Title: Two Latin Plays for High-School Students
Author: Paxson, Susan
Language: Latin
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  TWO LATIN PLAYS FOR
  HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS


  By

  SUSAN PAXSON

  Instructor in Latin in the Omaha High School


  GINN AND COMPANY
  Boston · New York · Chicago · London
  Atlanta · Dallas · Columbus · San Francisco



  Copyright, 1911, by Susan Paxson
  All Rights Reserved
  522.10


  The Athenæum Press

  Ginn and Company · Proprietors
  · Boston · U.S.A.



  _CUI BONO?_


  _If this little entertainment shall give pleasure and
  be of profit to any who have set out on their
  toilsome journey into the realm of Latin
  Literature, the writer’s aim will
  be accomplished_



PREFATORY NOTE


I am greatly indebted to Mrs. C. H. Beeson and to Professor Frank J.
Miller, of the University of Chicago. To the former, for her most
scholarly and generous assistance in the correcting of the manuscript
and for her many valuable suggestions throughout the work; to the
latter, for his painstaking reading of the proof and for his kindly and
helpful interest. In fact, it was largely due to the helpful uplift that
came to some of my advanced classes, as well as to myself, from the
presentation of Professor Miller’s “Dramatizations from Vergil” that
these little plays were written.

  SUSAN PAXSON



CONTENTS


                                    Page

  INTRODUCTION                        ix

  A ROMAN SCHOOL                       1

      COSTUMES                        16

  A ROMAN WEDDING                     19

      COSTUMES AND SUGGESTIONS        37



INTRODUCTION


In response to the invitation of the author and publishers, I am glad to
stand godfather to this little book of original Latin plays. They are
the product of an enthusiastic teacher coöperating with students whom
she has, in part by this means, inspired with a genuine interest in
Roman life and its expression in the Latin tongue. They offer a helpful
contribution to the solution of the ever-present and vexing problem
which teachers of Latin in secondary schools are meeting: How can we
make this Latin _interesting_ to our pupils? How can we compete with
departments which more easily hold the pupils’ interest because their
subject matter touches more nearly the various phases of modern life?
It is, indeed, true that any subject well taught by a live teacher will
interest pupils. But, even where this condition is realized, the need
is being felt more and more of something which will vary the deadly
monotony incident to the learning of the technique of a language,
especially one which makes its appeal largely to the eye alone through
the medium of the printed page.

It is one of the most encouraging features of our present-day classical
work that teachers more and more are inventing ways of vitalizing their
teaching without weakening it. For this must always be borne in mind:
that we are not seeking to gain mere _interest_. What we want is
interest in _Latin_. We want our students to be so interested that they
will cheerfully endure all the hardships incident to this study because
they have discovered that it is worth while in itself, because it has
come to mean something to them, because it actually touches their own
lives.

If the reader will scan the department of “Current Events” in the
present volume of the _Classical Journal_, he will find many indications
of this new spirit among classical teachers in the schools. Thus we find
a Latin club in a high school in Columbus, Ohio, giving, among other
activities, an exhibition of a Roman _triclinium_, in which the whole
scene was enacted as nearly as possible in the Roman fashion,
accompanied by Latin songs. And thus the pupils were made to realize
that the Roman’s life was not entirely one of warfare, but that he ate,
drank, and acted as a real human being. In Kansas, a classical club was
recently organized by the students of Hiawatha Academy, whose program
consists of talks on classical subjects and Latin songs, followed by a
social hour enlivened by Latin games. In Lincoln, Nebraska, a live Latin
club has originated in an exceptionally strong Cæsar class. They call
themselves the _Legio Decima_, because they scorn “anything that has to
do with cavalry”! Their program abounds in live topics connected with
the Latin work and unique representations of Roman life.

But the greatest success seems to have been gained through the dramatic
presentation of matter pertinent to the students’ work. We read of a
spirited entertainment by the students of a Seattle high school, in
which were given scenes from the “Menaechmi” of Plautus, together with
the singing of several odes of Horace which had been set to appropriate
music. Others have attempted a play of Terence. Scores of schools have
presented dramatized scenes from Vergil; and we read of a school in
Georgia where Horace’s ninth satire, itself a complete little drama as
it stands, was played by the students. In the same school portions of
Cæsar were dramatized and acted; and a dramatization based on the
conspiracy of Catiline was recently sent to me from a school in Indiana.

From all these and many other points it is reported that great interest
is aroused among the students, primarily in the fact and production of
the play itself, but resulting also in a permanent interest in the more
serious and regular work of the Latin class. The author of the plays
presented in this book has herself already reaped rich rewards of her
work in the continued zeal of her students for their Latin study after
they have passed on to college. She writes that the boy who played
“Cicero” in the wedding last year is now a freshman in an eastern
college, and still finds Latin the work of his greatest interest and
success; and the girl who was “Tullia” in the play is also a freshman in
college, with zeal and courage enough to attempt the composition of
Latin hymns.

The difficulty heretofore felt by teachers and their Latin clubs has
been in finding appropriate plays in Latin simple enough for their
pupils to master without undue hardship, and appealing strongly in their
subject matter to the young student; and I feel sure that in these two
plays, “A Roman School” and “A Roman Wedding,” will be found just the
material which has been sought. Aside from the awakened interest of the
student and the vivid impression which his mind will receive of these
two important phases of Roman life, who can estimate the actual gain in
the acquisition of the Latin language itself, which will come not alone
to those students who are fortunate enough to take part in these plays,
but to those as well who listen to the rehearsals and to the final
production?

I therefore most cordially commend these plays to all teachers of Latin,
and urge that they be presented in the schools each year wherever
possible.

  FRANK JUSTUS MILLER
  The University of Chicago



A ROMAN SCHOOL

90 B.C.



  DRĀMATIS PERSŌNAE

  Magister
  Servī
  Paedagōgus
  Aulus Licinius Archiās   } _iūdicēs_
  Pūblius Licinius Crassus }
  Gāius Licinius Crassus, _adulēscēns_

  _Discipulī_

    Mārcus Tullius Cicerō
    Quīntus Tullius Cicerō
    Lūcius Sergius Catilīna
    Mārcus Antōnius
    Gāius Iūlius Caesar
    Appius Claudius Caecus
    Gnaeus Pompēius
    Pūblius Clōdius Pulcher
    Mārcus Iūnius Brūtus
    Quīntus Hortēnsius Hortalus
    Lūcius Licinius Lūcullus
    Gāius Claudius Mārcellus
    Mārcus Claudius Mārcellus



A ROMAN SCHOOL


  When the curtain is drawn, plain wooden benches are seen arranged in
  order on the stage. Two boys stand at the blackboard, playing “odd
  or even”; two others are noisily playing _nuces_[1]; one is playing
  with a top, another is rolling a hoop, and a third is drawing a
  little toy cart. Three boys in the foreground are playing ball. They
  are Quintus Cicero, Marcus Cicero, and Marcus Antonius. With their
  conversation the scene begins.

    [Footnote 1: “Four or five of these (walnuts) are piled
    pyramidally together, when the players, withdrawing to a short
    distance, pitch another walnut at them, and he who succeeds in
    striking and dispersing the heap wins.” Story, “Roba di Roma,”
    p. 128.]

_Q. Cic._ Mihi pilam dā!

_M. Cic._ Ō, dā locum meliōribus!

_M. Ant._ Tū, Mārce, pilam nōn rēctē remittis. Oportet altius iacere.

_M. Cic._ Iam satis alta erit. Hanc excipe!

  (Tosses the ball very high.)

_M. Mar._ (going up to L. Lucullus who has the cart). Mihi
plōstellum dā.

_L. Luc._ Nōn, hōc plōstellum est meum. Sī tū plōstellum cupis, domum
reversus inde pete.

_M. Mar._ Mihi tū nōn grātus es, Lūcī Lūculle.

  (The _Magister_ enters and loudly calls the roll, those present
  answering _adsum_.)

_Mag._  Mārcus Tullius Cicerō.
        Quīntus Tullius Cicerō.
        Lūcius Sergius Catilīna.

