Chapter 16

“Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.”CæciliusExcelled in force, and grandeur of expression,Terence in art.

“Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.”

CæciliusExcelled in force, and grandeur of expression,Terence in art.

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.”ThatCæcilius 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 thesecond 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 hisΛΕΙΜΩΝ.

“Cicero wrote a poem, to which he affixed the title ofλειμων, a Greek word signifyinga 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.

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 andpeace;—

——————————quem Marte, togâquePræcipium.The first alike in war, and peace.Ovid.

——————————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 thesecond 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, andΕυαλωσια, another name of Cybele, as presiding over husbandry. The festivalΘΕΣΜΟΦΟΡΙΑ, 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 theEleusinianmysteries.

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 thesella curulis,viz., the consuls, prætors, curule ædiles, and censors: this chair was calledcurulis, 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 (BookXIII. 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 ofNobilior, to distinguish themselves asnobilesfrom 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, (videnote 48) werenobiles, or nobles. Thenobilespossessed 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, longoSanguine censeri, pictosque ostendere vultusMajorum.”What avails it to be thought,Of ancient blood? and to expose to view,The painted features of dead ancestors?Juvenal.

———————“Quid prodest, Pontice, longoSanguine censeri, pictosque ostendere vultusMajorum.”

———————“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.

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 anyGens, or family in Rome, it was probably theAgnomenof 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, utsolus 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 byVirgil, B. 7.

“NecPrænestinæ fundatordefuiturbis,Vulcano genitumque omnis quem credidit ætasCæculus.”Nor was the founder of Præneste absent,Cæculus, the reputed son of Vulcan.

“NecPrænestinæ fundatordefuiturbis,Vulcano genitumque omnis quem credidit ætasCæculus.”

“NecPrænestinæ fundatordefuiturbis,

Vulcano genitumque omnis quem credidit ætas

Cæculus.”

Nor was the founder of Præneste absent,Cæculus, the reputed son of Vulcan.

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 mihifrigidumPræneste, seu Tibur supinum,Seu liquidæ placuere Baiæ.”

“seu mihifrigidum

Præneste, seu Tibur supinum,

Seu liquidæ placuere Baiæ.”

NOTE 53.Equal flutes right and left handed.

Flutes were called in Latintibiæ, 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 calledPalliatæ,viz., plays in which the scene was laid in Greece. The class, calledTogatæ, were pieces entirely Roman. The palliatæ were generallynewcomedies, of which Menander was the inventor; but Pacuvius wrote themiddle, and Livius Andronicus theoldcomedy. (VideNote 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 bydivine 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 thecomedy 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 thecomedy of character, and preferable to what he calls thecomedy of intrigue, because “it exhibits the prevailing manners which mark the character of the age in which the scene is laid.Incidentsshould 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 theSenate, 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 beforty-threeyears 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, calledlictors, (who bore thefasces,) 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,videNote 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 thatin the prologue to the Andrian, he repels a censurenot passed on any former production, but on theAndrianitself. Listen, says he, to their objections, which are, in short, that in the composition ofthis 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 directedonlyagainst theAndrian. 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, whoafterwardscomposed 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.

“Nono loco esse facilè facio Luscium.”

Luscius undoubtedly I make the ninth.

NOTE 58.Menander wrote the Andrian and Perinthian.

ThePerinthian(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 theAndrian,videNote 69.

NOTE 59.They censure Nævius, Plautus, Ennius.

An account of Nævius has been given inNote 41, and of Plautus inNote 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, asOvidexpressly 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.

“Ennius emeruit, Calabris in montibus ortus,Contiguus poni, Scipio, magne tibi.”

“Ennius emeruit, Calabris in montibus ortus,

Contiguus poni, Scipio, magne tibi.”

Ennius, among Calabrian mountains born,Deserves, O Scipio, to be placed by thee.

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.Cicerocalls him,

“Ingeniosus, poeta et auctor valde bonus.”—A man of great abilities and wit, and an admirable writer both of poetry and of prose.Horacealso

“Ennius et sapiens, et fortis, et alter Homerus.”Ennius the wise, and strong, another Homer.

“Ennius et sapiens, et fortis, et alter Homerus.”

