15 January, 1593 - Titus and Vespasian

Here's what Lord Strange's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: R at tittus the 15 of Jenewary 1593 ... xxx^s 

In modern English: Received at Titus, 15^th January, 1593 ... 30 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men revived Titus, which was presumably Titus and Vespasian, a popular fixture of their repertory. This lost play was mostly likely a gruesome and violent tale about the Roman siege of Jerusalem during the Jewish rebellion of the 1st Century; you can read more about it in the entry for 11th April.

The company had last performed Titus and Vespasian a week and a half ago, and it had received very strong box office. Today's performance was less spectacular, being slightly under the average for the Rose, and continuing the disappointing run of plays in this post-Christmas period.

Nicholas Poussin, The Destruction and Sack of the Temple at Jerusalem (1637)

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!