  (Catilina is absent and all shout _abest_.)

        Mārcus Antōnius.
        Gāius Claudius Mārcellus.
        Gāius Iūlius Caesar.
        Appius Claudius Caecus.

  (Appius is absent and all again shout _abest_.)

        Lūcius Licinius Lūcullus.
        Gnaeus Pompēius.
        Pūblius Clōdius Pulcher.
        Mārcus Iūnius Brūtus.
        Quīntus Hortēnsius Hortalus.
        Mārcus Claudius Mārcellus.

Nunc, puerī, percipite, quaesō, dīligenter, quae dīcam, et ea penitus
animīs vestrīs mentibusque mandāte. Sine morā respondēte. (Writes on the
board the sentence “Omnīs rēs dī regunt.”) Nōmen _dī_, Mārce Cicerō,
dēscrībe.

_M. Cic._ Dī est nōmen, est dēclīnātiōnis secundae, generis masculīnī,
numerī plūrālis, cāsūs nōminātīvī, ex rēgulā prīmā, quae dīcit: Nōmen
quod subiectum verbī est, in cāsū nōminātīvō pōnitur.

_Mag._ Bene, Mārce, bene! Ōlim eris tū māgnus vir, eris cōnsul, eris
ōrātor clārissimus, quod tam dīligēns es. Quīnte Cicerō! (Enter Catilina
late. He is accompanied by a _paedagogus_ carrying a bag with
_tabellae_.) Ō puer piger, homō perditissimus eris. Quō usque tandem
abūtēre, Catilīna, patientiā nostrā? Vāpulābis.

_L. Cat._ Ō magister, mihi parce, frūgī erō, frūgī erō.

_Mag._ Catilīna, mōre et exemplō populī Rōmānī, tibi nūllō modō parcere
possum. Accēdite, servī! (Enter two _servi_, one of whom takes Catilina
by the head, the other by the feet, while the _magister_ pretends to
flog him severely, and then resumes the lesson.[2]) Pergite, puerī.
Quīnte Cicerō, verbum _regunt_ dēscrībe.

    [Footnote 2: See Johnston, “Private Life of the Romans,” p. 81;
    or Miller, “The Story of a Roman Boy.”]

_Q. Cic._ (hesitatingly). _Regunt_ est verbum. Est coniugātiōnis
secundae, coniugātiōnis secundae, coniugātiōnis se . . .

_Mag._ Male, Quīnte. Tū es minus dīligēns frātre tuō Mārcō. Nescīs
quantum mē hūius negōtī taedeat. Sī pēnsum crās nōn cōnfēceris, est mihi
in animō ad tuum patrem scrībere. Haec nīl iocor. Tuam nēquitiam nōn
diūtius feram, nōn patiar, nōn sinam.

_Q. Cic._ Ō dī immortālēs, tālem āvertite cāsum et servāte piōs puerōs,
quamquam pigrī sunt.

_Mag._ Quīnte Hortēnsī, verbum _regunt_ dēscrībe.

_Q. Hor._ _Regunt_ est verbum; praesēns est _regō_; īnfīnītīvus,
_regere_; perfectum, _rēxī_; supīnum, _rēctum_. Est coniugātiōnis
tertiae, generis actīvī, modī indicātīvī.

_Mag._ Rēctē, rēctē, Quīnte! Bonus puer es. Gnaeī Pompēī, perge.

_Gn. Pom._ (crying). Nōn pergere possum.

_Mag._ Ō puer parve, pergere potes. Hanc placentam accipe. Iam perge.

_Gn. Pom._ (taking the little cake and eating it). _Regunt_ temporis
praesentis est; persōnae tertiae; numerī plūrālis nōmen sequēns, ex
rēgulā secundā, quae dīcit: Verbum persōnam numerumque nōminis sequitur.

_Mag._ Rēctē! Nōnne tibi dīxī tē rem expōnere posse? Nihil agis, Gnaeī
Pompēī, nihil mōlīris, nihil cōgitās, quod nōn ego nōn modo audiam, sed
etiam videam plānēque sentiam. Gāī Mārcelle, tempus futūrum flecte.

_G. Mar._ _Regam_, _regēs_, _reget_, _regēmus_, _regētis_, _regent_.

_Mag._ Quae pars ōrātiōnis est _omnīs_, Gāī?

_G. Mar._ _Omnīs_ est adiectīvum.

_Mag._ Rēctē; estne _omnīs_ dēclīnābile an indēclīnābile, Pūblī Pulcher?

_P. Pul._ _Omnīs_ est dēclīnābile, _omnis_, _omne_.

_Mag._ In quō cāsū est _omnīs_, Mārce Brūte?

_M. Bru._ _Omnīs_ est cāsūs accūsātīvī ex rēgulā quae dīcit: Nōmen
adiectīvum cāsum et genus nōminis substantīvī sequitur.

_Mag._ Cūius dēclīnātiōnis est _omnīs_, Mārce Mārcelle?

_M. Mar._ _Omnīs_ est dēclīnātiōnis tertiae.

_Mag._ Potesne omnīs dēclīnāre?

_M. Mar._ Oppidō, magister, auscultā. (Declines _omnis_.)

_Mag._ Mārcus Claudius, suō mōre, optimē fēcit. Quam cōnstrūctiōnem
habet _rēs_, Mārce Brūte?

_M. Bru._ _Rēs_ est nōmen cāsūs accūsātīvī, quod obiectum verbī _regunt_
est. (Enter Appius Caecus late. His _paedagogus_ accompanies him.)

_Paed._ Magister, Appius Claudius hodiē māne aeger est, idcircō tardē
venit. (Exit.)

_Mag._ Poenās dā, “Micā, Micā,” recitā.

_App. Caec._  Micā, micā, parva stella,
              Mīror quaenam sīs, tam bella!
              Splendēns ēminus in illō
              Alba velut gemma caelō.

              Quandō fervēns Sōl discessit,
              Nec calōre prāta pāscit,
              Mox ostendis lūmen pūrum
              Micāns, micāns per obscūrum.

_Mag._ Quis alius recitāre potest?

_All_ (shouting). Ego possum, ego possum.

_Mag._ Bene; Mārce Antōnī, recitā.

_M. Ant._     Trēs philosophī dē Tusculō
              Mare nāvigārunt vāsculō;
              Sī vās fuisset tūtius
              Tibi canerem diūtius.

_Others_ (shouting). Mihi recitāre liceat.

_Mag._ Recitā, Gnaeī Pompēī.

_Gn. Pom._    Iōannēs, Ioannēs, tībīcine nātus,
              Fūgit perniciter porcum fūrātus.
              Sed porcus vorātus, Iōannēs dēlātus,
              Et plōrāns per viās it fūr, flagellātus.

_M. Bru._ (holding up his hand). Novum carmen ego possum recitāre.

_Mag._ Et tū, Brūte! Perge!

_M. Bru._     Gāius cum Gāiā in montem
              Veniunt ad hauriendum fontem;
              Gāius prōlāpsus frēgit frontem,
              Trāxit sēcum Gāiam īnsontem.[3]

    [Footnote 3: Here, as well as elsewhere, remember that _Gāius_ and
    _Gāia_ are each three syllables.]

_Mag._ Hōc satis est hodiē. Nunc, puerī, cor-- Quid tibi vīs, Quīnte
Hortēnsī? Facis ut tōtō corpore contremīscam.

_Q. Hor._ (who has been shaking his hand persistently). Magister,
ego novōs versūs prōnūntiāre possum. Soror mea eōs mē docuit.

_Mag._ Recitā celeriter.

_Q. Hor._     Iacōbulus Horner
              Sedēbat in corner
              Edēns Sāturnālicium pie;
              Īnseruit thumb,
              Extrāxit plum,
              Clāmāns, Quam ācer puer sum I.

_Mag._ Nunc, puerī, corpora exercēte. Ūnum, duo, tria.

