<P> From the time of the empire, the work of two tragedians survives--one is an unknown author, while the other is the Stoic philosopher Seneca . Nine of Seneca's tragedies survive, all of which are fabula crepidata (tragedies adapted from Greek originals); his Phaedra, for example, was based on Euripides' Hippolytus . Historians do not know who wrote the only extant example of the fabula praetexta (tragedies based on Roman subjects), Octavia, but in former times it was mistakenly attributed to Seneca due to his appearance as a character in the tragedy . </P> <P> Beginning in the early Middle Ages, churches staged dramatised versions of biblical events, known as liturgical dramas, to enliven annual celebrations . The earliest example is the Easter trope Whom do you Seek? (Quem - Quaeritis) (c. 925). Two groups would sing responsively in Latin, though no impersonation of characters was involved . By the 11th century, it had spread through Europe to Russia, Scandinavia, and Italy; only Muslim - occupied Spain was excluded . </P> <P> In the 10th century, Hrosvitha wrote six plays in Latin modeled on Terence's comedies, but which treated religious subjects . Her plays are the first known to be composed by a female dramatist and the first identifiable Western drama of the post-Classical era . Later, Hildegard of Bingen wrote a musical drama, Ordo Virtutum (c. 1155). </P> <P> One of the most famous of the early secular plays is the courtly pastoral Robin and Marion, written in the 13th century in French by Adam de la Halle . The Interlude of the Student and the Girl (c. 1300), one of the earliest known in English, seems to be the closest in tone and form to the contemporaneous French farces, such as The Boy and the Blind Man . </P>

Development of drama from greek to modern era