THEATRE
559
THEATRE
(Paris. 1830), 648-73; Ia Claviere. St. Gaelan (Paris, 1901), tr.
Ely (London, 1902) : Ldben, Der hi. Cajelan von Time (Ratis-
bon, 1893); Rastoul, Le R. P. Ventura (Paris, 1906), Vila delta
Vcn. Suor Orsola. scritta da un Padre Tealiru) (Rome, 1796);
Bagotta, Viia delta Venerahile Orsola Benincasa: BoNi, La chiesa
di S. Andrea delta Valle (Rome, 1907): Ragonesi, Delia vita di S.
Andrea AvelUno (Rome, 1908); de Maulde, San Gaetano e la Ri-
/orma Callotica (Rome. 1480-1547), tr. Salvadori (Rome. 1911).
Franciscos Ragonesi. Theatre, The. — Considering the tone of what is
edge him as their master (P. G., LVI, 263; LVII, 71,
426; LVIII, 120, 188, etc.). Even Julian the Apostate
forbade access to the theatre to the new pagan priest-
hood he was anxious to create. Almost alone
amongst the Fathers, St. Augustine ("De Civ. Dei",
ii, 8) seems to make some distinction between the
gross indecency of the mimes and the classical drama
of an earlier age, approving the study of the latter
for educational purposes. It is not entirely clear
preserved to us of the works of the Greek tragedians from the "Confessions" of the same writer (iii, 2)
and even of the comedies of Plautus and Terence,
it seems at first difficult to understand the uncom-
promising attitude adopted towards the theatre by
Christian wTiters of the early centuries. But the
fact remains that by the Fathers of both East and
West all forms of the drama were banned indis-
criminately and in terms of the severest reprobation.
We can only infer that the pla\'s and mimes most
popular under the
Empire were as a rule
grossly indecent and
poisonous to virtue.
The surviving plays
of Aristophanes would
alone suffice to show
how inconceivably
lax public opinion
was, even at the most
cultured periods of
paganism, while the
infamia which markci I
the legal status of an
actor at Rome is sig-
nificant of the degra-
dation involved b_\'
such a profession.
I'nder the Empire
tragedies and even
the better class of
comedies were not
much represented in
I)ubhc. They were
regarded rather as
literature, and at best read aloud in a select circle Spain, about A. D. 302, it was decided that actors might of friends. The most jiopular form of play was the be baptized, but only on condition of their giving up mimus, and, a.s Diomedes, a rhetorician of the fifth that way of life. At Aries in 314 theatrici and agita- century, implies, the note of indecency might be lores (actors and charioteers in the games) were said to enter into its very definition. (Mimus est declared excommunicate. Somewhat later the Sy- factorum et dictorum turpium cum lascivia imitatio: nod of Laodicea directed that the clergy who were cf. Ovid, "Tristia", II, 497, and Valerius Maximu.s, present at wedding festivities or banquets ought not ii, 6 and 7, etc.) Further, there is a good deal of to remain for the plays that might be performed evidence that in the third and fourth centuries the afterwards. At Hippo in 393 it was forbidden that
whether the performance of serious tragedies was
still maintained in his youth.
Vile and degrading as were the more popular forms of scenic representation under the Empire, the pro- letariat were so wedded to them that even the Chris- tian emperors dared not altogether suppress such amusements. Still something was done. By the Theodosian Code (XV, 5), omnis theatorum atque circensi.um voluptas (all diversions in the theatre and circus) were prohibited on Sundays, festivals, and seasons of special sanctity. Disabilities of various kinds, in- cluding restrictions as 1 o dress, were imposed ujion actresses, etc., )ut on the other hand t he laws of caste were set aside and it was now made possible for an actress, upon lecoming a Christian and quitting this way of life, to acquire a status of respectabil- ity. At an even ear- lier tlate some of the Christian councils had dealt with the subject. At Elvira in
parody of Christian rites formed a regular feature
of the mimes. Probably the Christian (4 xP^<^^<"'°'
Kuiiiifdovfifyot) was almost as famiUar an object of
ridicule at these representations as is the pantaloon
in a modern pantomine (Greg. Nazianz., "Orat",
the sons of bishops or of ecclesiastics should be pres-
ent at plays or give them. With regard to actors
it was decided that, if they wished to become Chris-
tians, their baptism need not be postponed indefi-
nitely. In 401 a Council of Carthage decided that
II, 84; P. G., XXXV, 489). There are Acts of the plays ought not to take place on Sundays and feasts.
martyrs, no doubt more or less legendary, in which
ia recorded the conversion of an actor brought to
know the truth by the very rite of baptism, which
he simulated on the stage. PorphjTius (4 Nov.)
and Genesius (2,5 Aug.) are thus commemorated,
while the storj' of St. Pelagia (8 Oct.), however apocry-
lihal it may be, presents the actor's profession in
and fulminated against actors being decoyed hack to
their old way of Ufe (but cf. Cod. Tlieod., XV, vii,
13). Finally, the Council in Trullo in 692, for those
that recognized it, condemned plays altogether,
threatening degradation against all clerics and ex-
communication against the laity who assisted at the
performances (Hefele-Leclercq, "Conciles", I, 256,
even darker colours (see Delehaye, "Lcgendes 283, 10.32; II, 87, 89, 126, 471 ; III, 50f), . 509). The
hagiographiques"). But even accepting these facts,
the violence of the language in which the Fathers
condemn all scenic representations is remarkable.
Tertullian in his treatise "De Spectaculis" strikes
the key-note and, as Chambers observes, "his vivid
African rhetoric is no imfair sample of a catena of
outspoken comment which extends acro.s.s the third
century from Tatian to Lactantius" ("Mediicv.
.Stage", I, ii(. For C'hrj'sostom and nearly all his
contemporaries the theatre is the temple of the Evil
One, andall who frequent the theatre thereby acknowl-
tone of all this legislation is milder than the language
used by individual Fathers, but it is quite clear that
the actor's profession was looked upon a-s that of a
Ijublic sinner and most of the early bishops would
have agreed with St. Cyprian (Ep., ii) that it was
preferable to maintain such a man out of the funds of
the Church rather than allow him to continue in his
calling.
With the debased drama of the Roman Empire the theatre of Shakespeare, Calderon, Moliiire, and Schiller has no direct connexion. Tiie isolated mimi
