numberless others, the despised race of Gladiators,
Histrions, and Thymelei--or jesters, were preserved throughout the
storm of migration, and spread from Rome among the barbarian races.
They introduced amongst the bloody hordes of Vandals the dissolute
Roman pantomime; they stood before the huts of the Frank chiefs, and
piped and played foreign melodies, which had perhaps once come with the
orgies of the Asiatic gods to Rome; they intermingled with the Gothic
congregation, which poured out of the newly built church into the
churchyard, and there opened their chests in order to show a monkey in
a red jacket as a foreign prodigy, or produced the grotesque figures of
old Latin puppets, the _maccus_, _bucco_, _papus_, and whatever else
the ancient fathers called our jack-puddings, for the amusement of the
young parishioners, who opened wide their large blue eyes at these
foreign wonders. Meanwhile other members of the band of jugglers
offered on payment, to execute gymnastic games before the warriors of
the community, which they performed with sharp weapons and all the
artifices and cunning of the Roman circus; then these foolhardy men
formed a ring and carried on with passionate eagerness, for the sake of
pay, the dangerous hazards of the combat, which the spectators admired
the more, the bloodier it became, whilst they held the unfortunates,
who thus struggled for money, in no greater consideration than a couple
of wolves or hungry dogs. But for the distinguished spectators there
were other more enticing artists. Women also roved with the men amongst
the German tribes, dexterous and bold, dancers, singers, and actresses,
in brilliant cavalcades. When they shook the Greek tambourine or the
Asiatic castanets, in the licentious mazes of the bacchanalian dance,
they were generally irresistible to the German barons, but were
extremely offensive to serious people. In the year 554 a Frank king
interposed with his authority against the nuisance of these foreign
_rovers_, and the worthy Hinkmar, paternally warned his priests also
against these women, whose foreign sounding designation was expressed
by the true-hearted monk with a very well known but bitter word.

To these foreign jugglers were speedily added numerous German recruits.
The German races had had wandering singers from the primitive times,
bearers of news, spreaders of epic songs and poems. These also moved
from farm to farm, highly welcome in the large houses of pers