De arte rhetorica

work by Capella

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June 25, 2026

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De arte rhetorica is a section within the larger work De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (The Marriage of Philology and Mercury) by Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, a 5th-century North African rhetorician. This allegorical work introduces the seven liberal arts through personified maidens who explain each subject to Mercury's bride. The section on rhetoric, De arte rhetorica, is one of these seven parts, contributing to the overall educational framework presented in Capella's influential text. The work's prose style is often described as dry, though parts are influenced by Apuleius.1

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Martianus Minneus Felix Capella
…arte grammatica, De arte dialectica, De arte rhetorica, De geometrica, De arithmetica, De astrologia, and De harmonia. Mercury gives his bride, who is made divine, seven maidens, and each declaims on that one of the seven liberal arts that she represents. The prose style is often dry, but in parts…
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…arte grammatica, De arte dialectica, De arte rhetorica, De geometrica, De arithmetica, De astrologia, and De harmonia. Mercury gives his bride, who is made divine, seven maidens, and each declaims on that one of the seven liberal arts that she represents. The prose style is often dry, but in parts…
Read More