Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator), 6.3.68

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[68] Is not even the most severe form of irony a kind of jest? Afer made a witty use of it when he replied to Didius Callus, who, after making the utmost efforts to secure a provincial government, complained on receiving the appointment that he had been forced into accepting,

Well, then, do something for your country's sake.

¹ Cicero also employed metaphor to serve his jest, when on receiving a report of uncertain authorship to the effect that Vatinius was dead, he remarked,

Well, for the meantime I shall make use of the interest.

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.) — 6.3.68 focus

[68] quid ironia? nonne etiam quae severissime fit, ioci prope genus est? qua urbane usus est Afer, cum Didio Gallo, qui provinciam ambitiosissime petierat, deinde, impetrata ea, tanquam coactus querebatur, age , inquit, aliquid et rei publicae causa. metaphora¹ quoque Cicero lusit, cum, Vatinii morte nuntiata, cuius parum certus dicebatur auctor, interim , inquit, usura fruar.

Notes on the current edition

Institutio Oratoria

1. i.e. sacrifice your own interests and serve your country or its own sake.

2. The report may be false, but I will enjoy the hope it arouses in me. The capital on which I receive a dividend may be non-existent, but I will enjoy the interest.

Quintilian Institutio Oratoria 6.3.68

Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator)

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