Stichus

As usual, the audience will laugh and tease him. His teeth are not as sound as they used to be and when he skips around on the stage he often feels a stab of pain. But that is his life, his destiny. Is it of little importance? No, it isn't, Stichus. Just a few decades before bloody wars wreaked havoc on this land. Emperor Augustus, the great peacemaker, slaughtered thousands of people to prevent further slaughter. The suffering of their forefathers earned these people a time of peace and plenty. The right to live and laugh for a while is carved on the fragment of bone used as a theatre ticket. But it is important to hurry and have fun and remember everything once it is over. The suffering of their forefathers also earned these people your performance, Stichus.
Come on, then, don't you

hear they are calling you because they want to laugh and tease you? Take the stage, twist your foot, run your tongue around your lips in an obscene gesture. Your efforts won't be useless. After two thousand years chance will bring back the short epigraph on your tomb. "I sang and danced in the theatres of Umbria and Sabina". That epigraph lies neglected in the museum of a far-off city, but it still reminds us of you. We are now sitting at a table in that very same theatre in Mevania where you used to perform. We are going to enjoy good food and wine. Sit down, Stichus, eat and drink with us. You are back, at last. And every night we will honour you, brother, because once you warmed the hearts of our people.