This was part of the festivities of the Saturnalia; “it began on the 13th of January, when the flute players used to run about the city with much license and wantonness in female apparel; as at this time, about the Epiphany season, pipers and singers are wont to come into the houses of the rich, to sing for largesses, with some in masks at their head. Vid. Liv. lib. ix. c. 30.” Francisc. Modius de Ludis et Spect. Veterum, ii. 28, ap. Gronov. Thes. xi. 1055.