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[52] A similar form of [p. 467] 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.

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.

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