  (The _discipuli_ now perform gymnastic exercises, following the
  example of the _magister_, who goes through the movements with
  them. These may be made very amusing, especially if the following
  movements are used: Arms sideways--stretch; heels--raise, knee bend;
  forehead--firm; right knee upward--bend.)

_Mag._ Cōnsīdite. Pēnsum crāstinum est pēnsum decimum. Cavēte nē hōc
oblīvīscāminī. Pēnsum crāstinum est pēnsum decimum. Et porrō hunc versum
discite: “Superanda omnis fortūna ferendō est.” (The _magister_ repeats
this verse emphatically several times in a loud and formal tone, the
_discipuli_ repeating it after him at the top of their voices.) Iam
geōgraphia nōbīs cōnsīderanda est et Galliae opera danda. Quid dē Galliā
potes tū dīcere, Mārce Mārcelle?

_M. Mar._ Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs, quārum ūnam incolunt
Belgae, aliam Aquītānī, tertiam quī ipsōrum linguā Celtae, nostrā Gallī
appellantur.

_Mag._ Pūblī Pulcher, hōrum omnium, quī fortissimī sunt?

_P. Pul._ Hōrum omnium fortissimī sunt Belgae.

_Mag._ Mihi dīc cūr Belgae fortissimī sint.

_P. Pul._ Belgae fortissimī sunt proptereā quod ā cultū atque hūmānitāte
Rōmae longissimē absunt, minimēque ad eōs mercātōrēs Rōmānī saepe
commeant atque ea quae ad effēminandōs animōs pertinent, important.

_Mag._ Quis fīnēs Galliae dēsīgnāre potest?

_All_ (raising hands). Ego, ego possum.

_Mag._ Lūcī Lūculle, Galliae fīnēs dēsīgnā.

_L. Luc._ Gallia initium capit ā flūmine Rhodanō; continētur Garumnā
flūmine, Ōceanō, fīnibus Belgārum; attingit flūmen Rhēnum ab Sēquanīs et
Helvētiīs; vergit ad septentriōnēs.

_Mag._ Quōs deōs colunt Gallī, Gnaeī Pompēī?

_Gn. Pom._ Deōrum maximē Mercurium colunt; hunc omnium inventōrem artium
ferunt, hunc viārum atque itinerum ducem esse arbitrantur. Post hunc
Apollinem et Martem et Iovem et Minervam colunt.

_Mag._ Bene, Gnaeī. Quem deum, Catilīna, colunt Rōmānī maximē?

_L. Cat._ Nōs Iovem dīvum patrem atque hominum rēgem maximē colimus.

_Mag._ Nunc, puerī, cantāte. Quod carmen hodiē cantēmus? (Many hands are
raised.) Gāī Caesar, quod carmen tū cantāre vīs?

_G. Caes._ Volō “Mīlitēs Chrīstiānī” cantāre.

_Mag._ Hōc pulcherrimum carmen cantēmus. (A knock is heard. Enter
Publius Licinius Crassus and Aulus Licinius Archias with slaves carrying
scrolls.) Salvēte, amīcī. Vōs advēnisse gaudeō. Nōnne adsīdētis ut
puerōs cantāre audiātis?

_A. Archias._ Iam rēctē, carmen sānē audiāmus.

_Mag._ Optimē, puerī, cantēmus. Ūnum, duo, tria.

  (All rise and sing; each has the song[4] before him on a scroll.)

    [Footnote 4: Tune of “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” Slightly
    altered from _Education_, Vol. IX, p. 187. The author hopes that
    this most obvious anachronism will be pardoned on the ground that
    this hymn appeals to young pupils more than most Latin songs,
    and is therefore enjoyed by them and more easily learned.]

    Mīlitēs Chrīstiānī,
    Bellō pergite;
    Cāram Iēsū crucem
    Vōs prōvehite.
    Chrīstus rēx, magister,
    Dūcit āgmina,
    Eius iam vēxillum
    It in proelia.

    Māgnum āgmen movet
    Deī ecclēsia.
    Gradimur sānctōrum,
    Frātrēs, sēmitā.
    Nōn dīvīsī sumus,
    Ūnus omnēs nōs;
    Ūnus spē, doctrīnā,
    Cāritāte nōs.

    Thronī atque rēgna
    Īnstābilia,
    Sed per Iēsum cōnstāns
    Stat ecclēsia.
    Portae nōn gehennae
    Illam vincere,
    Nec prōmissus Iēsū
    Potest fallere.

    Popule, beātīs
    Vōs coniungite!
    Carmina triumphī
    Ūnā canite;
    Chrīstō rēgī honor,
    Laudēs, glōria,
    Angelī hōc canent
    Saecla omnia.

_Mag._ Iam, puerī, silentiō factō, Gāius Iūlius Caesar nōbīs suam
ōrātiōnem habēbit quam dē ambitiōne suā composuit. Hāc ōrātiōne fīnītā,
Mārcus Tullius Cicerō suam habēbit. Ut prōnūntiātum est complūribus
diēbus ante, hī duo puerī dē praemiō inter sē contendunt. Hōc diē
fēlīcissimō duo clārissimī et honestissimī virī arbitrī sunt, Aulus
Licinius Archiās et Pūblius Licinius Crassus. In rōstra, Gāī Iūlī
Caesar, ēscende!

_G. Caes._ (Reads from a scroll or recites.) Mea cāra ambitiō est
perītus dux mīlitum fierī. Bella multa et māgna cum gentibus omnibus
nātiōnibusque orbis terrae gerere cupiō.

Bellum īnferre volō Germānīs et īnsulae Britanniae omnibusque populīs
Galliae et cēterīs quī inimīcō animō in populum Rōmānum sunt. In prīmīs,
in īnsulam Britanniam pervenīre cupiō, quae omnis ferē Rōmānīs est
incōgnita, et cōgnoscere quanta sit māgnitūdō īnsulae.

Volō pontem in Rhēnō aedificāre et māgnum exercitum trādūcere ut metum
illīs Germānīs quibus nostra parvula corpora contemptuī sunt iniciam.
Ubi Rhēnum ego trānsierō, nōn diūtius glōriābuntur illī Germānī
māgnitūdine suōrum corporum.

Vōs sententiam rogō, iūdicēs amplissimī, nōnne est haec ambitiō honesta?

Deinde rēs gestās meās perscrībam. Negōtium hūius historiae legendae
puerīs dabō mentium exercendārum causā, nam mihi crēdite, commentāriī dē
bellō Gallicō ūtilēs erunt ad ingenia acuenda puerōrum. (_Discipuli_
applaud.)

_Mag._ Nunc Mārcus nōbīs dē suā cārissimā ambitiōne loquētur. In rōstra
ēscende, Mārce!

_M. Cic._ Quoad longissimē potest mēns mea respicere et ultimam memoriam
recordārī, haec mea ambitiō fuit, ut mē ad scrībendī studium cōnferam,
prīmum Rōmae, deinde in aliīs urbibus.

Ambitiō mea autem est omnibus antecellere ingenī meī glōriā, ut haec
ōrātiō et facultās, quantacumque in mē sit, numquam amīcōrum perīculīs
dēsit. Nōnne est haec ambitiō maximum incitāmentum labōrum?

Deinde, haec est mea ambitiō, ut cōnsul sim. Dē meō amōre glōriae vōbīs
cōnfitēbor. Volō poētās reperīre quī ad glōriam meī cōnsulātūs
celebrandam omne ingenium cōnferant. Nihil mē mūtum poterit dēlectāre,
nihil tacitum. Quid enim, nōnne dēsīderant omnēs glōriam et fāmam? Quam
multōs scrīptōrēs rērum suāram māgnus ille Alexander sēcum habuisse
dīcitur! Itaque, ea verba quae prō meā cōnsuētūdine breviter
simpliciterque dīxī, arbitrī, cōnfīdō probāta esse omnibus. (_Discipuli_
applaud.)

_Mag._ Ut vidētis, arbitrī clārissimī, puerī ānxiīs animīs vestrum
dēcrētum exspectant. Quae cum ita sint, petō ā vōbīs, ut testimōnium
laudis dētis.

