Exodia
（
ἐξόδια, from
ἐξ and
ὁδός). Amusing interludes in verse, inserted by the Romans
in other plays, but chiefly in the Atellanae (
Livy, vii. 2). It is
difficult to ascertain the real character of the exodia; but from the words of Livy we must
infer that, although distinct from the Atellanae, they were closely connected with them, and
never performed alone. Hence Juvenal speaks of the
exodium Atellanae
（
Sat. vi. 71), and Suetonius (
Tib. 45)
exodium Atellanicum. They were, like the
Atellanae themselves, played by young and well-born Romans, and not by the professional
actors. The exodia have generally been considered as short comedies or farces which were
performed after the Atellanae—an opinion founded upon the vague and incorrect
statement of the Scholiast on Juvenal (
Sat. iii. 174). But the words of Livy ,
exodia conserta
fabellis, seem rather to indicate interludes, which, however, must not be understood as
if they had been played between the acts of the Atellanae, which would suggest a false idea of
the Atellanae themselves; but as several Atellanae were performed on the same day, it is
probable that the exodia were played between them. This supposition is also supported by the
etymology of the word itself, which signifies something
ἐξ
ὁδοῦ,
extra viam, or something not belonging to the main
subject, and thus is synonymous with
ἐπεισόδιον. The play,
as well as its name of exodium, seems to have been introduced among the Romans from Italian
Greece; but after its introduction it appears to have become very popular among the Romans,
and continued to be played down to a very late period (
Domit. 10).
