This "first English history-play that can be strictly so called, though it is not written in the vernacular" was probably produced at St John's College at the Bachelors' Commencement in March 1579/80 (see further Boas, pp.112-129). The actors were all men of St John's. The play was composed of three Actiones which were performed on successive evenings. The play is considered to be neo-Senecan, with "countless reminiscences of his phraseology and typical scenes" (Boas, p.129), for example, the opening scenes of the third Actio are partly modelled on Seneca's Phaedra.