_A. Archias._ Ambōs puerōs, magister, maximē laudamus, sed ūnus sōlus
praemium habēre potest. Nōs nōn dēcernere possumus. Itaque dēcrēvimus ut
hī puerī ambō inter sē sortiantur uter praemium obtineat. Servī, urnam
prōferte! Nōmina in urnam iaciam. Quī habet nōmen quod prīmum ēdūcam, is
vīctor erit. (Takes from the urn a small chip and reads the name _Marcus
Tullius Cicero_.) Tē, Mārce Cicerō, victōrem esse prōnūntiō. Sīc fāta
dēcrēvērunt. Servī, corōnam ferte! (Places a wreath of leaves on the
head of Marcus. The _discipuli_ again applaud.)

_M. Cic._ (going up to Cæsar). Caesar, nōlī animō frangī. Nōn dubium est
quīn tū meliōrem ōrātiōnem habuerīs.

_G. Caes._ (coolly). Dīs aliter vīsum est.

_Mag._ Vōs ambō, Gāī et Mārce, honōrī huic scholae estis. Utinam cēterī
vōs imitentur. Aliud certāmen hūius modī mox habēbimus. Loquēmur dē--
(A knock is heard. Enter Gaius Licinius Crassus.)

_G. Cras._ Mī pater!

_P. Cras._ Mī fīlī! (They embrace.)

_G. Cras._ Māter mea mihi dīxit tē arbitrum in hōc certāmine hodiē esse.
Tē diūtius exspectāre nōn potuī. Iam diū tē vidēre cupiō et ego quoque
cupiō hōc certāmen audīre. Estne cōnfectum?

_P. Cras._ Cōnfectum est. Utinam hī puerī tē recitāre audiant! Tū eōs
docēre possīs quōmodo discipulī Rhodiī in scholā recitent.

_M. Cic._ Ō arbiter, nōbīs grātissimum sit, sī tuum fīlium audīre
possīmus.

_Discipuli_ (eagerly). Ō Crasse, recitā, recitā!

_G. Cras._ Sī vōbīs id placet, recitābō, meum tamen carmen longum est.
Ēius titulus est “Pome of a Possum.” (Recites with gesticulation.)

    The nox was lit by lūx of lūna,
    And ’twas a nox most opportūna
    To catch a possum or a coona;
    For nix was scattered o’er this mundus,
    A shallow nix, et nōn profundus.
    On sīc a nox, with canis ūnus,
    Two boys went out to hunt for coonus.
        Ūnus canis, duo puer,
        Numquam braver, numquam truer,
        Quam hoc trio quisquam fuit,
        If there was, I never knew it.
    The corpus of this bonus canis
    Was full as long as octō span is,
    But brevior legs had canis never
    Quam had hīc bonus dog et clever.
    Some used to say, in stultum iocum,
    Quod a field was too small locum
    For sīc a dog to make a turnus
    Circum self from stem to sternus.
    This bonus dog had one bad habit,
    Amābat much to chase a rabbit;
    Amābat plūs to catch a rattus,
    Amābat bene tree a cattus.
      But on this nixy moonlight night
    This old canis did just right,
    Numquam chased a starving rattus,
    Numquam treed a wretched cattus,
    But cucurrit on, intentus
    On the track and on the scentus,
    Till he treed a possum strongum
    In a hollow trunkum longum.
    Loud he barked in horrid bellum,
    Seemed on terrā vēnit hellum.
    Quickly ran uterque puer
    Mors of possum to secure.
    Cum venērunt, one began
    To chop away like quisque man;
    Soon the ax went through the trunkum,
    Soon he hit it all kerchunkum;
    Combat deepens; on, ye braves!
    Canis, puerī, et staves;
    As his powers nōn longius tarry,
    Possum potest nōn pūgnāre;
    On the nix his corpus lieth,
    Ad the Styx his spirit flieth,
    Joyful puerī, canis bonus
    Think him dead as any stonus.
    Now they seek their pater’s domō,
    Feeling proud as any homō,
    Knowing, certē, they will blossom
    Into heroes, when with possum
    They arrive, narrābunt story,
    Plēnus blood et plēnior glory.
    Pompey, David, Samson, Caesar,
    Cyrus, Black Hawk, Shalmaneser!
    Tell me where est now the glōria,
    Where the honors of vīctōria?

      Cum ad domum nārrant story,
    Plēnus sanguine, tragic, gory,
    Pater praiseth, likewise māter,
    Wonders greatly younger frāter.
    Possum leave they on the mundus,
    Go themselves to sleep profundus,
    Somniant possums slain in battle
    Strong as ursae, large as cattle.

      When nox gives way to lūx of morning,
    Albam terram much adorning,
    Up they jump to see the varmen
    Of which this here is the carmen.
    Possum, lo, est resurrēctum!
    Ecce puerum dēiectum!
    Nōn relinquit track behind him,
    Et the puerī never find him;
    Cruel possum, bēstia vilest,
    How tū puerōs beguilest;
    Puerī think nōn plūs of Cæsar,
    Go ad Orcum, Shalmaneser,
    Take your laurels, cum the honor,
    Since istud possum is a goner![5]

    [Footnote 5: Anonymous.]

  (_Discipuli_ applaud.)

_Mag._ Omnēs quī Gāiō Crassō grātiās agere velint, surgite! (All stand.)
Nunc, puerī, domum redīte.

_Discipuli_ (departing).

      Omne bene,
      Sine poenā
    Tempus est lūdendī;
      Vēnit hōra
      Absque morā
    Librōs dēpōnendī.

Valē, magister. Valē, magister.



COSTUMES


The _magister_, _iudices_, and _discipuli_ should all wear white togas
with a purple[6] border. A white gauze shirt with short sleeves may be
used as a tunic, while white duck trousers and tennis slippers serve to
complete the costume.

[Illustration]

The togas can be made of white muslin according to the measurements and
cut given by Professor Johnston,[7] which he has kindly permitted me to
use. “Those who attempt the reconstruction of the toga wholly or chiefly
from works of art find it impossible to reproduce on the living form the
drapery seen on the statues, with a toga of one piece of goods or of a
semicircular pattern. An experimental form is shown in the figure, and
resembles that of a lamp shade cut in two and stretched out to its full
extent. The dotted line _GC_ is the straight edge of the goods; the
heavy lines show the shape of the toga after it had been cut out, and
had had sewed upon it the ellipse-like piece marked _FRAcba_. The
dotted line _GE_ is of a length equivalent to the height of a man
at the shoulder, and the other measurements are to be calculated
proportionately. When the toga is placed on the figure, the point _E_
must be on the left shoulder, with the point _G_ touching the ground in
front. The point _F_ comes at the back of the neck, and as the larger
part of the garment is allowed to fall behind the figure the points _L_
and _M_ will fall on the calves of the legs behind, the point _a_ under
the right elbow, and the point _b_ on the stomach. The material is
carried behind the back and under the right arm and then thrown over the
left shoulder again. The point _c_ will fall on _E_, and the portion
_OPCa_ will hang down the back to the ground. The part _FRA_ is then
pulled over the right shoulder to cover the right side of the chest and
form the _sinus_, and the part running from the left shoulder to the
ground in front is pulled up out of the way of the feet, worked under
the diagonal folds, and allowed to fall out a little to the front.”

The _servi_ and _paedagogus_ should wear tunics of some coarse,
dark-colored material.

In small schools, where there is not a sufficiently large number of boys
in the Latin classes for _discipuli_, the parts may be taken by girls.
Their hair should fall nearly to their shoulders, as in the case of the
Roman boy. They may wear unstarched white skirts under the toga.

The _tabellae_ may be made of little book-shaped slates with wooden
borders (paint them light-colored), and the rolls of paper.

    [Footnote 6: That is, either “the color of clotted blood” (which
    was the Tyrian purple, the purple above all others) or any color
    from this to violet; “purple” meant the dye from any sort of
    univalve mollusk that gave a dye. There is reason to believe that
    genuine Turkey red, though not a mollusk dye, was commercially
    called a purple.]

