Prof. Hendrickson uses surviving literary sources to address the mysterious beginnings of dramatic productions in Rome. Since Roman drama is heavily influenced by Greek, yet not merely rote reproduction of Greek plays, scholars have had (and still have) considerable difficulty accounting for how much of Roman drama is native, and what elements these native components are. Hendrickson finds this native element in satura – often called the only truly Roman literary form by Romans themselves. The essay is as useful for the territory it covers as for the conclusions it draws, making it a useful model of historical philology and a clear overview of the difficulties modern scholars have in determining how drama entered Rome.