Rowley had a habit of composing comic roles for himself to play; he wrote and played the clown part of Bustopha in The Maid in the Mill, his late collaboration with Fletcher. The comic parts of Chough in A Fair Quarrel and Simplicity in The World Tossed at Tennis, two of his collaborations with Thomas Middleton, fall into the same category, as do some other clown roles in other Rowley plays. (Rowley's self-penned roles are recognisable as "fat clown" roles, since Rowley was by all evidence a man physically equipped to fill such parts.) Synopsis The play is based on the Spanish legends about the Moorish invasion of Spain in the eighth century. It depicts the tale of Roderick, the last Visigoth king of Spain, and his general Julianus, based on the legendary Julian, count of Ceuta. (Rowley's specific sources for the story are not known, though he had a large body of traditional lore, poems, and ballads on which to base his work.) As the play opens, the Moorish invasion of Spain is in the offing; King Roderick musters his army and places it under the command of Julianus. Roderick himself is more interested in seducing the general's daughter Jacinta; his sycophant and pander Lothario brings in an old bawd named Malena to help convince the young woman to yield her virginity. Roderick is also troubled by an empty treasury; he plans to remedy the problem by breaking into an enchanted castle, isolated and secluded by many previous kings, that he believes holds a great treasure. The play's second and third scenes introduce the characters of the subplot. Antonio is a young nobleman, infatuated with and courting a young woman named Margaretta. She is a commoner, and Antonio's friend Lazarello complains about the social inequality of the proposed match. Margaretta's father is also uneasy about the match, but her brother, Jaques the clown, is its eager advocate. Antonio marries Margaretta hurriedly before leaving for military duty; the marriage, for the time being, is kept secret. Lothario brings Malena and Jacinta together at Roderick's court, and the old pandress tries her best to make Jacinta pliant, but with no success. Roderick enters, and drags Jacinta offstage to rape her. Julianus, meanwhile, leads his forces south to meet the Moors. He and his officers, including Antonio, stop at the castle of Alonzo; they meet Alonzo's beautiful and extroverted daughter Dionisa. Antonio