Roscius, a famous actor, often complained that he hadn't found a pupil who deserved his approval.
When Thomas Nashe wanted to praise Edward Alleyn as the best actor of his generation, he called Alleyn a Roscius (Pierce Penniless, 1592); John Downes titled his history of Restoration drama Roscius Anglicanus (1708).
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The African American actor Ira Aldridge, who was born in New York in 1807 and died in Lodz, Poland in 1867, and one of the finest Shakespearean actors of his age, was known as 'The African Roscius'.
Quintus Roscius Gallus, a Roman actor who achieved great fame and fortune ("Roscius" later became a synonym for "actor")
He was praised for the quality of his acting, once being called "the Roscius of these times" (John Davies, Scourge of Folly, 1610).
Gallus Anonymus | Quintus Fabius Maximus | Sextus Roscius | Quintus Aurelius Symmachus | Quintus Roscius Gallus | Quintus Mucius Scaevola | Quintus Curtius Rufus | Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus | Lucius Roscius | Aelius Gallus | Roscius | Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur | Quintus Labienus | Quintus | Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (II) | Steve Gallus | Quintus Valerius Pompey | Quintus Tineius Sacerdos Clemens | Quintus Terentius Scaurus | Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus | Quintus Servilius Pudens | Quintus Servilius Caepio | Quintus Poppaedius Silo | Quintus Pompeius Falco | Quintus Petillius Cerialis | Quintus Pedius Publicola | Quintus Pedius | Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex | Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul 45 BC) | Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (consul) |