612 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts , and Letters. 
the best interpreter of lawes, that is, the custome and the practyze 
of the Romans , x whoe thought that free Players also weare in¬ 
famous; which you prove also owte of S. Austin , growndinge hym 
selfe upon Tullye, by Livye , Cornelius Tacitus , and Juuenall; 
partlye, and lastly, by the examples of them, whoe weare ac- 
cownted infamous, for playinge, thoughe freely; as Laberius, 
Lentulus , certayne Roman needy Sqyres, and Nero hym selfe, whom 
by the opynion of all honest men, you prove to have byn branded 
with a perpetuall note of infamye for so dooinge. Gothofrede I 
1 And this doe their wordes, whom hee alleageth, implie, if they bee vnfolded 
and [p. 5] weighed indifferentlie, according to the rules of lawe for douts 
thence rising: to weet, that custome is the best interpreter of lawes; and, autoritie 
of thinges still iudged of alike hath the force of law. For S. Augustin groundeth 
his generall conclusion upon the ancient practise and order of the Romans 
testified by Tullie: who saith that their auncestours, counting all kinde of stage 
plages shamefull and dishonest, agreed that such persons should not onelg want 
the honour of other citizens, but also be disfranchised by the controlment and checke 
of Censors. Neither were they checked with this reproch and ignominie of 
olde time alone, but in Livies age too; yea, before, and after; at least, with 
the blemish and staine in mens opinion, though not with the punishment. 
Cornelius Nepos saieth, that to come on the stage Sc be a spectacle to the people, 
. was counted no dishonestie or shame among the Grsecians; among the Romans 
it was. Laberius, a gentleman of Rome, taking pleasure in writing of poemes, 
when Caesar prayed him to playe them him selfe vpon the stage, he yeeleded as 
constrayned by the Princes request; but signified so much in his prologue, and 
declared withall what a blott it was unto him: Ego bis tricenis annis actis sine 
nota, Eques Romanus e lare egressus meo, Domum revertar mimus: nimirum hoc 
die Uno plus vixi, mihi quam vivendum fuit. Juvenal, rebuking men of noble 
parentage tainted with like dishonor, doeth touch them under Lentulus 
name, with this censure: Laureolum velox etiam bene Lentulus egit, ludice me 
dignus vera cruce. So shamefull a matter seemed it to him for Lentulus to 
play the parte of Laureolus (one, who in a Tragedie was fained to be hanged, 
as Melantho in yours [i. e., in Ulysses Redux])- that he thought him woorthie 
to be hanged in earnest for it ... . The men of noble parentage, whom 
Iuvenal rebuked, were hired, as himselfe noteth; and the storie of Nero, who 
bought those needie squires to doe that seruice, recordeth: though Iuvenal 
adiudgeth them vnworthy of life, not onelie in respect that they played for their 
fee, but euen that they played too; as may appeare by that which foloweth, 
Nec tamen ipse Ignoscas populo: populi frons durior huius, Qui sedet 6c spectat 
triscurria pratriciorum, Planipedes audit Fabios ridere potest qui Mamercorum 
alapas. For seeing that he findeth fault with the people, who sate & beheld 
the fowle misorders & scurrilities (such as your Antinous Sc other wooers 
practise [i. e., in Ulysses Redux]) of persons nobly borne; who heard the race 
of Fabius resembling Sc counterfaiting such base ridiculous things as are ex¬ 
pressed in Irus; who could abide to laugh at blowes & whirrets, giuen to the 
Mamercians, as you would say unto Ulysses: he sheweth that the verie action 
it selfe, all regard of lucre, or what soeuer motiue had brought them to it, 
sett apart, was dishonorable & shamefull in his iudgement. But his like or 
sharper inveighing against Nero, touching whom he addeth, that it was no 
marvell if noble men were stage-players when the Prince was a minstrell, doeth 
put the matter out of doubt: in as much as he, comparing Nero to Orestes, 
both murderers of their mothers, maketh Nero worse in manie respectes, 
and this amongst them: In scena numquam cantavit Orestes; Wherein, by 
“cantavit ,” he meaneth not onely that Nero played a minstrels part vpon the 
stage, as Phemius on yours; but also that he played the partes of men and 
women, perhaps with song alone, as your Hippodamia; perhaps with song 
and speech both, as Eurymachus; but partes of Men and Women certainlie. 
[Overthrow, pp. 4-6.] 
