21 May, 1596 - Julian the Apostate

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 20 of maye 1596 ... R at Julyan apostata ... xiiij^s 

In modern English: [21^st] May, 1596 ... Received at Julian Apostate ... 14 shillings

Julian depicted in Giovanni
Battista Cavalieri's Romanum
Imperatorum (1583)

Today, for the last time, the Admiral's Men returned to Julian the Apostate, a lost play about the Roman emperor who tried to reverse the empire's adoption of Christianity.

This is only the third performance of Julian the Apostate, but it's also the last. The play's box office has sunk to a dismal level already, and after today's performance the company will call it quits.You win some, you lose some; perhaps The Tragedy of Phocas, another play about the later Roman Empire that premiered yesterday, will do better.

What's next?

There will be no entries for the next two days; for some reason, Henslowe records no performance tomorrow and 23rd May was a Sunday. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 24th - see you then!

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!