Nil dictu fœdum visuque hæc limina tangat, Intra quæ puer est. Procul hinc, procul inde puellæ Lenonum, et cantus pernoctantis parasiti. Maxima debetur puero reverentia. SAT. xiv. ver. 44. Suffer no lewdness, no indecent speech, Th' apartment of the tender youth to reach. Far be from thence the glutton parasite, Who sings his drunken catches all the night. Boys from their parents may this rev'rence claim. DRYDEN'S JUVENAL. [c] The rage of the Romans for the diversions of the theatre, and public spectacles of every kind, is often mentioned by Horace, Juvenal, and other writers under the emperors. Seneca says, that, at one time, three ways were wanted to as many different theatres: _tribus eodem tempore theatris viæ postulantur_. And again, the most illustrious of the Roman youth are no better than slaves to the pantomimic performers. _Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipia pantomimorum._ Epist. 47. It was for this reason that Petronius lays it down as a rule to be observed by the young student, never to list himself in the parties and factions of the theatre: ----Neve plausor in scenâ Sedeat redemptus, histrioniæ addictus. It is well known, that theatrical parties distracted the Roman citizens, and rose almost to phrensy. They were distinguished by the _green_ and the _blue_, Caligula, as we read in Suetonius, attached himself to the former, and was so fond of the charioteers, who wore green liveries, that he lived for a considerable time in the stables, where their horses were kept. _Prasinæ factioni ita addictus et deditus, ut cœnaret in stabulo assidue et maneret. Life of Caligula_, s. 55. Montesquieu reckons such party-divisions among the causes that wrought the downfall of the empire. Constantinople, he says, was split into two factions, the _green_ and the _blue_, which owed their origin to the inclination of the people to favour one set of charioteers in the circus rather than another. These two parties raged in every city throughout the empire, and their fury rose in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Justinian favoured the _blues_, who became so elate with pride, that they trampled on the laws. All ties of friendship, all natural affection, and all relative duties, were extinguished. Whole families were destroyed; and the empire was a scene of anarchy and wild contention. He, who felt himself capable of the most atrocious deeds, declared himself a BLUE, and the GREENS were massacred with impunity. _Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence des Romains_, chap. xx.