    [Footnote 7: Johnston, “Private Life of the Romans,” Scott,
    Foresman & Co., 1903.]



A ROMAN WEDDING

63 B.C.



  TRES SCAENAE

  Scaena prīma:   Spōnsālia
  Scaena secunda: Nūptiae
  Scaena tertia:  Dēductiō


  DRĀMATIS PERSŌNÆ

  Spōnsa:         Tullia
  Spōnsus:        Gāius Pīsō
  Spōnsae pater:  Mārcus Tullius Cicerō
  Spōnsae māter:  Terentia
  Spōnsī pater:   Lūcius Pīso Frūgī
  Spōnsī māter
  Spōnsae frāter: Mārcus Tullius Cicerō, adulēscēns
  Flāmen Diālis
  Pontifex Maximus
  Iūris cōnsultus
  Quīntus Hortēnsius
  Prōnuba
  Sīgnātōrēs
  Tībīcinēs
  Līctōrēs

  Mārcipor   }
  Philotīmus } Servī
  Tīrō       }
  Anna       }



A ROMAN WEDDING


SCAENA PRĪMA

SPŌNSĀLIA

  Let the curtain be raised, showing a room furnished as nearly as
  possible like the atrium of a Roman house. A bench, covered with
  tapestry, on each side of the stage facilitates the seating of the
  guests. Cicero is heard practicing an oration behind the scenes.

_M. Cic._ Ō rem pūblicam miserābilem! Quā rē, Quirītēs, dubitātis? Ō dī
immortālēs! Ubinam gentium sumus? In quā urbe vīvimus? Quam rem pūblicam
habēmus? Vīvis, et vīvis nōn ad dēpōnendam sed ad cōnfīrmandam tuam
audāciam.

  (Enter Terentia. A slave, Anna, follows bringing a boy’s toga,
  which she begins to sew, under Terentia’s direction. Another slave,
  Marcipor, also follows.)

Nihil agis, nihil mōlīris, nihil cōgitās quod nōn ego nōn modo audiam,
sed videam. Quae cum ita sint, Catilīna, ex urbe ēgredere; patent
portae, proficīscere. Māgnō mē metū līberābis dum modo inter mē atque tē
mūrus intersit. Quid est enim, Catilīna, quod tē iam in hāc urbe
dēlectāre possit? Quamquam quid loquor? Tē ut ūlla rēs frangat?
(A crash, similar to that of falling china, is heard.)

_Terentia._ Quid est? Vidē, Mārcipor!

  (As Marcipor is about to leave, Philotimus enters at the right,
  bringing in his hands the pieces of a broken vase.)

_Phil._ Ō domina, ecce, dominus, dum ōrātiōnem meditātur, vās quod ipse
tibi ē Graeciā attulit, manūs gestū dēmōlītus est.

_Terentia_ (groaning). Lege, Philotīme, omnia fragmenta. (Exit Phil.)
Mihi, Mārcipor, fer cistam ex alabastrītā factam. (Exit Mar.)
(To herself.) Tam molestum est ōrātōrī nūpsisse. (Covers her face with
her hands, as if weeping.)

_M. Cic._ (proceeding with his practicing). Atque hōc quoque ā mē ūnō
togātō factum est. Mārce Tullī, quid agis? Interfectum esse Lūcium
Catilīnam iam prīdem oportēbat. Quid enim malī aut sceleris fingī aut
cōgitārī potest quod ille nōn concēperit? Ō rem pūblicam fortūnātam,
ō praeclāram laudem meī cōnsulātūs, sī ex vītā ille exierit! Vix feram
sermōnēs hominum, sī id fēcerit. (Enter Marcipor with a small box.)

_Mar._ Hīc est, domina, cista tua.

_Terentia_ (takes from her bosom a key and opens the box, taking out a
package of letters, one of which she reads). “Sine tē, ō mea Terentia
cārissima, sum miserrimus. Utinam domī tēcum semper manērem. Quod cum
nōn possit, ad mē cotīdiē litterās scrībe. Cūrā ut valeās et ita tibi
persuādē, mihi tē cārius nihil esse nec umquam fuisse. Valē, mea
Terentia, quam ego vidēre videor itaque dēbilitor lacrimīs. Cūrā, cūrā
tē, mea Terentia. Etiam atque etiam valē.”

Quondam litterās amantissimās scrīpsit; nunc epistolia frīgēscunt.
Quondam vās mihi dedit, nunc vās mihi dēmōlītur; quondam fuit marītus,
nunc est ōrātor. Tam molestum est mātrem familiās esse.

  (Enter Cicero, from the right, followed by his slave Tiro, carrying
  a number of scrolls which he places upon a table.)

_M. Cic._ Quid est, Terentia? Quidnam lacrimās? Mihi dīc.

_Terentia._ Rēs nūllast! Modo putābam quantum mūtātus ab illō Cicerōne
quī mē in mātrimōnium dūxerit, sit Cicerō quem hodiē videō. Tum
Terentiae aliqua ratiō habēbātur. Nunc vacat Cicerō librīs modo et
ōrātiōnibus et Catilīnae. Nescīs quantum mē hūius negōtī taedeat! Nūllum
tempus habēs ad cōnsultandum mēcum dē studiīs nostrī fīliolī. Magister
dē eō haec hodiē rettulit. (Hands Cicero a scroll.) Mē pudet fīlī.

_M. Cic._ (reading to himself the report). Dīc meō fīliō, Mārcipor,
ut ad mē veniat. (Exit Marcipor, who returns bringing young Marcus.)

_M. Cic. a._ Quid est, pater?

_M. Cic._ Tua māter, mī fīlī, animum ānxium ob hanc renūntiātiōnem dē tē
habet. Mē quoque, cōnsulem Rōmānum, hūius renūntiātiōnis quibusdam
partibus pudet. (Reads aloud.) “Bis absēns.” Cūr, mī fīlī, ā scholā
āfuistī?

_M. Cic. a._ Id nōn memoriā teneō.

_Terentia._ Sunt multa quae memoriā nōn tenēs, sī ego dē hāc
renūntiātiōne iūdicāre possum.

_M. Cic._ (continues reading). “Tardus deciēns!” Deciēns! Id est
incrēdibile! Fīlius cōnsulis Rōmānī tardus deciēns! Māter tua id nōn
patī dēbuit.

_Terentia_ (angrily). Māter tua id nōn patī dēbuit! Immō vērō pater tuus
id nōn patī debuit.

_M. Cic._ “Ars legendī _A_.” Id quidem satis est. “Ars scrībendī _D_.”
_D_! Id quidem minimē satis est. Nūgātor dēfuit officiō! “Fīlius tuus
dīcit scrīptūram tempus longius cōnsūmere. Dēbet sē in scrībendō multum
exercēre, sī scrībere modō tolerābilī discere vult. Arithmētica _A_.
Huic studiō operam dat. Dēclāmātiō _A_. Omnibus facile hōc studiō
antecellit.” Bene, mī fīlī. Ea pars hūius renūntiātiōnis mihi māgnopere
placet. Ōrātor clārissimus ōlim eris.

_Terentia._ Ūnus ōrātor apud nōs satis est.

_M. Cic. a._ Ōrātor erō ōlim nihilō minus. Facile est ōrātōrem fierī.
Dēclāmātiō est facillima. Hodiē in scholā hanc dēclāmātiōnem didicī:

    Omnia tempus edāx dēpāscitur, omnia carpit,
      Omnia sēde movet, nīl sinit esse diū.
    Flūmina dēficiunt, profugum mare lītora siccant,
      Subsīdunt montēs et iuga celsa ruunt.
    Quid tam parva loquor? mōlēs pulcherrima caelī
      Ardēbit flammīs tōta repente suīs.
    Omnia mors poscit. Lēx est, nōn poena, perīre:
      Hīc aliquō mundus tempore nūllus erit.

_Terentia._ Tālis dēclāmātiō est facilis. Audī quid dē geōmetriā tuā
relātum sit. Geōmetria magis quam declāmātiō ostendit utrum tū mentem
exerceās.

