Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator), 6.3.52

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[52] A similar form of jest may be made by use of the figure known as metalepsis,¹ as when Fabius Maximus complained of the meagreness of the gifts made by Augustus to his friends, and said that his congiaria were heminaria: for congiarium² implies at once liberality and a particular measure, and Fabius put a slight on the liberality of Augustus by a reference to the measure.

Institutio Oratoria. Quintilian. Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator). Cambridge, Mass.. 1920-1922.

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Current edition Perseus

Institutio Oratoria (English) (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.)

Editions (1)

Institutio Oratoria Perseus (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, editor. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.) — 6.3.52 focus

[52] in metalempsin quoque cadit eadem ratio dictorum, ut Fabius Maximus, incusans Augusti congiariorum, quae amicis dabantur, exiguitatem, heminaria esse dixit; nam congiarium commune liberalitatis atque mensurae, a mensura ducta imminutio rerum.

Notes on the current edition

Institutio Oratoria

1. See VII. vi. 37.

Substitution

is the nearest translation.

2. congiarium is derived from congius a measure equal to about 6 pints. It was employed to denote the largesse of wine or oil distributed to the people. Fabius coined the word henminaritm from hemina, the twelfth part of the congius. Fabius was consul in 10 B.C. and a friend of Ovid.

Quintilian Institutio Oratoria 6.3.52

Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator)

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