With the close of the fourth century the famous period of Athenian tragedy came to an end. After this date the only tragic poets of any celebrity were those who flourished at Alexandria. But though the genius of the Attic poets was exhausted, there was no immediate cessation in the production of new plays. The contests were still maintained. A long series of inscriptions shows that, down even to the Christian era, ‘original tragedies’ continued to be the chief ornament of the City Dionysia. The names of several Athenian tragic poets belonging to this period have been preserved in theatrical records. One of them was a descendant of Sophocles. As to the character of the contests, and the proportion of old tragedies to new ones, nothing is known. After the first century A.D. the composition of original tragic dramas for the stage was finally discontinued in all parts of Greece, and must therefore have been abandoned at the City Dionysia. But the festival itself still continued to flourish; and the reproduction of old plays may have lasted, there as elsewhere, for one or two centuries later.[68] § 5. _Comedy at the City Dionysia._ Very little is known about the early history of the comic contests at the City Dionysia. The date of their first institution can only be fixed approximately. Aristotle tells us that they were of later origin than those in tragedy.[69] This being so, they cannot have reached back further than about 500 B.C. On the other hand, there is an inscription which proves that they were already in existence in 463.[70] Their establishment must therefore be assigned to some period within the first four decades of the century. The number of poets who were allowed to compete differed at different epochs. In the fifth century it was always three, as in tragedy.[71] But early in the fourth century it was raised to five, both at the City Dionysia and at the Lenaea, and this continued ever afterwards to be the regulation number.[72] The increase was probably due, partly to the growing popularity of the comic drama, partly also to the fact that, owing to the curtailment of the chorus, comedies were now less expensive to produce, and took less time to perform. Each poet competed with a single play. This was the invariable practice on the comic stage, both at the City Dionysia and at the Lenaea. The exhibition of groups of plays, after the manner of the tragic poets, was unknown in the history of comedy. Still, in spite of this rule, an author was sometimes enabled to bring out two plays at the same festival. But in order to do so he had to take the place of two poets, and to compete as it were against himself. The number of comedies remained the same. Thus in 422 Aristophanes made a double appearance, and was first with the Prelude, and second with the Wasps. Leucon, his sole antagonist, was third with the Ambassadors.[73] In 288 Diodorus was second with the Corpse, and third with the Madman.[74] Such cases, however, were