Ennius the wise, and strong, another Homer.

Quintilianspeaks 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.

Lucretiusthus,

“Ennius————- primus amœnoDetulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam.”Ennius first wore the never-fading crown,Gain’d at the Muses’ seat, the pleasant Helicon.

“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 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.Horacetells 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 rariorartecanendi.”—Ovid.

Her beauty charms us; and oh! how much moreHer matchless skill inartsof melody.

Her beauty charms us; and oh! how much more

Her matchless skill inartsof melody.

Again,

“HacartePollux, et vagus HerculesInnixus, arces attigit igneas.”—Horace.Supported by thisart,Pollux and Hercules were raised to heaven.

“HacartePollux, et vagus HerculesInnixus, arces attigit igneas.”—Horace.

“HacartePollux, et vagus Hercules

Innixus, arces attigit igneas.”—Horace.

Supported by thisart,Pollux and Hercules were raised to heaven.

Supported by thisart,

Pollux and Hercules were raised to heaven.

Sosia speaks in this character also at the end of the scene,“Sat estcurabo,”curo, meaning to cook; he uses also more than once the wordrectè, 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 designatedCœna 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, thatSimowas 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 intotwoclasses: 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 10l.sterling, some were valued at 20l., 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,videNotes62,63,64,68,86,88,110,131,154ᴮ,195,196.

NOTE 62.I gave you freedom.

The ceremony ofἈπελεύθερια, 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.”—Andthis lawclearly 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 calledοἰκέται, andπελάται, but, after they became free, received the appellation ofἀπελεύθεροι, and enjoyed all the privileges granted to theνόθοι, 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 hisπροστατης, or patron; he was also allowed to choose a sort of guardian, who was calledἐπίτροπος.

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 declaredτελέως 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 theinitium 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 thannarration, 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.”Dideroton dramatic poetry.

Dideroton dramatic poetry.

For further remarks on the narrations of the Andrian,videNotes.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 theartand wit of a Terence to prevent them from seeming too prolix.

This source may be found in those irksomeunitiesoftimeandplace, 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 ofaction,time, andplace, 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 berelated. All the story of the piecemustbe supposed to pass in a very few hours: all those events which cannot be imagined to take place inone day, and which, when represented to the spectators in themodern drama, are often of the greatest interest, must, by the law of the unity of time berelated. Of what a scene, to instance one ofmany, 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 immortalShakspearehimself, 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 observedonly(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 oftimeandplace.

“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 diminutionof any otherexcellence, 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.”

It is needless to add any thing to these arguments, as they must be deemed conclusive. The plays of our author are better calculated, perhaps, to please in the closet by his mode of writing, as it adds to perspicuity: Terence is, probably, the greatest practical champion for the three unities that ever did, or ever will, exist. His easy flowingnarratives, judiciously divided, and introduced with so much art, as in some places to seem no narratives until they are concluded, remedy as much as possible the inconveniences attendant on this mode of writing.

NOTE 66.When my son Pamphilus arrived at man’s estate.

In the Latin,postquam excessit ex Ephebis,after he was removed from the class of young men calledἔφηβοι.

All the Athenian citizens were publicly registered three several times. 1. In theirinfancy, on thesecond dayof the festivalἀπατούρια, calledἀνάῤῥυσις. 2. When they were18 years of age, they were registered on thethird dayof theἀπατούρια, calledκουρεῶτις, when they received the title ofἔφηβοι. 3. At20 years of age, they were registered for the last time at the feast calledβενδίδειαon the 19th of the month, Thargelion, when they were said to be admitted “among the men.” These ceremonies were used to prevent the intrusion of persons, who had no claim to the title of Athenian citizen, which was an honour, that even foreign kings thought worthy of their pursuit. Having quitted the class of theἔφηβοι, Pamphilus, at the time mentioned by Simo, must have been 20 years of age.

NOTE 67.The schools of the Philosophers.