_M. Cic._ (continues reading). “Geōmetria _D_.” Magister haec scripsit:
“Fīlius tuus dīcit geōmetriam ōrātōribus inūtilem esse. Eī dīligenter
domī labōrandum est.” Ō Mārce, hōc est incrēdibile! Num dīxistī tū
geōmetriam ōrātōribus inūtilem esse?

_M. Cic. a._ Ō, studium geōmetriae mihi odiōsum ingrātumque est! Omnēs
puerōs istīus taedet. Tantī nōn est!

_M. Cic._ Etiam sī studium tū nōn amās, geōmetriam discere dēbēs. Tibi
centum sēstertiōs dabō sī summam notam in geōmetriā proximō mēnse
adeptus eris.

_M. Cic. a._ (grasping his father’s hand). Amō tē, pater, convenit!
Eam adipīscar!

_Terentia_ (to Anna). Estne toga parāta?

_Anna._ Parāta est, domina.

_Terentia._ Hūc venī, Mārce!

_M. Cic. a._ Ō māter, tempus perdere nōlō. Mālō legere.

_Terentia._ Quid dīcis? Nōn vīs? Nōnne vīs novam togam habēre?

_M. Cic. a._ Nōlō. Novā mī nīl opus est. Tam fessus sum! (Picks up a
scroll and is about to take a seat in the corner.)

_M. Cic._ Ad mātrem tuam, Mārce Cicerō, sine morā, accēde!

  (Marcus is about to obey when a knock is heard at the door.
  Lucius Piso Frugi and Quintus Hortensius enter at the left.)

_M. Cic._ (greeting Q. Hortensius). Ō amīcī, salvēte! ut valētis?

_Terentia_ (greeting L. Piso). Dī duint vōbīs quaecumque optētis.
Cicerōnī modo dīcēbam nōs diū vōs nōn vidēre, praesertim tē, Pīsō.
Mārcipor, ubi est Tullia? Eī dīc ut hūc veniat.

_L. Piso._ Nōlī Tulliam vocāre. Nunc cum parentibus Tulliae agere volō,
nōn cum Tulliā ipsā.

_Terentia._ Nōn vīs nostram Tulliam vidēre! Quid, scīre volō?

_L. Piso._ Cum eā hōc tempore agere nōn cupiō. Id propter quod in
vestram domum hodiē vēnī tuā, et Cicerōnis rēfert. Velim vōbīscum agere
prō meō fīliō, Gāiō Pīsōne, quī fīliam tuam in mātrimōnium dūcere vult.

_M. Cic._ Meam fīliam in mātrimōnium dūcere! Mea Tulliola nōndum satis
mātūra est ut nūbat. Mea fīlia mihi cārior vītā ipsā est. Eam āmittere
. . . id nōn ferre possum. Ea lūx nostra est. Meā Tulliolā nihil umquam
amābilius, nec longā vītā ac prope immortālitāte dīgnius vīdī. Nōndum
annōs quattuordecim implēvit et iam ēius prūdentia est mīrābilis. Ut
magistrōs amat! Quam intellegenter legit! Nōn possum verbīs exprimere
quantō vulnere animō percutiar sī meam Tulliolam āmittam. Utinam penitus
intellegerēs meōs sēnsūs, quanta vīs paternī sit amōris.

_L. Piso._ Tālia verba, Mārce Tullī, virī Rōmānī nōn propria sunt.
Necesse est omnēs nostrās fīliās in mātrimōnium dēmus. Nihil aliud
exspectā.

_Terentia._ Nostra fīlia omnibus grātissima est. Semper enim lepida et
līberālis est. Iam diū sciō nōs eam nōn semper retinēre posse.

_L. Piso._ Rēctē, rēctē! Meus fīlius bonus est; est ōrātor. Est quoque
satis dīves. Rōmae duās aedēs habet; rūre māgnificentissima vīlla est
eī. Cum illō fīlia tua fēlīx erit. Id mihi persuāsum habeō. Quae cum ita
sint, Mārce Tullī, sine dōte tuam fīliam meō fīliō poscō.

_M. Cic._ Prohibeant dī immortālēs condiciōnem ēius modī. Cum mea fīlia
in mātrimōnium danda sit, nēminem cōgnōvī quī illā dīgnior sit quam tuus
fīlius ēgregius.

_L. Piso_ (shaking hands with Cicero). Ō Mārce, mī amīce, dī tē
respiciant! Nunc mihi eundum est ut fīlium et sīgnātōrēs arcessam et iam
hūc revertar.

  (Exeunt L. Piso and Q. Hortensius.)

_Terentia._ Dīc, Mārcipor, servīs ut in culīnā vīnum, frūctūs, placentās
parent. (Exit Marcipor.) Mārce, fīlī, sorōrem vocā.

_M. Cic. a._  Tullia, ō Tullia,
              Soror mea bella,
              Amātōres tibi sunt
              Pīsō et Dolābella.

  (Enter Tullia at the right.)

              Amatne Pīsō tē,
              Etiam Dolābella?
              Tullia, ō Tullia,
              Soror mea bella,
              Pīsōnem tuum marītum fac;
              Nōn grātus Dolābella.

_Tullia._ Ō Mārce, tuī mē taedet. Quid est, māter?

_Terentia._ Tullia, nōnne est Gāius Pīsō tibi grātissimus?

_Tullia._ Ō, mihi satis placet. Cūr mē rogās, māter?

_Terentia._ Rogō, mea fīlia, quod Pīsō tē in mātrimōnium dūcere vult.
Tibi placetne hōc?

_Tullia._ Mihi placet sī--

_Terentia._ Sī--quid, mea fīlia?

_Tullia._ Ō māter, nōlō nūbere. Sum fēlīx tēcum et patre et Mārcō. Vīxī
tantum quattuordecim annōs. Puella diūtius esse volō, nōn māter
familiās.

_Terentia._ Pīsō dīves est. Pater tuus nōn māgnās dīvitiās nunc habet.
Meum argentum quoque cōnsūmptum est. Etiam haec domus nostra nōn diūtius
erit. Quid faciāmus sī tū nōn bene nūbēs?

_Tullia._ Sciō patrem meum nōn māgnās possessiōnēs habēre; quid vērō,
māter? Servīlia, Lūcullī spōnsa, quī modo rediit spoliīs Orientis
onustus, semper suam fortūnam queritur. Misera Lūcullum ōdit ac
dētestātur. Hesternō diē meīs auribus Servīliam haec verba dīcere
audīvī: “Mē miseram! Īnfēlīcissimam vītam! Fēminam maestam! quid faciam?
Mihi dēlēctus est marītus ōdiōsus. Nēmō rogāvit quī vir mihi maximē
placeat. Coniugem novum ōderō, id certum est. Prae lacrimīs nōn iam
loquī possum.” Ō māter! ego sum aequē trīstis ac Servīlia. Nōlō Gāiō
Pīsōnī nūbere. Nūllī hominī, neque Rōmānō neque peregrīnō, quem vīderim,
nūbere volō.

_Terentia._ Tullia, mea fīlia, mātris et nostrae domūs miserēre! Hodiē
pater ā mē argentum postulābat quod eī dare nōn poteram. Pīsō dītissimus
est et nōbīs auxiliō esse potest. Parentum tuōrum causā tē ōrō nē hunc
ēgregium adulēscentem aspernēris.

_Tullia._ Ō Servīliam et Tulliam, ambās miserās! Quid dīcis tū, mī
pater? Vīs tū quoque mē in mātrimōnium dare?

_M. Cic._ Ō mea Tulliola, mē nōlī rogāre. Nescīs quantum ego tē amem.
Sine tē vīvere nōn poterō. Id mihi persuāsum habeō. Putō tamen, sī pācem
apud nōs habēre velīmus, tē mātris iussa sequī necesse esse.

_Tullia._ Volō, mī pater, tē pācem habēre. Tua vīta tam perturbāta fuit.
Nūbam, sed ō mē miseram!

