Plat. de Rep. viii. t. ii. p. 229, seq. Athen. xiii. 44. In Roman times we find an actor travelling from the capital to Seville in Spain, where with his lofty cothurni, strange dress, and gaping mask, he frightened the natives out of the theatre.—Philost. Vit. Apoll. Tyan. v. 9. Cf. Luc. de Saltat. § 27. A taste for the amusements of the Grecian stage was diffused far and wide through the ancient world, so that we find the princes of Persia and Armenia not only enjoying the representation of Greek tragedies, but themselves, likewise, in some instances, aspiring to rival the dramatic poets of Hellas. Thus Artavasdes, the Armenian prince, is said to have written tragedies, as well as histories and orations, some of which still existed in the age of Plutarch. The Parthian court was engaged in beholding the Bacchæ of Euripides, in which Jason of Tralles was the principal performer, when Sillaces brought in the head of Marcus Crassus, upon which both king and nobles delivered themselves up to immoderate joy, and the actor, seizing upon the Roman’s head, exchanged the part of Pentheus for that of his mother, who appears upon the stage bearing a bleeding head upon her thyrsus; for this he received a present of a talent from the king.—Plut. Crass. § 33. Polyæan. vii. 41. 1. Footnote 919: Plut. Cleom. § 12. ----- About this period, however, it was usual for the armies of Greece, republican as well as royal, to be followed by companies of strollers, jugglers, dancing girls, and musicians.[920] Even in the army of Alexander, when proceeding on the Persian expedition, the “flatterers of Dionysos”[921] were not forgotten; in fact, the son of Philip set a high value upon the performances of these gentlemen, and with truly royal munificence allowed them to enjoy their full share of the plunder of the East. Thus, when Nicocreon, king of Salamis, and Pasicrates, king of Soli,[922] played the part of Choregi in Cyprus, in getting up certain tragedies there performed for the amusement of Alexander, and the actors, Thessalos, and Athenodoros the Athenian, contended for the prize; he was piqued at the victory of the Athenian, and, though he commended the judges for bestowing the prize on him whom they regarded as the best performer, said, he would have given a part of his kingdom rather than have beheld Thessalos overcome by a rival. ----- Footnote 920: Plut. ubi supra. Footnote 921: Διονυσοκόλακες. Athen. vi. 56. Footnote 922: Plut. Alex. § 29. ----- Afterwards, when Athenodoros was fined by his countrymen for absenting himself from Athens during the Dionysiac festival, evidently contrary to the statutes in that case made and provided, Alexander paid the fine for his humble friend, though he refused to make application to the people for its remission.