Officii oratorum (non) plena materies: Emporio e la tradizione progimnasmatica latina, greca e bizantina

According to Emporius’ defiition, the progymnasmatic exercise of ethopoeia is not a fully developed rhetorical speech (non est offii oratorum plena materies), but a part of it (materiae portio), and provides training for the three kinds of rhetoric (omnium praeparatio). This statement can be read and explained only in the light of the textbook of Nicolaus of Myra and of the Byzantine commentaries of John of Sardis and John Doxapatres, which insert the treatment of the progymnasmata into a complex theoretical framework and relate each exercise to the kinds of rhetoric and to the parts of the oration. In particular, it seems possible to highlight an interesting resemblance between Emporius and John of Sardis.