Several schools of Philosophy were established at Athens, in which philosophers of different sects presided, and gave instructions to those of Athens, and of other countries, whose fortunes allowed them leisure to pursue studies of this nature. The buildings in which the philosophers delivered their lectures were provided at the public expense: they were calledGymnasia, and built in divisions, some for study calledστοαὶ, and others for various exercises, as wrestling, pugilism, dancing, &c.; these were denominatedπαλαίστρα. The principalGymnasiain Athens were the Lyceum, where Aristotle taught; the academy, in which Plato presided; and, lastly, the Cynosarges, which gave the name of Cynics to that sect of philosophers, founded in this place by Antisthenes. (vid. Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles).

NOTE 68.In these times flattery makes friends; truth, foes.

Madame Dacier has elucidated this passage in an elegant and ingenious criticism, which clears Pamphilus from the charge of flattery which Sosia appears to insinuate against him. The sentence in the original runs thus:“namque hoc temporeobsequium amicos veritas odium parit.”“When Simo spoke of the obliging temper of his son, he intended to describe him as behaving with that complaisant politeness which is as remote as possible from flattery; the practice of which never requires of a man any thing inconsistent with the laws of truth and candour; otherwise he would have blamed his son, instead of praising him. But Sosia, following the example of people of his own rank, who always look on the dark side of every thing, takes this opportunity of censuring the manners of the age, by declaring that people were unwilling to hear the truth. Thus he mistakesobsequium, which really meansan amiable mildness of manners, forassentatio,servile flattery, a vice which shows weakness of mind, and baseness of heart: and which renders those of our friends who practise it, more dangerous than even our enemies themselves. There is more ingenuity in this passage than appears at first sight.”

Madame Dacier.

For some further very valuable critical observations, the reader is referred to the preface to a translation of Phædrus’s fables, published at Paris, about the middle of the 17th century. Besides very able remarks on the Andrian, and the rest of Terence’s plays, the translator gives an ingenious comparison between fable and comedy; he also translated into French, three of Terence’s comedies,viz., The Andrian, The Brothers, and Phormio.

NOTE 69.The Island of Andros.

This island is situated in the Ægean sea, or, as it is now called, the Archipelago; it is distant from the Piræus, or port of Athens, about 500 of the stadia Olympica, or rather more than 50 English miles. It retains its original appellation. Bacchus seems to have been the reputed patron of this island; which was also called Antandros, and has been mistaken by some for the Antandros of Phrygia Minor, where Æneas built his fleet.VideOvid’sMeta.Book 13,l.623 to 670.

NOTE 70.The neglect of her relations.

The relations of unmarried women in Greece were bound by law to provide for them, either by seeing them married to some suitable person, or to furnish them with the means of support according to their rank in life; or if a woman had no near kindred, this duty devolved upon a guardian calledκυριος. It is probable that this obligation extended equally to the paternal and maternal relations, though the latter generally acted only in case of the former becoming extinct. Terence warrants the supposition of relations on both sides, being compelled to act, as he uses the wordcognatus, which signifies strictly a relation by the mother’s side,agnatus, on the contrary, is never employed but to designate a kinsman by the father’s side, thoughcognatusis often used as a common term for both; and such is its meaning in this passage: for if the law had been confined to the father’s relations, Terence would certainly have usedagnatus, and thereby clearly designated the particular persons who were bound to observe it.

NOTE 71.The distaff and the loom.

The Greek and Roman women led generally very domesticated lives, and passed a considerable portion of their time in spinning and weaving. The simple manners of the earlier ages obliged each family to depend, in a great measure, on itself, for the supply of its various wants, and the kings and heroes of antiquity, might doubly prize a mantle or a vest, wrought by the hands of those who were dearest to them. Wool was usually worn; but linen, though highly valued, seems to have been but rarely used. When the Greeks became more refined, this simplicity of manners among women of rank gave place to less laborious habits, and slaves were instructed in the art of spinning and weaving.

NOTE 72.Several lovers made their addresses to her, &c.

This passage has been elegantly and chastely softened by an ingenious French writer, who flourished about the year 1650. I shall subjoin in this, and other subsequent notes, the various alterations made by this judicious editor, together with the original passages: the lines he has introduced are beautifully written, and a close imitation of the style of Terence: I cannot doubt but they will be considered worthy of a perusal: they are a proof of a laudable delicacy, which was but too rarely to be met with in many of the poets of both England and France,in the 17th century.

The original passage runs thus:—

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