The management of the dramatic performances was in the hands of the State, and was entrusted to the same official who had the general control of the festival. The superintendence which he exercised was not merely a formal one. His duties were important and carefully defined. He had to select the poets who took part in the competitions, and the plays which they exhibited. He had to choose the actors, and distribute them among the different poets. He was also responsible for seeing that the work of preparation was carefully carried out. The expense of the performance was one of the regular public burdens, and was imposed in turn upon the richer citizens. In modern times there is no example of a theatre so entirely dependent upon the State. In England the drama is left solely to private enterprise. In countries like France and Germany, though certain theatres receive subventions from the State, and are subject to a code of rules, the government takes little part in the direction of their affairs. But the Athenian drama stood on a different footing. As a sacred ceremonial, closely connected with the religious worship of the State, it was naturally placed under public control. Even from the secular point of view it was considered a fitting object for the attention of statesmen. To provide for the amusement and instruction of the people was, according to the Greeks, one of the regular duties of a government; and they would have thought it unwise to abandon to private venturers an institution which possessed the educational value and wide popularity of the drama. For the audience to which the Athenian poet addressed himself was in reality a gathering of the whole body of his fellow countrymen. The theatre of Dionysus was capable of containing nearly twenty thousand people. Books were not plentiful, and their use was confined to a limited class. The ordinary Athenian depended for his literary pleasures upon the various public performances and recitations of poetical compositions. The drama was, therefore, much more to him than to a modern playgoer. At the present day, when continual supplies of fresh literature are accessible to every one, it is hard to realize the excitement and expectancy with which an Athenian looked forward to the annual exhibition of dramas at the Dionysia. It was here that his taste for novelty in literature was gratified. It was here that he found an equivalent for the books, magazines, and newspapers of modern civilization. Hence he was able to sit day after day, from morning to evening, listening to tragedy and comedy, without any feeling of satiety. The enthusiasm with which the drama was regarded, and the direct manner in which the author was brought into contact with the whole body of his countrymen, contributed to make the vocation of the dramatic writer one of the very greatest importance. The leading tragic poets especially exercised a most profound influence upon the national mind and character.