Speaks with mute eloquence and rhythmic hands.
Silence is voiceful through each varying part,
In each fair feature—’tis the crown of Art.’[38]
A loud exclamation of ‘Euge!’ and ‘Σοφῶς!’ burst from the hearers when Lucan had read these admirable lines; and the two actors repaid the poet by the most gracious of their bows and smiles. Nor did they confine their gratitude to smiles, but gave further specimens of some of the laughable dances which were in vogue, such as ‘the owl’ and ‘the grimace,’ ending with a spectacle at once graceful and innocent—namely, the lovely flower-dance with its refrain of
‘Where are my roses, where my violets, where my parsleys fair?’
They went to bed that night each of them the happy possessor of twelve thousand sesterces. When Agrippina, a month later, heard this, she reproached Nero for his gross extravagance.
‘What did I give them?’ he asked.
‘You paid them twelve thousand sesterces each for a night’s dancing.’
‘Did I?’ said Nero, glad to show his defiance. ‘I never knew before that I was so mean;’ and he immediately ordered the sum to be doubled.