THE DRAMATIC VALUES IN PLAUTUS

As our intention is fundamentally to get at the original intent
of our poet and his actors, a discussion of the mask is not in order.
Whether we agree with Donatus' statement that masks were first
introduced for comedy and tragedy by Cincius Faliscus and Minucius
Prothymus respectively,87 or with Diomedes' explanation88
that Roscius adopted them to disguise his pronounced squint, it is
certain that they were not worn in Plautus' time, when wigs and
make-up were employed for characterization. 89 In fact, the early
performances of Plautus, unless we except the original Terentian
productions, stand almost alone in the history of Graeco-Roman
comedy as unmasked plays. This would give opportunity for the
practice of lively grimace and facial play.
The text itself contains not infrequent descriptions of the outward
appearance of the characters, often pointing to grotesqueries
of make-up that rival those of the Old Comedy. From As. 400-1
we learn that Saurea was :
Macilentis malis, rufulus, ali quantum ventriosus,
Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte.
In the Mer. Lysimachus is described as a veritable thensaurus
mali (639-40) :
Canum, varum, ventriosum, buculentum, breviculum,
Subnigris oculis, oblongis malis, pansam aliquantulum.
Curculio was one-eyed : "Unocule, salve" (CUf. 392). Pseudo­
Ius must have been a joy to the groundlings (Ps. 12 18 ff.) :
87Donat. de Com. VI. 3. There is some suspicion that the names have been
interchanged.
88Ars Gram. III, p. 489.10 K ; Festus, s.v. personata, p. 217. Cf. Cic. de Nat.
Deo. I. 28.79. Ribbeck, Romische Tragodie p. 661, and Dziatzko in Rhein.
Mus. XXI. 68, have made a violent effort to reconcile the conflicting state­
ments by arguing that Roscius belonged to the troupe of Minucius. This
is denied by Weinberger, Wien. Stud. XIV. 126. For further discussion
v. van Wageningen, Scaen. Rom. p. 34 ff. ; Leo in Rhein. jl1 us. XXXVIII. 342 ;
Oehmichen, op. cit. p. 250; B. Arnold, Ueber Antike Theatermasken ; Teuffel,
Romische Litteraturgeschichte § 16. Sec. 13; Pauly-Wissowa, op. cit., s. v. histrio,
pp. 2 120-21. A recent article by Saunders (A . J. P., XXXII, p. 58) gives
an admirable summing-up of the whole controversy, with substantial proof
that at any rate the performers of Plautus' day were unmasked.
89Diom. III. p. 489.10 K. Cf. Saunders, Costume in Roman Comedy ; Mar­
quardt-Mommsen, Handbuch der romischen Altertiimer, VI. p. 525 ; Pauly­
Wissowa, 1. c. Cf. Cic. ad Fam. VII. 6.
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