callĭdĭtas, ātis, f. [callidus], the being callidus, in a good or bad sense.
I In a good sense, shrewdness , skill , skilfulness , readiness , aptness (so several times after the Aug. period): calliditas ingenii, Nep. Eum. 1, 3; Ov. F. 3, 380; Plin. 37, 12, 74, § 195; Tac. Agr. 9; Flor. 2, 17, 15; Cic. Har. Resp. 9, 19.—Far more freq. and class.,
II In a bad sense, cunning , craft , slyness , artfulness : scientia, quae est remota ab justitiā, calliditas potius quam sapientia est appellanda, Cic. Off. 1, 19, 63; 3, 32, 113; id. Rosc. Com. 7, 20; id. Har. Resp. 9, 19; id. Or. 39, 137; Quint. 2, 5, 7; 4, 2, 126; Ov. H. 16, 300; 20, 126; Mart. 11, 50, 2 al.—Of stratagem in war , Liv. 42, 47, 7: calliditas ad robur accesserat, Flor. 3, 4, 3.—Trop., of oratorical artifice : genus ejusmodi calliditatis atque calumniae, Cic. Part. Or. 39, 137.—In plur.: servi venere in mentem Syri Calliditates, Ter. Heaut. 887; Lact. 2, 12, 17.