The curtain, instead of being pulled up, as with us, when the play begins is pulled down, falling into a groove in the stage.  Where we should say the “curtain is up” the Romans would say exactly the reverse, “the curtain is lowered.”  For plays in which the palace-front was not appropriate, scenery was employed to cover it, being painted on canvas or on boards which could be pulled aside; other scenes were stretched on frames, which could be made to revolve so as to present various faces.

The actors, however much admired for their art, and however influential in irregular ways, were looked upon as in a degraded position, and no Roman who valued social regard would adopt this line of life.  Among the Greeks and such Orientals as were under Greek influence no such stigma rested upon the profession, and therefore many of the chief actors of the imperial city had received their training in this more liberal-minded part of the Roman world.  The rest were mostly slaves or ex-slaves.  If a Roman of any standing took part, it was either because he was a ruined man, or else because the emperor had capriciously ordered him to undergo this humiliation.

[Illustration:  FIG. 81.—­TRAGIC ACTOR.]

The plays themselves were certainly of no great merit from a constructive or literary point of view.  We hear a good deal nowadays of the “decline of the drama,” but perhaps in no civilised country has it declined so far as it had descended in Rome by the year A.D. 64.  The regular and classical drama—­that is to say, literary tragedy and comedy—­was not likely to appeal to any ordinary Roman gathering.  The philosopher Seneca indeed wrote tragedies in imitation of the Greek, but they were intended for the reader and the library, and there is little probability that they were ever performed, or even offered to the stage.  Tragedies were, it is true, represented, but they were mostly Greek, and the performance was in the Greek style.  The heroic actors wore masks, covering not only the face but the whole head, which they raised considerably in height.  About the body fell long and trailing robes of splendid material and colour, and on the feet were thick-soled boots which increased the height by several inches.  The comedian played in low shoes or slippers; and “boot” and “slipper” were therefore terms in common vogue to distinguish the two kinds of theatrical entertainment.  Of Pliny’s two favourite country-houses on Lake Como one was called “Tragedy” as standing high, the other “Comedy” because on a lower site beside the water.  The whole effect sought in the heroic play was the grandiose, and no attempt was made to reproduce the actualities of life.  In the accompanying illustration will be seen the tragic hero as he appeared upon the Roman stage.  In considering this somewhat amazing apparition it must be remembered that at Rome, as in Greece, the theatre was huge, effective opera-glasses were not known, and subtle changes of facial expression would have passed unnoticed.  The make-up of the actor, like the painting of the scenes, was compelled to depend upon broad effects.