_ 1218 ff.):
Rufus quidam, ventriosus, crassis suris, subniger,
Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo, admodum
Magnis pedibus. BA. Perdidisti, ut nominavisti pedes.
Pseudolus fuit ipsus.
His red slave's wig is thus made a feature in the characterization.
(Cf. Ter. _Phor._ 51). When Trachalio is looking for the procurer,
he inquires (_Rud._ 316 ff.):
Ecquem
Recalvom ad Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum,
Tortis superciliis, contracta fronte...?[90]
The precise details of the histrionic technique and "stage business" in
vogue must remain more or less a mystery to us. Our limitations in this
respect are admirably enunciated by Saunders (TAPA. XLIV, p. 97): "One
must conclude then, that it is dangerous to dogmatize on this subject, as
on most others connected with the early Roman stage. Our evidence is too
slight and the period of time involved is too long...." We can, therefore,
deal in little but generalities. The Romans must have imitated and
developed their Greek and Etruscan models.[91] When Livius Andronicus
first fathered _palliatae_, he must have chosen the New Comedy not only as
the type of drama most available to him, but as wholly adaptable to his
audiences. When Plautus wrote, he had the machinery already built for him,
and he doubtless seized upon the _palliata_ form as the natural medium for
the exploitation of his talents.
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