When the mime first came on the stage, it was acted in front of the curtain (Fest. p. 326, _ed. Müll._), afterwards, as its proportions increased, a new kind of curtain called _siparium_ was introduced, so that while the mime was being performed on this new and enlarged _proscaenium_ the regular drama were going on behind the siparium. Pliny (xxxv. 199) calls Syrus _mimicae scaenae conditorem_; and as he certainly did not build a theatre, it is most probable that Pliny refers to his invention of the siparium. He evidently had a natural genius for this kind of representation, in which Macrobius (ii. 7. 6) and Quintilian allow him the highest place. Laberius appears to have been a more careful writer. Syrus was not a literary man, but an improvisator and moralist. His _sententiae_ were held in great honour in the rhetorical schools in the time of Augustus, and are quoted by the elder Seneca (Contr. 206, 4). The younger Seneca also frequently quotes them in his letters (Ep. 108, 8, &c.), and often imitates their style. There are some interesting lines in Petronius (Satir. 55), which are almost certainly from Syrus. Being little known, they are worth quoting as a popular denunciation of luxury-- "Luxuriae rictu Martis marcent moenia, Tuo palato clausus pavo pascitur Plumato amictus aureo Babylonico; Gallina tibi Numidica, tibi gallus spado: Ciconia etiam grata peregrina hospita Pietaticultrix gracilipes crotalistria Avis, exul hiemis, titulus tepidi temporis Nequitiae nidum in cacabo fecit modo. Quo margarita cara tribaca Indica? An ut matrona ornata phaleris pelagiis Tollat pedes indomita in strato extraneo? Zmaragdum ad quam rem viridem, pretiosum vitrum. Quo Carchedonios optas ignes lnpideos Nisi ut scintilles? _probitas est carbunculus_." There is a rude but unmistakable vigour in these lines which, when compared with the quotation from Laberius given in the text of the work, cause us to think very highly of the mime as patronized by Caesar. NOTE III.--_Fragments of Valerius Soranus_. This writer, who was somewhat earlier than the present epoch, having been a contemporary of Sulla but having outlived him, was noted for his great learning. He is mentioned by Pliny as the first to prefix a table of contents to his book. His native town, Sora, was well known for its activity in liberal studies. He is said by Plutarch to have announced publicly the secret name of Rome or of her tutelary deity, for which the gods punished him by death. St. Augustine (C. D. vii. 9) quotes two interesting hexameters as from him: "Iupiter omnipotens, rerum rex ipse deusque Progenitor genetrixque, deum deus, unus et omnes." Servius (Aen. iv. 638) cites two verses of a similar character, which are most probably from Soranus. Iupiter, addressing the gods, says, "Caelicolae, mea membra, dei, quos nostra potestas Officiis, diversa facit."