Gli exempla ficta nei grammatici latini

Late antique Latin grammars provide grammatical and linguistic issues with a multiplicity of examples, which are mostly taken from literary texts, both poetic and prosastic, coming from auctores considered as linguistic models or chosen for their linguistic and grammatical peculiarities. Alongside the literary examples, however, there is a more reductive but nevertheless significant series of exempla ficta, which are usually introduced in a more reduced and specific manner. This contribution intends to discuss some particular issues through the examination of a few significant examples used as case studies: firstly, the typology and mode of construction of this kind of examples, and secondly, their relationship with possible models (literary, philosophical, etc.), which may have provided inspiration for modifications transforming the literary quotation into an exemplum fictum. The latter typology can be found in fictional examples of a metrical nature, which in various cases presuppose a reworked literary model. A final field of investigation is the function that this type of example had in classroom teaching and scholastic practices that can be reconstructed from late antique grammatical works.