37. QVAM POTVIT ... MAXIMA.For the idiom compare CicFamXIII vi 5 'quam maximas... gratias agat' andNDII 129 'gallinae ['hens'] ... cubilia sibi nidosque construunt eosquequam possunt mollissimesubsternunt'.
37. GRATVS ABVNDE EST.Apparently the only instance in classical poetry ofabundemodifying an adjective. The prose authors cited by the lexica are Sallust, Livy, Valerius Maximus, Curtius, the elder Pliny, and Quintilian.Abundeelsewhere in Ovid only atMetXV 759 'humano generi, superi, fauistis abunde!' andTrI vii 31 'laudatus abunde'.
38. FINEM PIETAS CONTIGIT ILLA SVVM.'That act of piety has reached its objective', that is, has made the givergratus.
39-42.For the sentiment compareEPIII iv 81-82 'haec [sclaudanda uoluntas] facit ut ueniat pauper quoque gratus ad aras, / et placeat caeso non minus agna boue'.
41-42. GRAMINE PASTA FALISCO / VICTIMA TARPEIOS INFICIT ICTA FOCOS.Compare iv 29-32 'templaque Tarpeiae primum tibi sedis adiri ... colla boues niueos certae praebere securi, / quos aluit campisherba Faliscasuis'.
42. INFICIT.'Stain'.Inficerein the context of a sacrifice also atMetXV 134-35 '[uictima ...] percussa ... sanguine cultros / inficit' and HorCarmIII xiii 6.
44. PRINCIPIBVS ... VIRIS.A fixed colloquial idiom:OLD princeps15 cites PlautusAmphitruo204 'delegituirosprimorumprincipes' and HorEpI xvii 35 'principibusplacuisseuirisnon ultima laus est'. There was a parallel expressionprincipes feminae: see PlinyNHVIII 119 and TacAnnXIII 42 (Suillius compares himself to Seneca) 'an grauius aestimandum sponte litigatoris praemium honestae operae adsequi quam corrumpere cubicula principum feminarum?'.
45. CARMINA VESTRARVM PERAGVNT PRAECONIA LAVDVM.Praeconiain a similar context atTrII 65 'inuenies uestripraeconianominis illic [in theMetamorphoses]'; used withperagereatTrV i 9 'ut cecidi, subitiperago praeconiacasus'.
45. LAVDVM.'Deeds meriting praise'; compare 87 'tuas ... laudes ... recentes'. The meaning is found even in prose: see CaesarBCII 39 4 'haec tamen ab ipsis inflatius commemorabantur, ut de suis homineslaudibuslibenter praedicant' and the other passages cited atOLDlaus13b.
46. ACTORVM.AVCTORVM (BCHL) is possible enough; butactorumaccords better with the precedinglaudum.
46. CADVCA.'Impermanent'. The sense is frequent in Cicero: seeRepVI 17 'nihil est nisi mortale etcaducumpraeter animos' andPhilIV 13. Elsewhere in Ovid the usual sense of the word is 'ineffectual': seeFastI 181-82 'nec linguacaducas/ concipitulla preces, dictaque pondus habent' andIbis88 'et sit pars uoti nulla caduca mei'. Similar uses atHerXV 208 & XVI 169.
47. CARMINE FIT VIVAX VIRTVS, EXPERSQVE SEPULCRI / NOTITIAM SERAE POSTERITATIS HABET.For the immortality given by verse, compare from OvidTrV xiv 5 (to his wife) 'dumque legar, mecum pariter tua fama legetur' andEPIII ii 35-36 (to those friends who assisted him) 'uos etiam seri laudabunt saepe nepotes, / claraque erit scriptis gloria uestra meis'. The topic is closely related to that of the poet's own immortality, for which, in Ovid, see xvi 2-3 'non solet ingeniis summa nocere dies, / famaque post cineres maior uenit' andMetXV 871-79.
For other poets' treatment of the immortality given by verse, see Prop III ii 17-26, HorCarmIV ix, PindarNemVII 11-16, Gow on Theocritus XVI 30, and Murgatroyd on Tib I iv 63-66.
47. VIVAX VIRTVS.Compare HorAP68-69 'mortalia facta peribunt, / nedum sermonum stet honos et gratiauiuax'.
47. EXPERSQVE SEPVLCRI.The diction of this line is very elevated: Professor R. J. Tarrant comparesMetIX 252-53 (Jupiter speaking of Hercules) 'aeternum est a me quod traxit, etexpers/ atque immunenecis' andCons Liu59-60 'Caesaris adde domum, quae certefuneris expers/ debuit humanis altior esse malis'. The following line'snotitiam ... habetis in comparison an anticlimax.
49. TABIDA CONSVMIT FERRVM LAPIDEMQVE VETVSTAS.Iron and flint were proverbial for hardness: compare x 3-4 'ecquos tu silices, ecquod, carissime, ferrum / duritiae confers, Albinouane, meae?',HerX 109-10,AAI 473-76,MetXIV 712-13,FastV 131-32,TrIV vi 13-14, andEPII vii 39-40; other passages are cited by Smith at Tib I iv 18 'longa dies molli saxa peredit aqua'. At I 313-16, Lucretius, discussing the invisible wearing away of substances, says 'stilicidi casuslapidemcauat, uncus aratri /ferreusocculte decrescit uomer in aruis, / strataque iam uolgi pedibus detrita uiarum / saxea conspicimus'.
51. SCRIPTA FERVNT ANNOS.The phrase completes the sentence begun in the previous distich, as is shown by the parallel passagesAmI x 61-62 'scindentur uestes, gemmae frangentur et aurum; /carmina quam tribuent, fama perennis erit' andAmI xv 31-32 'ergo cum silices, cum dens patientis aratri / depereant aeuo,carmina morte carent'.
