It has been worth while to discuss in some detail the arrangement of the tragic contests at the City Dionysia during the fifth century, because this was the great period of Attic tragedy. The fourth century is of less importance. For the first half of the century there is a complete blank in our information on the subject. But when we come to the latter half, we have the evidence of an interesting inscription, which contains a full record of the tragic performances at the City Dionysia for the years 341 and 340.[63] From this record it appears that considerable changes had now been made in the annual programme. The old system, by which each of the three poets was required to exhibit a satyric play, had been abandoned. A single specimen of this type of drama was now considered sufficient, and was produced at the commencement of the proceedings. The satyric drama, with its primitive coarseness, had little attraction for the more refined taste of the fourth century; and it was only religious scruples which caused it to be retained at all. The satyric play was followed by an old tragedy, written by one of the three great tragic poets. In 341 the play chosen was the Iphigeneia of Euripides, in 340 it was the Orestes. This practice was also a new departure.[64] In the fifth century the exhibition of old tragedies was, with rare exceptions, unknown at the City Dionysia. After these two preliminary performances came the contest with original plays. The number of poets was still there, as in former times. But the number of plays was diminished, and seems to have varied from year to year. In 341 each poet exhibited three tragedies; in 340 each poet exhibited two. Theodectes, who flourished in the middle of the fourth century, wrote fifty tragedies and engaged in thirteen contests.[65] Aphareus wrote thirty-five admittedly genuine tragedies, and engaged in eight contests, between 368 and 341.[66] This seems to imply that in most of the contests they produced four plays; but the conclusion is not certain, for they may have written plays which were never intended for the stage, as their contemporary Chaeremon did.[67] The reduction in the number of original plays points to a gradual decline in the vitality of the tragic drama at Athens. These various changes must have been made in the course of the sixty years preceding the period of the inscription. But the exact date of their introduction cannot be determined.