[87] Du Méril, _Or. Lat._ 13, quotes from Mariana, _Hist. of Spain_, vi. 3, the statement that Sisebut, king of the Visigoths, deposed Eusebius, bishop of Barcelona, in 618, ‘quod in theatro quaedam agi concessisset quae ex vana deorum superstitione traducta aures Christianae abhorrere videantur.’ Sisebuthus, _Ep._ vi (_P. L._ lxxx. 370), conveys his decision to the bishop. He says, ‘obiectum hoc, quod de ludis theatriis taurorum, scilicet, ministerio sis adeptus nulli videtur incertum; quis non videat quod etiam videre poeniteat.’ But I cannot find in Sisebut or in Mariana, who writes Spanish, the words quoted by Du Méril. For ‘taurorum’ one MS. has ‘phanorum.’ I suspect the former is right. A bull-fight sounds so Spanish, and such festivals of heathen origin as the _Kalends_ (cf. ch. xi) were not held in theatres. A. Gassier, _Le Théâtre espagnol_ (1898), 14, thinks such a festival is intended; if so, ‘theatriis’ probably means not literally, ‘in a theatre,’ but merely ‘theatrical’; cf. the ‘ludi theatrales’ of the Feast of Fools (ch. xiii). In any case there is no question of ‘scenici.’ [88] Isidorus Hispalensis, _Etymologiarum_ (600-636), xviii. 42 (_P. L._ lxxxii. 658). [89] Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, ii. 1. 5, 9. [90] Chrysostom, _Hom. in Ep. ad Col. cap._ 1, _Hom._ i. cc. 5, 6 (_P. G._ lxii. 306). [91] Jerome, _Ep._ 117 (_P. L._ xxii. 957) ‘difficile inter epulas servatur pudicitia’; cf. Dill, 110. [92] _Conc. of Laodicea_ (†343-81) can. 54 (Mansi, ii. 574) ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ἱερατικοὺς ἢ κληρικούς τινας θεωρίας θεωρεῖν ἐν γάμοις ἢ δείπνοις, ἀλλὰ πρὸ τοῦ εἰσέρχεσθαι τοὺς θυμελικοὺς ἐγείρεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀναχωρεῖν. _Conc. of Braga_ (†572) c. 60 (Mansi, v. 912), _Conc. of Aix-la-Chapelle_ (816) c. 83 (Mansi, vii. 1361); and finally, _C. I. Can._ iii. 5. 37 ‘non oportet ministros altaris vel quoslibet clericos spectaculis aliquibus, quae aut in nuptiis aut scenis exhibentur, interesse, sed ante, quam thymelici ingrediantur, surgere eos de convivio et abire.’ It is noteworthy that ‘scenis’ here translates δείπνοις. [93] Muratori _Antiq. Ital. Med. Aev._ ii. 847, traces the _pantomimi_ in the Italian _mattaccini_. [94] Cf. Appendix B. [95] Ten Brink, i. 11; P. Meyer in _Romania_ (1876), 260; G. Paris, 36; Gautier, ii. 6; Kögel, i. 2. 191. [96] Tacitus, _Ann._ i. 65; iv. 47; _Hist._ ii. 22; iv. 18; v. 15; _Germ._ 3; Ammianus Marcellinus, xvi. 12. 43; xxxi. 7. 11; Vegetius, _de re militari_, iii. 18; cf. Kögel, i. 1. 12, 58, 111; Müllenhoff, _Germania_, ch. 3. The _barditus_ or _barritus_ of the Germans, whatever the name exactly means, seems to have been articulate, and not a mere noise. [97] Tacitus, _Germ._ 2 ‘quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est.’ [98] Jordanis, _de orig. Getarum_ (in _M. G. H._), c. 4 ‘in priscis eorum carminibus pene storico ritu in commune recolitur.’ [99] Tacitus, _Ann._ ii. 88 ‘canitur adhuc barbaras apud gentes.’ [100] Cassiodorus, _Var._ viii. 9.