Page:The Works of Ben Jonson - Gifford - Volume 3.djvu/7

 .] This "Tragedy" was first acted in 1603 by the company at the Globe; and Shakspeare, Burbadge, Lowin, Hemings, Condel, Philips, Cooke, and Sly, had parts in it: Though much applauded by the fashionable part of the audience, it proved "caviare to the general," and experienced considerable opposition. Sejanus was not published till 1605; when it appeared, in quarto, without a dedication, but accompanied by several copies of commendatory verses. Subsequently it seems to have acquired some degree of popularity: Jonson says that it had outlived the malice of its enemies, when he republished it in folio, in 1616; and it was one of the first plays revived after the Restoration. Sejanus is not divided into scenes in any of the editions; it has neither exits nor entrances; and is, upon the whole, the most involved and puzzling drama, in its internal arrangement, that was ever produced. The motto both to the quarto and folio is the same:

Non hîc centauros, non gorgonas, harpyiasque Invenies: hominem pagina nostra sapit.

It is taken from Martial, and had already furnished the groundwork for the admirable prologue to Every Man in his Humour.