[100]
we still
scarcely succeed in reproducing even a faint shadow
of the charm of Greek comedy. Indeed, it seems
to me as though the language of Rome were incapable of reproducing that graceful wit which was
[p. 59]
granted to Athens alone, and was beyond the reach
of other Greek dialects to achieve. Afranius1 excels
in the purely Roman comedy, but it is to be regretted
that he revealed his own character by defiling his
plots with the introduction of indecent paederastic
intrigues.
1 Caecilils (219–166), Terence (194–159), Afranius (flor. cire. 150) Only fragments of Caecilius and Afanius survive.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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