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Show jjlus Was First Great Actor ig are wo indebted for what if Quintus Roscius Gallus, At Ct0r "S t'm0 and uu" "y tho first great actor the jhad. Born a slave, for in its aono but Blaves, were permit-r permit-r A themselves to an art which lunder the ban of infamy. jpian Edict stigmatized cer- tain classes as disreputable; for instance, in-stance, thieves, robbers, and all those who mounted the- boards as actors or reciters. But in spite of tho goneral contempt with which actors as a class were regarded, the individual dramatic performer frequently succeeded in rising ris-ing above his colleagues, and in gaining gain-ing wealth as a consideration. Karl Mantzius. in his estimablo work. "The History of Theatrical Art," speaking of Gallus says: "No other Roman player obtained popularity nnd esteem equal to his. Ho was a comic actor and possessed a power over the public which was simply astounding. The favor in which ho stood was even transferred to his pupils, and any one whom he protected was pretty sure of future success on tho boards. Roscius himself might oven play loss well without with-out incurring tho displeasure of tho pub lie. If for once ho happened to be less successful than usual, people only said: fHo would not play.' or 'he was uot quite well.' Part of his outward circumstances circum-stances wo know from a speoch made in his defense by no less a person than Cicero, on the occasion of his suit against ono Faunius Chacroa. whose slnvc, Panurgns. Roscius had instructed. instruct-ed. Among other things wo are informed in-formed of his colossal income, His salary sal-ary for ono performance was 1000 denarii de-narii (about 311, and during his maturity ma-turity his annual income amounted to about 500,000 sestortii (more than 4425. However, ho was nnythiug but grasping; and next to his art, his noblo, honest, character went far to raise his class to a highor position in the goneral esteem. For u long time after having gained a considerable fortune, and as early ns ten years beforo tho lawsuit conducted for him by Cicero, ho acted without, remuneration. Sulla appreciated appreciat-ed him highlv and bestowed tho golden ring upon him, by which ho was raised to the rank of a senator. The art of Roscius kept decidedly aloof from the method of tho earlier poriod. Tho principal aim of tho first Roman actors had been to gain ground, to find an open ear for their art. But tho refined Greek method of acting was incomprehensible to tho Roman public, which demanded coiirsor food; the, comedy, com-edy, therefore, resorted to coarso jokes, tasteless fighting scenes, overdrawn caricatures, car-icatures, tho t.ragedv to .bombastic, exaggerated ex-aggerated acting. Great honor is due to Roscius for having placed artistic moderation in the front rank, for having followed it as his lending principle, and for having improssod on the public that, tho highest art lies here, and not in the clowu-likc exaggeration which had boon in favor hithorto. His diction as well ns his gosticulaf ion remained unsurpassed unsur-passed on account of its graceful -yet truly comic nowor; and Cicero himself, who cannot find adequate words to commend com-mend the noblo art of Roscius, admits having learned much from his technique, which he had introduced into his own rhetoric Roscius died about the year 02 B O. |