51. FERVNT.'Withstand'; the same sense atTrV ix 8 'scriptauetustatemsi modo nostraferunt', CicAm67 'ea uina quaeuetustatem ferunt', Silius IV 399-400 'si modoferre diem... carmina nostra ualent', and Quintilian II 4 9 'sic etannos ferentet uetustate proficient'.
51-53. AGAMEMNONA ... THEBAS.The two great cycles of Greek heroic mythology. The same conjunction atAmIII xii 15-16 'cumThebae, cumTroiaforet, cum Caesaris acta, / ingenium mouit sola Corinna meum'andTrII 317-20 'cur non Argolicis potius quae concidit armis / uexata est iterum carmineTroiameo? / cur tacuiThebaset uulnera mutua fratrum / et septem portas sub duce quamque suo'; compare as well Prop II i 21 '[canerem ...] nec ueteresThebasnecPergama, nomen Homeri'. Lucretius, arguing that the world was created at a definite moment, wrote 'cur supera ['before'] bellumThebanumet funeraTroiae/ non alias alii quoque res cecinere poetae?' (V 326-27).
52. QVISQVIS CONTRA VEL SIMVL ARMA TVLIT.The leaders of the Greeks and Trojans.
The line's structure parallels 54 'quicquid post haec, quicquid et ante fuit'. Both are conspicuous by their lack of adornment.
55. DI QVOQVE CARMINIBVS, SI FAS EST DICERE, FIVNT.This is possibly a reference to Herodotus II 53, where Herodotus says that Homer and Hesiod established the Greek pantheon; for Ovid's borrowings from Herodotus, see at iii 37opulentia Croesi(p 189). The same idea previously in Xenophanes (fr. 11 Diels).
The line looks ahead to 63-64 'et modo, Caesar, auum, quem uirtus addidit astris, / sacrarunt aliqua carmina parte tuum'.
55. SI FAS EST DICERE.Ovid here apologizes for the shocking statement he is making. Up to this point poetry has helped give lasting fame to what was already a fact, but here poetry is actually making something happen (or appear to happen). AtAmIII xii 21-40 Ovid similarly describes how poets created the myths.
57-64.Ovid follows the same sequence in theMetamorphoses, describing the separation of Chaos at I 5-31, the attack of the Giants at I 151-55, Bacchus' conquest of India at IV 20-21 & 605-6, and Hercules' capture of Oechalia at IX 136; he foretells Augustus' apotheosis at XV 868-70. Professor R. J. Tarrant points out that these lines may well be referring specifically to the earlier poem.
57-58. SIC CHAOS EX ILLA NATVRAE MOLE PRIORIS / DIGESTVM PARTES SCIMVS HABERE SVAS.'Thus we know Chaos now has its divisions after having been arranged in order from the famous mass that was its previous nature'. Ovid describes the separation of the elements atMetI 25-31 andFastI 103-10; see alsoEclVI 31-36.
I takeilla('famous') to refer to the familiarity through the poets and philosophers of the notion of the separation of Chaos into the four elements. Alternatively, Professor A. Dalzell points out to me thatillacould have a pejorative sense.
58. DIGESTVM.'Separated'. AtMetI 7 Ovid calls Chaos 'rudisindigestaquemoles'.
59. ADFECTANTES CAELESTIA REGNA GIGANTAS.AtAmIII xii 27 Ovid, speaking of false legends created by the poets, says 'fecimus Enceladon iaculantem mille lacertis'.
In his youth, Ovid had attempted but later abandoned a poem on the battle of the Giants against Jupiter 'designed to glorify Augustus under the guise of Jupiter' (OwenTristia IIp. 77): the language heuses atTrII 333-40 seems too explicit to be a mere instance of the love-poet's defence of his subject-matter: 'at si me iubeas domitos Iouis igne Gigantas [Heinsius: Gigantescodd] / dicere, conantem debilitabit onus. / diuitis ingenii est immania Caesaris acta / condere, materia ne superetur opus. /et tamen ausus eram; sed detrectare uidebar, / quodque nefas, damno uiribus esse tuis.[20]/ ad leue rursus opus, iuuenalia carmina, ueni, / et falso moui pectus amore meum'. He refers to the same poem again atAmII i 11-18 'ausus eram, memini,caelestiadicere bella / centimanumque Gyen—et satis oris erat— / cum male se Tellus ulta est, ingestaque Olympo / ardua deuexum Pelion Ossa tulit. / in manibus nimbos et cum Ioue fulmen habebam, / quod bene pro caelo mitteret ille suo— / clausit amica fores! ego cum Ioue fulmen omisi; / excidit ingenio Iuppiter ipse meo'.
The actual descriptions of the Giants' rebellion in Ovid's surviving poems are brief (MetI 151-62 & 182-86,FastV 35-42), but references to the rebellion are frequent (MetX 150-51,FastI 307-8,FastIV 593-94,FastV 555,TrII 71,TrIV vii 17,EPII ii 9-12). The accounts atMetV 319-31 of the flight of some of the gods to Egypt and atFastII 459-74 of Venus' flight to the Euphrates are no doubt derived from Ovid's earlier researches.
59. ADFECTANTES.'Unlawfully seeking to obtain'; compareMetI 151-52 'neue foret terris securior arduus aether, /adfectasseferuntregnum caeleste Gigantas' andFastIII 439 'ausoscaelum adfectare Gigantas'. This sense is found in prose: compare Livy I 50 4 'cui enim non apparereadfectareeum imperium in Latinos?'. At Livy I 46 2 the word is used without the conative sense: 'neque ea res Tarquinio spemadfectandiregni minuit'.
