantiam." The Atellana as well as the comedia of the Romans derived many of its later features from the Doric farces of the Greeks: see Müller, Hist. Lit. Gr. ch. XXIX. § 5 (vol. II. p. 43, note). Born A. v. c. 515. (в c. 239 Died, A. U.c. 585,)B. c. 169.) tices supplied by other writers, it may with some probability be inferred that his satires were but rambling compositions, remarkable for the great variety of metres* and subjects, and sometimes adopting the form of dialogue, and treating of matters drawn from common life, with the object of improving society by condemning the prevalent vices. From Diomedes, III. p. 483, we learn that Pacuvius, the celebrated tragic poet, wrote satires of this species. 5. In the more ancient periods of Greece, the gathering in of the harvest (condita post frumenta) afforded a season of joy and festivity. At these festivals the rustics united in songs, i. e. a hymn of gladness and gratitude to the Deity, and (sacris functus, potus et exlex) in rude amœbean strains, with personal invectives on each other. These songs would naturally be accompanied by artless gesticulations, and in the progress of time a chorus of Satyrs (i. e. a chorus of persons representing the original worshippers of Bacchus) was instituted. The office of this chorus would be twofold; firstly, it should join in a hymn of thanksgiving to the giver of the fruits; and, secondly, should indulge in the wild and unrestrained licentiousness of the productive god; and from this chorus, in its first capacity, came Tragedy, in the second, Comedy. But when Tragedy and Comedy had been cultivated, and each became a distinct and separate species-and when the sufferings of mythic heroes became the subject of the one, and political or mythological opinions were promulgated in the other, the populace missed the primitive and Bacchic element (οὐδὲν πρὸς Διονύσον). Το restore this element Pratinas introduced a third species, called the Satyric Drama, which had tragic plots but comic composition, introduced shortly after Thespis, and repeated at the end of trilogies, which thus became tetralogies. This new species is called by critics Fabule Tragico-Satyricæ, of which the only example is the Cyclops of Euripides. But the comedians also would not be slow to adopt this new invention, and hence we find pieces called Comico-Satyricæ, written not by tragic but by comic poets, for no poet cultivated * Embracing dactylic, iambic, and trochaic, as in the Margites of Homer. more than one species of art. We have no certain knowledge, however, of their real nature, since their names are frequently confounded with those of comedies. To this class Eichstædt refers the κομῳδοτραγωδία of Alcæus, and the ἱλαρτραγωδία of Rhinton. Eichstadt however, upon probability, endeavours to mark the differences between them; 1st, the tragico-satyric was derived by tragic poets from the mythic circle; they tempered the gravity of the subject (incolumi gravitate) with the merriment of the Satyrs, and joined amusement with instruction-while the comico-satyrıc was written by comic poets, on subjects derived from every-day life; they had a large share of ribaldry and coarse abuse, and their only aim was to please the populace. 2ndly. The tragico-satyric retained the ancient chorus of satyrs. This was necessary, as their subjects were derived from the mythic circle of events having reference to Bacchus. On the contrary, the comico-satyric had no satyrs, but, when necessary, devolved their office upon others. Deriving their subjects from common life, the Satyrs could not well be introduced except when the poets wished to hold up an infamous person to ridicule, then they introduced him upon the stage in the character of a satyr, but with a mask pourtraying the individual's countenance. 3rdly. The scene of the tragico-satyric was laid among rocks and trees in the country, the old haunt of the satyrs: while the scene of the comico-satyric was laid necessarily in cities. 4thly. The tragic-satyric were never acted unless in company with tragic dramas; the comico-satyric were frequently acted without any accompanying drama. 6. The spirit of invective did not in Greece confine itself to these forms; it also prevailed in the Epic as in the Margites attributed to Homer, the Lyrics and Iambics of Archilochus, the Didactic, as in the poem of Simonides, on the manners of women; and, lastly, in the σol: for which see note third, page vi The Fabula-Atellane of the Romans closely corresponded with the comico-satyric of the Greeks; 1st, in the chorus and management of the plot; 2nd, in the ribaldry of style; 3rd, in the nature of the action; 4th, in not being united with another dramatic performance. "Latina Attellana a Græca Satyrica differt: quod in Satyrica fere Satyrorum personæ inducuntur, aut si quæ sunt ridiculæ, similes Satyris, Autolycus, Busiris: in Attellana, Oscæ personæ, ut Maccus."-Diomedes. 7. Although the introduction of the didactic satire should be ascribed to Ennius, yet C. Lucilius* improved it so much that he has been styled the "inventor." The improvements which he made consisted in his adoption, for the most part, of the heroic metre, but seldom using the iambic or trochaic. His style, also, was formed on the model of the ancient Greek comedy. Whilst his language borrowed the freedom of colloquial discourse, the asperity of satire was somewhat chastened by polish and humour. The vices of the times were censured with severity, and even the blemishes of individuals were freely exposed. Thus satire, recommended by his genius, became a favourite species of composition. But it had not yet reached maturity. Lucilius was careless regarding the versification, indifferent to the selection of words and the flow of his measures. He not unfrequently used harsh sepa rations of the syllables of a word‡ and was extravagant in the introduction of Greek.§ There was a want of elegance and refine * A Roman knight born A. u. c. 606, (B. c. 143,) at Aurunca; died at Naples, A. U. C. 651, (B. C. 103.) † Sat I. 4. Hinc omnis pendet Lucilius, hosce secutus, Ausonius (Epist. V. ad Theon.) ridicules this defect: Hor. Sat.I. 10 Rescisso discas componere nomine verum; At magnum fecit, quòd verbis Græca Latinis |