r Seneca, till about the
reign of Domitian (81-96) the list comes to an end. The close of Roman
tragic literature is obscurer than its beginning; and, while there are
traces of tragic performances at Rome as late as even the 6th century,
we are ignorant how long the works of the old masters of Roman tragedy
maintained themselves on the stage.

Characteristics of Roman tragedy.

It would obviously be an error to draw from the plays of Seneca
conclusions as to the method and style of the earlier writers. In
general, however, no important changes seem to have occurred in the
progress of Roman tragic composition. The later Greek plays remained, so
far as can be gathered, the models in treatment; and, inasmuch as at
Rome the several plays were performed singly, there was every inducement
to make their action as full and complicated as possible. The
dialogue-scenes (_diverbia_) appear to have been largely interspersed
with musical passages (_cantica_); but the effect of the latter must
have suffered from the barbarous custom of having the songs sung by a
boy, placed in front of the flute-player (_cantor_), while the actor
accompanied them with gesticulations. The chorus (unlike the Greek)
stood on the stage itself and seems occasionally at least to have taken
part in the action. But the whole of the musical element can hardly have
attained to so full a development as among the Greeks. The divisions of
the action appear at first to have been three; from the addition of
prologue and epilogue may have arisen the invention (probably due in
tragedy to Varro) of the fixed number of five acts. In style, such
influence as the genius of Roman literature could exercise must have
been in the direction of the rhetorical and the pathetic; a superfluity
of energy on the one hand, and a defect of poetic richness on the other,
can hardly have failed to characterize these, as they did all the other
productions of early Roman poetry.

History of Roman comedy.

Palliata.

Plautus.

Terence.

In Roman comedy two different kinds--respectively called _palliata_ and
_togata_ from well-known names of dress--were distinguished,--the former
treating Greek subjects and imitating Greek originals, the latter
professing a native character. The _palliata_ sought its originals
especially in New Attic comedy; and its authors, as they advanced in
refinement of style, became more and more dependent upon their models,
and unwilling to gr