59. GIGANTASHeinsius. The manuscripts have GIGANTES, which Lenz, Wheeler, and André print. In classical Latin poetry, Greek nouns of the third declension with plural nominatives in-εςand plural accusatives in-αςretained these endings. Housman 836-39 gives many instances where metre demonstrates an accusative in-ας. In Ovid when such an ending occurs, some manuscripts commonly offer the normalized-es; atTrII 333, as here, all manuscripts offerGigantes, again corrected by Heinsius.
Such apparent violations of the rule asFastI 717 'horreat Aeneadās et primus et ultimus orbis',FastIII 105-6 'quis tunc aut Hyadās aut Pliadas Atlanteas / senserat' and VirgilGI 137-38 'nauita tum stellis numeros et nomina fecit, / Pleiadās, Hyadās, claramque Lycaonis Arcton' are of course no real exceptions, the lengthening of short closed vowels at the ictus being permitted (Platnauer 59-62).
60. AD STYGA NIMBIFERI VINDICIS IGNE DATOS.'Hurled to the underworld by the lightning-bolt of cloud-gathering Jupiter'. This was Jupiter'sfirst use of the weapon: seeFastIII 439-40 'fulmina post ausos caelum adfectare Gigantas / sumpta Ioui:primo tempore inermis erat'.
60. NIMBIFERI VINDICIS IGNEis my correction of the manuscripts' NIMBIFERO and NVBIFERO. The unmodifieduindicisand modifiedigneof the manuscript readings might be defended byEPII ix 77 'quicquid id est [whatever Ovid has committed], habuit moderatam uindicis iram', butuindicisis there defined by the following 'qui nisi natalem nil mihi dempsit humum', andmoderatamis a more suitable epithet foriramthan isnimbiferoforignein the present passage., AtTrII 143-44 'uidi ego pampineis oneratam uitibus ulmum, / quae fueratsaeuo fulminetacta Iouis', the manuscripts divide betweensaeuoandsaeui, which has a good claim to be considered the true reading; in any case,Iouisis less in need of a defining adjective thanuindicisin the present passage. Finally, the genitive here is strongly supported byIbis475-76 'ut Macedo rapidis icta est cum coniuge flammis, / sic precoraetherii uindicisigne cadas'.
The corruption may have been induced by a wish to introduce interlocking word order: for a similar instance see at ii 9Baccho uina Falerna(p 164). But in fact substantive and epithet are constantly found linked at the caesura of the pentameter: the strong break in the metre at that point no doubt made the construction more readily acceptable there than in other positions.
I have printednimbiferiin preference tonubiferibecause Jupiter is linked withnimbiat two other passages. The first of these isAmII i 15-16 'in manibusnimbos et cum Ioue fulmenhabebam, / quod bene pro caelo mitteret ille suo', and the secondMetIII 299-301, where Ovid describes Jupiter's preparations to descend on Semele: 'aethera conscendit uultuque sequentia traxit / nubila, quisnimbosimmixtaque fulgura uentis / addidit et tonitrus et ineuitabile fulmen'.
61-62. SIC VICTOR LAVDEM SVPERATIS LIBER AB INDIS ... TRAXIT.Bacchus' conquest of India is also mentioned by Ovid atFastIII 465-66 'interea Liber depexos crinibus Indos / uicit et Eoo diues ab orbe redit',FastIII 719-20, andTrV iii 23-24.
61-62. VICTORshould be taken both withLiberandAlcides.
61-62. LIBER ... ALCIDES.The same pairing (both times in the context of Augustan panegyric) atAenVI 801-5 'nec ueroAlcidestantum telluris obiuit, / fixerit aeripedem ceruam licet, aut Erymanthi / pacarit nemora et Lernam tremefecerit arcu; / nec qui pampineis uictor iuga flectit habenis /Liber, agens celso Nysae de uertice tigris' and HorCarmIII iii 9-15. Ovid may have made similar mention of Bacchus and Hercules in his panegyric of Augustus.
61-62. SIC ... LAVDEM ... ALCIDES CAPTA TRAXIT AB OECHALIA.Hercules attacked and captured Oechalia in order to carry off Iole, the king's daughter. This was his last exploit, for it led to Deianira's sending him the poisoned robe which caused his death. The capture of Oechalia is also mentioned atHerIXpassim(the poem perhaps not by Ovid) andMetIX 136-40.
62. OECHALIA.For the quadrisyllable ending to the pentameter, see at ii 10Alcinoo(p 164).
63. AVVM.Augustus. In AD 4 Augustus adopted Tiberius (son of Livia's first husband, Ti. Claudius Nero), and Tiberius adopted Germanicus, son of his brother Drusus.
63. QVEM VIRTVS ADDIDIT ASTRIS.CompareAenVIII 301 (of Hercules) 'salue, uera Iouis proles, decusaddite diuis'.
Augustus died on 19 August AD 14; on 17 September the Senate decreedcaelestes religionesfor him (TacAnnI 10 8;Fasti Amiternini, Antiates, & Oppiani, at Ehrenberg-Jones 52). Augustus' apotheosis is also mentioned at ix 127-32 and xiii 23-26.
64. ALIQVA ... PARTE.The same phrase in the same metrical position atFastI 133-34 (Janus speaking) 'uis mea narrata est. causam nunc disce figurae: / iam tamen hancaliquatu quoqueparteuides'.
64. CARMINA.Ovid is referring to his own poems (in Latin and Getic) on Augustus' apotheosis, also mentioned at vi 17-18 'de caelite ... recenti ... carmen', ix 131-32 'carmina ... de te ... caelite ... nouo', and xiii 25-26.