  (A knock is heard. Enter from the left L. Piso, Gaius Piso, and the
  _signatores_. They are greeted by Cicero and Terentia and seated
  by slaves.)

_Terentia_ (as she receives them). Multum salvēte, ō amīcī. Tulliae vix
persuādēre poteram, tamen nōn iam invīta est.

_L. Piso._ Bene, bene, hīc est mihi diēs grātissimus. Parāta sunt omnia?

_Terentia._ Omnia parāta sunt, sed iūris cōnsultus nōndum vēnit.

_L. Piso._ Ille quidem ad tempus adesse pollicitus est.

_Terentia._ Id spērō. Tībīcinēs, Mārcipor, hūc arcesse. (Enter Q.
Hortensius and his wife, together with the pronuba and the _iuris
consultus_.) Salvēte, meī amīcī. Adsīdite sī placet.

_Iuris con._ Sī mihi veniam dabitis, nōn diū morārī velim. Īnstāns
negōtium mē in forō flāgitat. Mihi mātūrandum est. (Goes to a table with
M. Cicero and busies himself with the _tabulae nuptiales_.)

_L. Piso._ Mātūrēmus! Gāī et Tullia, ad mē venīte! (To Cicero.)
Spondēsne Tulliam, tuam fīliam, meō fīliō uxōrem darī?

_M. Cic._ Dī bene vertant! Spondeō.

_L. Piso._ Dī bene vertant!

_G. Piso_ (placing a ring on the fourth finger of Tullia’s left hand).
Hunc ānulum quī meum longum amōrem testētur aceipe. Manum, Tullia, tibi
dō, et vim bracchiōrum et celeritātem pedum et glōriam meōrum patrum.
Tē amō, pulchra puella. Tē ūnam semper amābō. Mihi es tū cārior omnibus
quae in terrā caelōque sunt. Fēlīcēs semper sīmus!

_Iuris con._ Tabulae nūptiālēs sunt parātae et ecce condiciōnēs.
(Reads.) “Hōc diē, prīdiē Īdūs Aprīlēs, annō sescentēsimō nōnāgēsimō
prīmō post Rōmam conditam, M. Tulliō Cicerōne Gāiō Antōniō cōnsulibus,
ego M. Tullius Cicerō meam fīliam Tulliam Gāiō Calpurniō Lūcī fīliō
Pīsōnī spondeō. Eam cum dōte dare spondeō. Ea dōs erit quīndecim mīlia
sēstertium.” (Turning to Gaius.) Gāī Pīsō, spondēsne tē Tulliam semper
amātūrum cultūrumque?

_Gr. Piso._ Id spondeō.

_Iuris con._ Spondēsne tū, Tullia, tē Gāiō Pīsōnī semper obsecutūram
esse?

_Tullia._ Id spondeō.

_Iuris con._ (stamping the _tabulae_ with a seal). Nuc subscrībite!
Tū prīmus, Cicerō, deinde Terentia et Tullia et Gāius.

  (The _tibicines_ play softly and the _servi_ pass wine, dried fruit,
  and small cakes. Tullia, taking her glass of wine, steps forward
  and pours a little out as an offering to the gods. After the
  witnesses have signed in turn, the following words of
  congratulation are spoken.)

_Q. Hor._ Beātī vīvātis, Pīsō et Tullia! Omnēs spōnsō et spōnsae salūtem
propīnēmus! (All drink to the health of the betrothed.)

_M. Cic. a._ Sint dī semper volentēs propitiīque ipsīs domuī
familiaeque. Sit vōbīs fortūna benīgna!

_M. Cic._ Tibi grātulor, Pīsō. Tū pulcherrimam et optimam puellam tōtīus
Rōmae adeptus es.

_Pronuba._ Ō fortūnāte adulēscēns quī tālem puellam invēnerīs!

_Iuris con._ Sīgnāvēruntne omnēs? Tū, Quīnte Hortēnsī, nōndum
subscrīpsistī.

_Q. Hor._ Id statim faciam. (Signs.)

_Pronuba._ Nunc omnēs cantēmus!

  (All join in singing, accompanied by the _tibicines_.)

  [Music:
  Hespere, qui caelo fertur crudelior ignis?
  Qui natam possis complexu avellere matris,
  Complexu matris retinentem avellere natam
  Et iuveni ardenti castam donare puellam.
  Quid faciunt hostes capta crudelius urbe?
  Hymen O Hymenæe, Hymen ades O Hymenæe.]


SECUNDA SCAENA

NŪPTIAE

  The house is adorned with wool, flowers, tapestry, and boughs.

  The Pontifex Maximus (wearing a white fillet) and the Flamen Dialis
  enter from opposite sides, each preceded by a lictor with fasces,
  who remains standing at the side of the stage, while the priests
  pass on to the altar. The Flamen burns incense. A slave brings in a
  pigeon on a silver tray and hands it to the Flamen, while another
  hands to the Pontifex from a basket a plate of meal and one with
  crackers.

  The priests, taking respectively the bird and the meal, hold them
  high above their heads and look up devoutly, after which the bridal
  party enters, from the left, in the following order:

  The bride, preceded by the pronuba, comes first. Both take their
  places, standing at the right of the altar; next the groom, preceded
  by the boys, takes his stand near the bride, a little to the left;
  the guests follow and are seated.

  Cicero hands wine to the priests, with which they sprinkle the
  sacrifices.

  As the Flamen again looks up and raises his hands above his head,
  all kneel except the priests and lictors, while he pronounces the
  following solemn words:

Auspicia secunda sunt. Māgna grātia dīs immortālibus habenda est.
Auspicia secunda sunt.

  After all have risen, the pronuba, placing her hands upon the
  shoulder of the bride and groom, conducts them to the front of the
  altar. There she joins their hands and they walk around the altar
  twice, hand in hand, stopping in front when the ceremony proper
  begins.

  Again the Flamen says:

Auspicia secunda sunt.

  The Pontifex hands the groom a cracker, of which he partakes,
  passing it on to the bride. The pronuba puts back the veil, and
  after the bride has eaten the cracker she says to the groom:

Ubi tū Gāius, ego Gāia.

  Both are then conducted by the pronuba to two chairs, placed side by
  side, at the right of the altar, covered with the skin of a sheep.
  They face the altar and the pronuba covers their heads with a large
  veil. (Place the same veil over both.)

_Pontifex Maximus_ (making an offering of meal to Jupiter).

    Iuppiter omnipotēns dīvum pater atque hominum rēx,
    Hōs spōnsōs bene respiciās, faveāsque per annōs.
    Iuppiter omnipotēns, precibus sī flecteris ūllīs
    Aspice eōs, hōc tantum, et sī pietāte merentur,
    Dā cursum vītae iūcundum et commoda sparge
    Multa manū plēnā; vīrēs validāsque per mensēs
    Hī habeant, puerōs pulchrōs fortēsque nepōtēs.
    Rēbus iūcundīs quibus adsīs Iuppiter semper.

_Flamen Dialis._

    Iūnō quae incēdis dīvum rēgīna Iovisque
    Coniunx et soror, hōs spōnsōs servā atque tuēre.
    Sint et fēlīcēs, fortēs, pietāte suprēmī;
    Māgnā cum virtūte incēdant omnibus annīs,
    Semper fortūnātī, semper et usque beātī.

  (The pronuba now uncovers the heads of the wedded pair and they
  receive congratulations.)

_L. Piso._ Beātī vīvātis, Gāī et Tullia!

_Terentia._ Vōbīs sint dī semper faustī!

_M. Cic. a._ Vōbīs ambōbus grātulor. Sed nūlla rēs levis est
mātrimōnium. Quid, Tullia?

_Tullia._ Rēctē dīcis, frāter, mātrimōnium nōn in levī habendum est.

_M. Cic._ Sint omnēs diēs fēlīcēs aequē ac hīc diēs.

_Pronuba._ Spērō, meī amīcī, omnēs diēs vōbīs laetissimōs futūrōs esse.

  (The curtain falls. The priests and lictors retire, all the rest,
  except Terentia and Tullia, keeping the same position for the next
  scene.)


