The ducal library was filled with a valuable collection of manuscripts and printed books, and as soon as twelve new plays of Plautus had been found in Germany, the Marquis Lionel of Este was impatient to obtain a fair and faithful copy of that ancient poet.

Nor were these elegant pleasures confined to the learned world.

Under the reign of Hercules I.a wooden theatre at a moderate cost of a thousand crowns was constructed in the largest court of the palace, the scenery represented some houses, a seaport and a ship, and the _Menechmi_ of Plautus, which had been translated into Italian by the Duke himself, was acted before a numerous and polite audience.

In the same language and with the same success the _Amphytrion_ of Plautus and the _Eunuchus_ of Terence were successively exhibited.

And these classic models, which formed the taste of the spectators, excited the emulation of the poets of the age.
For the use of the court and theatre of Ferrara, Ariosto composed his comedies, which were often played with applause, which are still read with pleasure.