65-66. SI QVID ADHVC IGITVR VIVI, GERMANICE, NOSTRO / RESTAT IN INGENIO, SERVIET OMNE TIBI.Compare Prop IV i 59-60 'sed tamen exiguoquodcumquee pectoreriui/ fluxerit, hoc patriaeseruiet omne meae', which Ovid is clearly imitating. Hertzbergad locconjecturedRIVI for our passage, which may well be right; butuiuiseems to agree better withrestat.
67. VATIS ... VATES.For an extreme instance of Ovid's favourite figure ofpolyptoton(Quintilian IX 3 36-37), see the account atMetIX 43-45 of Achelous' wrestling-match with Hercules: 'inque gradu stetimus, certi non cedere, eratque / cumpede pesiunctus, totoque ego pectore pronus / etdigitos digitisetfrontem frontepremebam'. Other instances of polyptoton withuatesatFastI 25 (to Germanicus) 'si licet et fas est,uatesregeuatishabenas' andEPII ix 65 (to Cotys, king of Thrace, apparently a writer of poetry) 'aduatem uatesorantia bracchia tendo',
67. VATES.Approximately nine hundred lines survive of a version of Aratus generally attributed to Germanicus, who might have been composing the poem at the time Ovid was writing: Augustus' apotheosis is mentioned at 558-60. It is possible however that Tiberius was the poem's author: he is known to have written aConquestio de morte L. Caesarisand to have composed Greek verse (SuetTib70). For a full discussion see the introduction to Gain's edition of theAratus.
69-70. QVOD NISI TE NOMEN TANTVM AD MAIORA VOCASSET, / GLORIA PIERIDVM SVMMA FVTVRVS ERAS.CompareMetV 269-70 (the Muses to Minerva) 'o nisi te uirtus opera ad maiora tulisset, / in partem uentura chori Tritonia nostri'.
There is a striking parallel to this passage in Quintilian's address to Domitian in his catalogue of poets: 'hos nominamus quia Germanicum Augustum ab institutis studiis deflexit cura terrarum, parumque dis uisum est esse eum maximum poetarum' (X i 91-92).
70. GLORIA PIERIDVM SVMMA.Gloriasimilarly used atEPII xi 28 'maxima Fundanigloria, Rufe, soli',AenVI 767 'proximus ille Procas, Troianaegloriagentis', and Val Max IV iii 3 'Drusum ... Germanicum, eximiam Claudiae familiaegloriam'. The term was used in particular of fine cattle: seeAAI 290 'candidus, armenti gloria, taurus',Pan Mess(Corp TibIII vii) 208 'tardi pecoris ...gloriataurus' andAetna597 'gloriauiua Myronis' (on Myron'sCowsee at i 34ut similis uerae uacca Myronis opus[p 158]).
71. SI DARER. J. Tarrant.The manuscripts' SED DARE is a possible reading; but Professor Tarrant's slight change removes the awkwardness ofnec tamenfollowing immediately uponsed.
71. MAVISIF2ulMAIVSBF1. Either of the two variants could be read fromCMHLT. The preferable reading ismauis, since it links more closely topotesin the pentameter, and would be especially liable to corruption aftermaioratwo lines previous. I have found no good parallel for singularmaius'a more important thing': for the pluralOLD maior5 cites from verseFastIV 3 'certe maiora canebas' and its model,EclIV 1 'paulo maiora canamus'.
72. NEC TAMEN EX TOTO DESERERE ILLA POTES.Graecinus was another of Ovid's addressees who, while a soldier, kept up his other pursuits: 'artibus ingenuis [=lībĕrālibus], quarum tibi maxima cura est, / pectora mollescunt asperitasque fugit. / nec quisquam meliore fide complectitur illas, / qua sinit officium militiaeque labor' (EPI vi 7-10).
72. EX TOTO.'Altogether'. CompareEPI vi 27-28 'spes igitur menti poenae, Graecine, leuandae / non estex totonulla relicta meae'. The idiom was probably subliterary: the only instances from the time of Ovid cited byOLD totum2 are Celsus III 3 71b 'nequeex totoin remissionem desistit' and Columella V 6 17 'antequamex totoarbor praeualescat'.
73. NVMERIS ... VERBA COERCES.'You arrange words in metrical patterns'. Similar wording at CicOr64 'mollis est enim oratio philosophorum ... necuincta numeris['not in rhythmic prose'], sed soluta liberius'.
Professor E. Fantham points out to me that Ovid may also be playing onnumerus'military contingent' (OLD numerus9): 'you draft words in squads'.
75-76. NEC AD CITHARAM NEC AD ARCVM SEGNIS APOLLO, / SED VENIT AD SACRAS NERVVS VTERQVE MANVS.Apollo is similarly described atMetX 107-8 (of Cyparissus) 'nunc arbor, puer ante deo dilectus ab illo /qui citharam neruis et neruis temperat arcum'.
76. VENIT=conuenit. In Latin verse a simple verb can carry the sense of any of its compounds, even when this sense is quite different from the usual meaning of the simple verb. Compare Catullus LXIV 21 'tum Thetidi pater ipseiugandumPeleasensit', "where it is plain that iugandum is for coniugandum, and this leads the reader to the conclusion that sensit is for consensit, where the omission decidedly affects the sense" (Bell 330).
