Though there was Roman Comedy and Roman Satire, the real and spontaneous spirit of fun was conspicuously lacking in the tastes and tendencies of the Romans.
Glory is attributed to Greece and grandeur to Rome, and it may be the “sudden glory” of humor was an integral part of the Grecian nature.
Yet we must not differentiate too carefully between the two, for the literature of Greece and Rome is so fused and intermingled that only a historian may take up the chronological tabulation.
For our purpose it is well to let the literature of the two countries merge and continue the consideration of classic comedy without over cautious regard for dates.
The Greek influence on literature of all ages will never disappear, but the Greek spirit of pure joy and gaiety will, probably never reappear.
From the beginnings of Greece, on through the existence of Rome, and down through the Mediæval Ages, the world of letters was self-contained, a single proposition. From 500 B.C. to 1300 A.D. the traditions of primal Greece and Rome continued to be the common possession of all Europe.
After that, literature became diverse and divergent among the countries. It was independent as well as interdependent, but this condition makes an inevitable division of time.
Greece, Rome, Mediæval Times,—these are the three sections of the Middle portion of this book.
Rome, then, considered by herself, brought forth little quotable humorous literature, and what we have to choose from is ponderous and heavy.
Like Greece, the first germs of Roman comic literature may be traced to the religious festivals, which were marked by an admixture of religious rites and riotous Bacchanalian orgies, where as the crowds danced and sang and feasted, they became first hilarious and then abusive and indecent.