THE GATHERER.
Dramatis Personae.—The stages and theatres of the Greeks and Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by the Latins persona, from personare (to sound through); and delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our modern plays), as appears from the Vatican Terence. Hence dramatis personae (masks of the drama); which words, after masks ceased to be used, were understood to mean persons of the drama.