The line should not be taken as an instance of the expressionuenire ad manum(OLD uenio7c), since the idiom's sense 'be convenient' does not fit the context here: for the sense compare Livy XXXVIII 21 6 'quod [scsaxum] cuique temere trepidantiad manum uenisset' and Quintilian II xi 6 'abrupta quaedam, ut fortead manum uenere, iaculantur'.Venire in manusoffers a somewhat more satisfactory meaning, almost equivalent to 'have, hold' (compare CicQ FrII xv [xiv] i 'quicumque calamusin manus meas uenerit' and Persius III 11 'inque manuschartae nodosaqueuenitharundo'), but seems to be a separate idiom.
79. QVAE QVONIAM NEC NOS.'Since she continues to give poetic inspiration to myself as well as to you'.Quae quoniamseems very prosaic, but Ovid uses the phrase again atTrI ix 53-54 'quae[scconiectura]quoniamuera est ... gratulor ingenium non latuisse tuum'.
79-80. VNDA ... VNGVLA GORGONEI QUAM CAVA FECIT EQVI.Hippocrene, the spring of the Muses, said to have been created by the hoof-beatof Pegasus. Similarly described atMetV 264 'factas pedis ictibus undas',FastV 7-8 'fontes Aganippidos Hippocrenes, / grata Medusaei signa ... equi' and Persius prol 1 'fonte ... caballino'.
80. VNGVLA ... CAVA.Professor J. N. Grant points out to me the possible borrowing from EnniusAnn439 Vahlen3'it eques et plausucauaconcutitungulaterram'.
80. GORGONEI ... EQVI.The same phrase in the same metrical position atFastIII 450 'suspice [sccaelum]:Gorgoneicolla uidebisequi'. For the birth of Pegasus from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa, seeMetIV 784-86,
81. COMMVNIA SACRA TVERI.Sacrasimilarly used of poetry atTrIV i 87,TrIV x 19 'at mihi iam puero caelestiasacraplacebant',EPII x 17 'sunt tamen inter secommunia sacrapoetis', andEPIII iv 67 'sunt mihi uobiscumcommunia sacra, poetae'. Fortueri'observe, maintain' compare CicTuscI 2 'mores et instituta uitae resque domesticas ac familiaris nos profecto et meliustuemuret lautius'.
82. ISDEM STVDIIS IMPOSVUISSE MANVM.Similar phrasing atTrIV i 27-28 'non equidem uellem ...Pieridum sacris imposuisse manum'.
82. IMPOSVISSEhas the sense of the present infinitive, as is shown bytueriin the previous line; compare as well ii 27-28 'uix sumptae Musa tabellae /imponitpigras, paene coacta,manus'. For the idiom, seePlatnauer 109-12. It is particularly frequent in the latter half of the pentameter, immediately before the disyllable: compare, from many instances,AAIII 431-32 'iresolutis / crinibus et fletus nontenuissedecet' andTrIV viii 5-12 'nunc erat ut posito deberem fine laborum /uiuere, me nullo sollicitante metu, / quaeque meae semper placuerunt otia menti /carpereet in studiis molliteressemeis, / et paruamcelebraredomum ueteresque Penates ... inque sinu dominae carisque sodalibus inque / securus patriaconsenuissemea'. The idiom, although more common in elegiac verse, is also found in epic: compareAenX 14 'tumcertareodiis, tum resrapuisselicebit'.
83. LITORA PELLITIS NIMIVM SVBIECTA CORALLIS.Compare ii 37 'hic mea cui recitem nisi flauis scripta Corallis'. Strabo mentions the Coralli as inhabiting the region near Haemus (VII 5 12); they are rather obscurely described at Val Fl VI 89-94 'densique leuant uexilla Coralli, / barbaricae quis signa rotae, ferrataque dorso / forma suum ['of pigs'], truncaeque Iouis simulacra columnae; / proelia nec rauco curant incendere cornu, / indigenas sed rite duces et prisca suorum / facta canunt ueterumque, uiris hortamina, laudes'.
Nothing else is known of the tribe.
83. PELLITIS.Elsewhere in Ovid only at x 2 'pellitos ... Getas'.
83. NIMIVM SVBIECTA.Compare vi 45 'nimium nobis conterminus Hister'.
85. VLLOMILLOBCFHILT.Illois not a possible reading, since of course most parts of the empire would have been less isolated thanTomis. Ovid does not specify a preferred place of exile at eitherTrIV iv 49 'nunc precor hinc alio iubeat discedere' orEPIII i 29-30 'non igitur mirum ... altera si nobis usque rogatur humus', nor in any of the passages listed in the next two notes.
86. QVI MINVS ... DISTET.For this constant prayer of the exiled Ovid, seeTrII 575-78 (the concluding lines) 'non ut in Ausoniam redeam, nisi forsitan olim, / cum longo poenae tempore uictus eris; / tutius exilium pauloque quietius oro, / ut par delicto sit mea poena suo',Ibis28,EPIII i 4 & 85,EPIII iii 64,EPIII vii 30,EPIII ix 38, andEPIII ix 1-4 'Quod sit in his eadem sententia, Brute, libellis, / carmina nescio quem carpere nostra refers, /nil nisi me terra fruar ut propiore rogare, / et quam sim denso cinctus ab hoste loqui'.
86. DISTETFHILM2c. Lenz and André print DISTAT (BCT); however, the defining subjunctive seems to be required, and is supported byEPII viii 36 'daque procul Scythicoqui sitab hoste locum'.
87. LAVDES.See at 45laudum(p 268).
88. MAGNAQVE QVAM MINIMA FACTA REFERRE MORA.AtEPIII iv 53-60 Ovid speaks of how a poem of his on a recent triumph has been late in being written, and will be late in reaching Rome: 'cetera certatim de magno scripta triumpho / iam pridem populi suspicor ore legi. / illa bibit sitiens lector, mea pocula plenus; / illa recens pota est,nostra tepebit aqua. / non ego cessaui, nec fecit inertia serum: / ultima me uasti distinet [scripsi: sustinetcodd] ora freti. / dum uenit huc rumor properataque carmina fiunt / factaque eunt ad uos, annus abisse potest'.
