﻿IIQ THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



arate place in the orchestra (194 B. C, 560 U. C., — fifty years before the probable in- 

 troduction of seats throughout the theatre). Cf Liv. 34. 44 : " Creati censores Sex. 

 Aelius Paetus et C. Cornelius Cethegus principem senatus P. Scipionem consulem, quern 

 et priores censores legerant, legerunt ; — Gratiam quoque ingentem apud eum ordinem 

 pepererunt, quod ludis Romanis aedilibus curulibus imperarunt, ut loca senatoria secer- 

 nerent a populo ; nam antea in promiscuo spectabant." This arrangement, like every 

 innovation, gave rise to various remarks. Cf Liv. 34. 54 : " Horum aedilium ludos 

 Romanos primum senatus a populo secretus spectavit, praebuitque sermones, sicut omnis 

 no vitas solet," etc. Cf. Cic. de Harusp. Resp. 12: "Nam quid ego de illis ludis loquar, 

 quos in Palatio nostri majores ante templum in ipso matris magnae conspectu Megalen- 

 sibus fieri celebrarique voluerunt 1 qui sunt more institutisque maxime casti solemnes 

 religiosi; quibus ludis primum ante populi consessum senatui locum P. Africanus 

 iterum consul ille major dedit, ut eos ludos haec lues impura polluerit."* 



The next step in providing for the convenience, as well as the amusement, of all the 

 spectators, was the erection of temporary seats (" subitarii gradus "). When this was 

 first done I am not able to state ; most probably by L. Mummius, when, at his triumjih 

 after the taking of Corinth (146 B. C, 608 U. C), he caused Greek dramas to be per- 

 formed by Greek actors. Cf Tacit. Annal. 14. 21 : " Majores quoque non abhorruisse 

 spectaculorum oblectamentis pro fortuna, quae tum erat ; eoque a Tuscis accitos histri- 

 ones, a Thuriis equorum certamina ; et possessa Achaia Asiaque ludos curatius editos ; 

 nee quemquam Romae honesto loco ortum ad theatrales artes degeneravisse, ducentis 

 jam annis a L. Mummii triumpho, qui primus id genus spectaculi [that is, ludos Grae- 

 cos] in urbe praebuerit." An unsuccessful attempt to erect a permanent theatre with 

 permanent seats had a few years previously been made (155 B. C, 599 U. C). Cf. Veil. 

 Paterc. 1. 15. 3 : " Auximum autem in Picenum abhinc annos centum octoginta septem 

 ante triennium quam Cassius censor a Lupercali in Palatium versus theatrum facere 

 instituit, cui in emoliendo eo^ eximia civitatis severitas et consul Scipio restitere." 

 Liv. Epit. 48 : " Quum locatum a censoribus theatrum exstrueretur, P. Cornelio Nasica 

 auctore tamquam inutUe et nociturum publicis moribus ex senatus consulto destructum 

 est, populusque ahquamdiu stans ludos spectavit." The second and intermediate con- 

 dition of the theatre — the stage, as well as the seats of the spectators (" subitarii gra- 

 dus"), being temporary structures erected for special occasions — continued for nearly 

 a century, until Cneius Pompey erected a permanent theatre (55 B. C, 699 U. C). Cf, 

 Tacit. Annal. 14. 20 : " Quippe erant, qui Cn. quoque Pompeium incusatum a seniori- 



* There is an able note to this passage by Klotz, in his edition of Cicero's Orations, 

 t Riguez reads " in eo moliendo." 