SCAENA TERTIA

DĒDUCTIŌ

  The guests are sitting about the room. The bride is sitting on her
  mother’s lap. Her wedding ornaments have been taken off and she is
  closely veiled. The groom takes her as if by force from her mother’s
  arms.

_Tullia._ Ō māter, māter, nōlō ā tē et patre meō discēdere. Ō, mē
miseram!

_Terentia._ Ī, fīlia, ī! Saepe tuōs parentēs et frātrem vīsere poteris.
Necesse est nunc cum marītō eās.

_G. Piso._ Mihi, Tullia, cārior vītā es. Tē nōn pigēbit coniugem meam
fierī. Id polliceor. Mēcum venī, Tullia cārissima!

_Tullia._ Sīc estō. Prius mustāceum edendum est. (She cuts the wedding
cake and all partake.)

_L. Pisonis uxor._ Hōc mustāceum optimum est. Hōc fēcistīne tū, Tullia?

_Tullia._ Nihil temporis habēbam quō mustāceum facerem. Multa mihi ūnō
tempore agenda erant.

_Terentia._ Tullia mustāceum facere potest sī spatium datur.

_M. Cic. a._ (taking another piece of cake). Tullia est dēliciae
puellae. Sī ūnum modo mustāceum habēmus, ad novam domum Tulliae
proficīscāmur.

(Others cry out) Eāmus!

  The curtain falls. A frame to represent the door of a Roman house is
  placed to the left of the stage; a small altar stands at the right:
  a circular piece of wood with holes bored in it as a receptacle for
  the torches (common wax candles) is placed on top of the altar used
  by the priests. The procession to the groom’s house advances from
  the left in the following order:

  The flute-players first, followed by a lad carrying a torch and
  vase; next the bride, supported on either side by a boy; the groom,
  throwing nuts to those in the street, walks at the side; a boy
  follows, carrying the bride’s spindle; the others follow, two by
  two, all carrying torches and singing:

    Hespere, quī caelō fertur crūdēlior īgnis?
    Quī nātam possīs complexū āvellere mātris,
    Complexū mātris retinentem āvellere nātam
    Et iuvenī ārdentī castam dōnāre puellam.
    Quid faciunt hostēs captā crūdēlius urbe?
    Hȳmēn ō Hymenaee, Hȳmēn ades ō Hymenaee.

  When the groom’s house is reached, the bride winds the door posts
  with woolen bands and anoints them with oil to signify health and
  plenty. She is then lifted over the threshold by two boys to prevent
  possible stumbling. The groom, Cicero, Terentia, L. Piso and his
  wife, enter the house and place their torches on the altar; the
  others remain standing outside. All continue singing, accompanied by
  the flute-players, until after the groom hands to the bride a dish,
  on which incense is burning, and a bowl of water, which both touch
  in token of mutual purity, and Tullia again repeats the words:

Ubi tū Gāius, ego Gāia.

_G. Piso_ (presenting to her the keys, which she fastens in her girdle).
Sit fēlīx nostra vīta! Clāvēs meae domūs, mea uxor, accipe!

  Tullia kindles the fire on the altar with her torch, and then throws
  it to a girl outside. The girl who catches the torch exclaims:

Ō, mē fēlicissimam! proxima Tulliae nūbam.

  (Tullia kneels at the altar and offers prayer to Juno.)

    Iūnō, es auctor mūnerum,
    Iūnō, māter omnium,
    Nōbīs dā nunc gaudium.
    Iūnō, adiūtrīx es hominum,
    Iūnō, summa caelitum,
    Nōbis sīs auxilium.



  [Illustration: ROMAN MARRIAGE]

COSTUMES AND SUGGESTIONS


The bride wears a white dress trimmed with purple fringe, a girdle of
crimson wool, and a long yellow veil. She has on many bright-colored
ribbons, many bracelets and rings, and high yellow shoes with buckles.
Her hair is arranged in six locks parted by the point of a spear and
held in place by _vittae_ or bands.

The Pontifex should have a band of purple three inches wide around the
bottom of his toga.

The boys should wear straight robes reaching to the knee and gathered at
the shoulders. The garb of the statue “Diana of the Hind” is a good
illustration.

The slaves wear bright-colored tunics reaching to the knees.

Valuable suggestions may be found in Johnston’s “Private Life of the
Romans,” “Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities,” and _Harper’s
Magazine_, Vol. 46.

The individual parts should be thoroughly learned and practiced before a
full rehearsal is attempted.

Especial emphasis should be placed upon the necessity of reciting the
parts slowly and distinctly.

The signing of the _tabulae nuptiales_ was a part of the _nuptiae_, but
it has been introduced during the _sponsalia_ to give better balance to
the play. Wherever permissible, very simple Latin has been used in order
to render the task of memorizing as easy as possible.


SCENE I

SPONSALIA--BETROTHAL

Cicero’s house. Terentia complains that Cicero neglects her and that he
devotes too much time to the prosecution of Catiline and to study. The
school report (renuntiatio) of her son, the young Cicero, also causes
her anxiety. Marcus junior adds to her anxiety by affirming that he
wishes to become an orator like his father. He promises, however, that
he will study his geometry more diligently and thereby gain the reward
offered by Cicero. Lucius Piso calls at Cicero’s home to ask the hand of
Tullia for his son Gaius Piso. Terentia is pleased with the prospect of
marrying her daughter so well. Tullia herself and Cicero prefer to wait
until Tullia is older. Tullia says she can sympathize with Servilia and
others who have no girlhood on account of marrying so young; but finally
she yields to her mother’s wish and consents to become betrothed to
Gaius. The witnesses arrive and the betrothal (sponsalia) takes place.
The marriage contract (tabulae nuptiales) is signed, showing the amount
of dowry. Refreshments are partaken of, following a libation in honor of
the gods. Congratulations are offered and the wedding hymn is sung.


SCENE II

NUPTIAE--WEDDING CEREMONY

The auspices are taken and pronounced favorable. The groom and bride
assume the names of Gaius and Gaia, respectively. These particular names
were chosen, according to some, out of respect to the noted spinner
Gaius and his royal wife, who were held by the Romans as a pattern of
conjugal fidelity and skilled industry; according to others, because of
the derivation from _gaudere_. Tullia with the words “Ubi tu Gaius, ego
Gaia” (where you are Gaius, I am Gaia) signifies her willingness to
enter the gens of her husband. The eating of the cake presented by the
Pontifex (confarreatio) is the most important part of the ceremony,
suggesting the sacramental view of marriage. The skin upon which the
bride and groom are seated is supposed to be that of the sheep
sacrificed before the ceremony begins. Prayer is offered to Jupiter by
the Pontifex, and to Juno by the Flamen Dialis, after which
congratulations are offered.


SCENE III

DEDUCTIO--PROCESSION TO THE GROOM’S HOUSE

The bride is taken, to all appearances, by force from her mother’s
embrace,--a survival of the marriage by capture, or, as the Romans
themselves put it, a reminiscence of the Sabine marriage. The
_mustaceum_, or wedding cake, is eaten, and the procession begins,
all singing the wedding hymn. The groom throws nuts to the boys in the
street as a sign that he will now put away childish things. Arriving at
the groom’s house, the bride anoints the doorposts with oil to signify
health and plenty, and then offers a prayer for future happiness.


       *       *       *       *       *
           *       *       *       *
       *       *       *       *       *


Errata

Variation between “æ” and “ae” is unchanged, including the spelling of
“Drāmatis Persōnæ” or “-ae”. Note that the name is consistently “Cæsar”
in English, “Caesar” in Latin.

  ... the writer’s aim will be / accomplished
    [_lack of closing punctuation may be intentional_]

  _Gn. Pom._ Iōannēs, Iōannēs, tībīcine nātus  [Iōannēs, Ioannēs]
  Portae nōn gehennae  [non]
  When nox gives way to lūx of morning  [lux]

  Lege, Philotīme, omnia fragmenta.  [frāgmenta]
  Tē nōn pigēbit coniugem  [non]





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