90. SOCERO PAENE ... TVO.See at 11eadem mihi filia paene est(p 262).
C. Pomponius Graecinus (PIR1P 540), suffect consul in 16, was the recipient ofEPI vi, an appeal for his assistance, and ofEPII vi, a request that he be more lenient towards Ovid's faults and continue to assist him. He must have been an old friend of Ovid, forAmII x is addressed to him ('Tu mihi, tu certe, memini, Graecine, negabas / uno posse aliquem tempore amare duas'), and he was clearly a literary patron (EPI vi 7-8 'artibus ingenuis,quarum tibi maxima cura est, / pectora mollescunt asperitasque fugit').
The poem begins with Ovid's wish that his letter might arrive on the day Graecinus becomes consul (1-4). He imagines himself present when Graecinus enters his magistracy; since he will not be there, he will at least in his mind imagine Graecinus carrying out his consular functions (5-56). He then speaks of Graecinus' brother Flaccus, who will succeed him asconsul ordinariusfor 17: the two brothers will take pleasure in each other's office (57-65). He describes the brothers' devotion to Tiberius, and asks for their assistance in obtaining his removal from Tomis (65-74). The mention of his exile serves as a bridge to the topic of his life in Tomis. Flaccus can attest to the hardships Ovid endures, since he was recently stationed in the area (75-86). Once Graecinus has learned of these hardships from Flaccus, he should ask what Ovid's reputation in Tomis is. He will learn that Ovid is well liked, and has even received publichonours (87-104). His loyalty to the imperial family is well known: Flaccus may have heard of this, Tiberius will eventually learn of it, but Augustus has certainly observed it from heaven; Ovid's poems are perhaps inducing Augustus to yield to his prayers (105-34).
The poem is the longest in the book, and combines several almost unrelated sections dealing with a number of subjects. The first section of the poem, the celebration of Graecinus' nomination to the consulship, is very heavily indebted to IV iv, Ovid's first poem on Sextus Pompeius' election to the consulship. The section detailing Flaccus' presence near Tomis owes something to IV vii, the letter to Vestalis. The description of Ovid's reputation in Tomis is new, and shows a softening of his attitude towards his fellow-townsmen, but the description of his piety to the imperial family owes much to III ii, a letter of thanks to Cotta for the gift of images of the members of the family. The poem's discursiveness and large number of derived elements suggest a hasty composition.
1. GRAECINE.Graecinus became afrater Arualisin 21 (CILVI 2023); the C. Pomponius Graecinus ofCILXI 5809 (Iguvium) seems not to have survived to enter the Senate (SymeHO74-75). Graecinus is not mentioned in literary sources apart from Ovid, but his brother Flaccus was rather more famous: see at 75 (p 308).
3. DI FACIANTlooks like a colloquial expression. Other instances at iv 47-48 'di faciantaliquo subeat tibi tempore nostrum / nomen',TrV xiii 17, and Prop II ix 24.
3. AVRORAMhere is virtually equivalent todiem; it is not found elsewhere in the poetry of exile, but compareFastI 461 & II 267-68 'tertia post idus nudos aurora Lupercos / aspicit'.
3. OCCVRRAT.'Arrive', as commonly: compare CicPhilI 9, Livy XXXVII 50 7 'ad comitiorum tempus occurrerenon posse', and PlinyEpVI xxxiv 3 'uellem Africanae [scpantherae] quas coemeras plurimasad praefinitum diem occurrissent'.
4. BIS SENOS=dŭŏdĕcim, metrically difficult because of its initial three consecutive short vowels. Roman poets avoid using the usual names for numbers abovenouem, with the obvious exceptions ofcentumandmille; sometimes, as here, metrical exigencies left them with no alternative. Forbis seni(sex) Tarrant at SenAg812bis seno ... laborecites EnniusAnn323 Vahlen2,EclI 43,AenI 393, Prop II xx 7,MetVIII 243,FastI 28, SenTro386 &Oed251, and from Greek CallimachusAetiaI fr. 23 19 Pfeiffer.
6. TVRBAE.Compare iv 27 'cernere iam uideor rumpi paene atriaturba'.
7. IN DOMINI SVBEAT PARTES.Partes= 'function'; see at ii 27uix uenit ad partes ... Musa(p 170). Forsubeat'undertake' compare Quintilian X i 71 'declamatoribus ... necesse est secundum condicionem controuersiarum pluressubire personas' and the passages cited atOLD subeo7b.
8. FESTOBurmanIVSSOBCMFHILIVSTOT, sicut coni Merkel.Iussohas been explained since Merula as meaning that Ovid hopes the letter willarrive on the day it is told to; but the word seems rather strange, and lacks the point it has in the passages cited by Ehwald (KB64),AAII 223-24 'iussus adesse foro,iussamaturiushora/ fac semper uenias, nec nisi serus abi' and Prop IV vi 63-64 (of Cleopatra) 'illa petit Nilum cumba male nixa fugaci, / hoc unum,iussonon morituradie' (she would commit suicide at a time of her own choosing), or atAenX 444 (cited by Owen in 1894) 'socii cesseruntaequore iusso', whereiussostands by hypallage foriussi. The meaning ofiustois inappropriate for the present passage, as will be seen from SuetTib4 2 'retentis ultraiustum tempus['the time allowed'] insignibus'. Burman's conjecturefestowas not placed in the text even by its author, but it seems a reasonable solution to the difficulty. For it Burman cited 56 'hic quoque tefestumconsuletempusagam'; see as wellFastI 79-80 'uestibus intactis Tarpeias itur in arces, / et populusfestoconcolor ipse suo est'. The corruption of so straightforward an epithet may seem unlikely, but compare Prop IV xi 65-66 'uidimus et fratrem sellam geminasse curulem; / consule quo,festo[Koppiers: factocodd]tempore, rapta soror'.
