ocles and Philagrius.

The light of genius which shone in Greece was to some extent reflected
upon Rome, where there was never an equal brilliancy. As for humour,
such as was indigenous in the country, it was only represented by a few
Saturnian snatches, some Fescennine banterings at weddings and
harvest-homes, and rude pantomimic performances also originating in
Etruria. Intellectual pleasantry was unknown, except as an exotic, and
flourished almost exclusively among those who were imbued with the
literature of Greece.

About the date at which we arrived at the end of the last chapter--the
middle of the third century, B.C.--the first regular play was
introduced at Rome by Livius Andronicus. He was a Greek slave, having
been taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum. Scarcely anything
remains by which to judge of his writings, but we know that he copied
from Greek originals. His plays were, no doubt, mostly appreciated by
the better educated classes of the audience. He had a rival in
Noevius, a Campanian by birth, who also copied from the Greek, but
retained something of the Fescennine licence, or rather, we should say,
had much of the hostile humour common to the earlier periods of Greece
and Rome. So violent were his attacks upon the leading men of the day,
that he was imprisoned, and finally died in exile at Utica. This early
connection of comedy with abuse and buffoonery was probably one cause of
professional actors being held in contempt in Rome. We read that they
were frequently slaves, who were whipped if they came late. At the same
time native scurrility was allowed. Freeborn Romans might act for
amusement in the Atellane plays, which were considered to be Italian,
and were accompanied by broad "Exodia" or pantomimic interludes
containing regular characters such as Maccus the clown, Buccones the
chatterers, Pappus the pantaloon, and Simus, the ape. But these
productions came from Campania, and it is probable that the better
parts of them were Greek in spirit, though not in form.

Some fifty years later brings us to Plautus--the most remarkable of the
Roman comic writers. Little is known of his origin, except that he was
born in Umbria. There is a story that at one time he was in so humble a
position that he was employed in grinding corn for a baker; but, if so,
he must have possessed extraordinary ability and perseverance to acquire
such a thorough knowledge of Greek and Latin. The fact of his adopting
the