9. ATQVIunus e duobus Hafniensibus Heinsii. The ATQVE ofBCMFHILTis possibly right. For the adversative sense here required,OLDatque9 cites PlautusAul287-88 'atque egoistuc, Anthrax, aliouorsum dixeram, / non istuc quod tu insimulas',Mer742, and TerHeaut189 (apparently a misprint for 187 'atque etiam nunc tempus est') from comedy, but from the classical period only CicAttVI i 2 'ac putarampaulo secus' andFamXIV iv 5 'atque ego, qui te confirmo, ipse me non possum', and instances ofac tamenatFamVII xxiii 1, CaesarBCIII 87 4, and TacAnnIII 72. In view of the doubtful status of adversativeatqueat the time of Ovid and the ease of corruption ofatquitoatqueI have followed Heinsius in readingatqui. Heinsius similarly restoredatquifrom hiscodex Richelianusfor the other manuscripts'atqueatTrII 121-24 'corruit haec ... sub uno ... crimine lapsa domus. /atquiea sic lapsa est ut surgere, si modo laesi / ematuruerit Caesaris ira, queat'; andatqueis found for the correctatquiin some manuscripts at HorSatI ix 52-53 '"magnum narras, uix credibile!" "atqui / sic habet"' andEPI ii 33-34 'atqui/ si noles sanus, curres hydropicus', and in most manuscripts atEpI vii 1-5 'Quinque dies tibi pollicitus me rure futurum / Sextilem totum mendax desideror.atqui, / si me uiuere uis sanum recteque ualentem, / quam mihi das aegro, dabis aegrotare timenti, / Maecenas, ueniam'.
10. SINCERO.'Unbroken'.
12. SALVTANDI MVNERE ... TVI.Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the notably prosaic use of the defining gerundive.
13. GRATATVShas the force of a present participle, as is shown bycum dulcibus ... uerbis; André mistranslates 'après t'avoir félicité, je t'embrasserai avec des mots tendres'. The perfect participle of deponent verbs takes past or present meaning indifferently, according to context.
16. VT CAPERET FASTVS VIX DOMVS VLLA MEOSseems strange, as does Némethy's explanation 'poeta elatus superbia tectum uertice tangere sibi uidetur'. Perhaps the distich means something like 'on that day I would be filled with a pride which no ancestry, no matter how illustrious, could justify'.
16. FASTVS.'Haughtiness'—Wheeler. The same sense atAAII 241-42 'exuefastus, / curam mansuri quisquis amoris habes' andAenIII 326-27 (Andromache speaking) 'stirpis Achilleaefastusiuuenemque superbum ... tulimus'. Ovid generally usesfastusof the arrogance of women to their suitors (AmII xvii 9,MetXIV 762,FastI 419); the word is not found elsewhere in the poetry of exile.
17. DVMQVE LATVS SANCTI CINGIT TIBI TVRBA SENATVS.Compare iv 41 'inde domum repetes toto comitante senatu'; Ovid is here obviously referring to the earlier processionfromthe new consul's house.
20. LATERIS ... LOCVMis a strange phrase, but is made easier bylatus ... cingitin 17. Compare also such passages asMetII 448-49 'nec ... iuncta deae lateri nec toto est agmine prima' andAenX 160-61 'Pallas ... sinistro / adfixus lateri'. It is possible thatlatushere means 'companion', as at Martial VI lxviii 4 'Eutychos ille, tuum, Castrice, dulce latus'.
20. HABVISSEis equivalent tohabere, as is shown byessein the preceding line. For the idiom, see at viii 82imposuisse(p 282) and xi 2habuisse(p 361).
21. TVRBA QVAMVIS ELIDERER.Elideresimilarly used of a crowd's jostling at SenClemI 6 1; an extended description at Juvenal III 243-48.
23. PROSPICEREM.Owen in his second edition, Wheeler, and Lenz follow Ehwald (KB64) in printingB's ASPICEREM. Ehwald argued thatprospicerem, 'survey from a distance', was inappropriate in view of the precedingturba quamuis eliderer. But the verb should be taken not with the pentameter that precedes, but with the one that follows, 'densaque quam longum turba teneret iter':prospiceremseems very appropriate. Riese conjectured RESPICEREM 'look back at', but emendation seems unnecessary.
Compounds ofspecere(the simple verb is used by Plautus and Ennius) are peculiarly liable to confusion:prospicereis similarly corrupted toaspicerein some manuscripts atMetIII 603-4 'ipse quid aura mihi tumulo promittat ab alto /prospicio' andMetXI 715-16 'notata locis reminiscitur acta fretumque /prospicit', and other instances of variation of prefix will be found atMetII 405, VI 343, XI 150, XIV 179, XV 577, 660 & 842,FastI 139 & 461, V 393 & 561, andHerXIX 21.
25-26.Heinsius and Bentley questioned the authenticity of these lines, but the distich does not seem lame enough to warrant excision, andtegeret(see below) is paralleled elsewhere.
25. QVOQVE MAGIS NORIS.'Listen: this will make you understand better'. Ovid is very fond ofquoque magisand the correspondingquoque minus, particularly at line-beginnings. He generally uses the formula to denote the emotion which information he then gives should induce. CompareMetI 757-58 '"quo"que "magis doleas, genetrix" ait, "ille ego liber, / ille ferox tacui"',MetIII 448-50 (Narcissus to his reflection) 'quoque magis doleam, nec nos mare separat ingens ... exigua prohibemur aqua',MetXIV 695-97 'quoque magis timeas ... referam tota notissima Cypro / facta',TrI vii 37-38, andEPI viii 9-10 'quoque magis nostros uenia dignere libellos, / haec in procinctu carmina facta leges'; similar instances ofquoque minusatMetII 44, VIII 579, 620 & 866, andEPIII ii 52. The present passage shows the same idiom, but with the difference that a subordinate clause (quam me uulgaria tangant) depends on the verb (noris) introduced by thequoque magisclause.
The same formula is used with a different sense, thequoquebeing an ablative of degree of difference, atAmIII ii 28 andMetIV 64 'quoque magis tegitur, tectus magis aestuat ignis'.
EPII v 15-16 'quoque magis moueare malis, doctissime, nostris, / credibile est fieri condicione loci' reads oddly; something has probably been lost from the text after the hexameter.
25. VVLGARIA.'Commonplace, ordinary'. Compare HorSatII ii 38 and CicDe orII 347 'neque enim paruae [scres] neque usitatae neque uulgares admiratione aut omnino laude dignae uideri solent'.
25. TANGANT.'Impress'; compareHerV 81 'non ego miror opes, nec me tua regia tangit',HerVI 113,HerVII 11,MetIV 639,MetX 614-15 'nec formatangor(poteram tamen hac quoque tangi), / sed quod adhuc puer est: non me mouet ipse, sed aetas', andFastV 489, as well asHerXVI 83. Fortangerewith a neuter plural subject seeAenI 462 'mentem mortaliatangunt'.
26. TEGERET.There are twenty trisyllabic pentameter endings in Tibullus, thirty in Propertius, but only five in Ovid, all in theEx Ponto: I i 66faciet, I vi 26scelus est, I viii 40liceat, III vi 46uideor, and this passage (Platnauer 15-16). Quadrisyllabic endings are similarly frequent in the poetry of exile: see at ii 10Alcinoo(p 164).
27. SIGNA ... IN SELLA ... FORMATA CVRVLI.Forsignum'bas-relief' see at v 18conspicuum signis ... ebur(the phrase also of the curule chair).
28. NVMIDAE SCVLPTILE DENTIS OPVS.Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the clear imitation of Prop II xxxi 12 'ualuae, Llbyci nobile dentis opus'.
28. NVMIDAE ... DENTISeddNVMIDI ... DENTIScodd. The masculine first declension substantiveNumidais occasionally used as an adjective: compareAAII 183 'Numidasque leones' (some manuscripts readNumidosque) and Juvenal IV 99-100 'ursos ... Numidas'. André printsNumidi, citing a nominativeNumidusatCILVIII 17328, the variantatAAII 183, and Apicius VI 8 4 'pullum Numidum' (where there is a variantNumidicum, which André printed in his 1974 edition of Apicius). But given the support for the first-declension form offered by the Juvenal passage and the better manuscripts of theArs Amatoria, the danger in adducing a doubtful passage of Apicius and a single inscription to determine poetic usage, and the ease of corruption to the second declension, it seems better to assume that Ovid here used the first declension form.
Numidae ... dentisis high poetic diction: compareMetXI 167-68 'instructam ... fidem gemmis etdentibus Indis', Catullus LXIV 47-48 'puluinar ...Indo...dentepolitum', Prop II xxxi 12 (quoted above), and StatiusSilIII iii 94-95 'Indi / dentis honos'.
28. SCVLPTILE.The word does not seem to occur again in Latin until PrudentiusStephX 266.
29. TARPEIAS ... IN ARCES.See at iv 29Tarpeiae ... sedis(p 208).
30. DVMexpresses purpose; if it were temporal, the verb would becaditinstead ofcaderet: compare 17-18 'dumquelatus sancticingittibi turba senatus, / consulis ante pedes ire iuberer eques'.
31. SECRETOrepresents Ovid's response to the biddingfauete linguis. The word is frequent in comedy, but is very rare in verse, being virtually confined to satire (HorSatI ix 67, Juvenal I 95).
31-32. MAGNVS ... DEVS= Iuppiter OptimusMaximus. CompareAAII 540 'erismagniuictor in arceIouis'.
33. TVRAQVE MENTE MAGIS PLENA QVAM LANCE DEDISSEM.The same notion of sincerity of feeling being more important than size of gifts at viii 35-40.
34. TER QVATER ... LAETVS.'Infinitely happy'; compare Prop III xii 15 'ter quaterin casta felix, o Postume, Galla!',AenI 94 'oterque quaterquebeati',AAII 447-48, andTrIII xii 25-26 'oquateretquotiens non est numerare beatum/ non interdicta cui licet urbe frui!'. The phrase is common in Ovid, but he generally uses it to mean 'several times': compareAmIII i 31-32 'mouit ...terque quaterquecaput',MetII 49,MetIV 734 'ter quaterexegit repetita per ilia ferrum',MetVI 133,MetIX 217,MetXII 288,FastI 576, andFastI 657 'ter quatereuolui signantes tempora fastos'.
35. HIC.'Hier auf dem Kapitol'—Ehwald (KB65). The idiom is somewhat strange, but seems well enough supported byMetXIV 372-73 '"per o, tua lumina" dixit / "quae mea ceperunt, perquehanc, pulcherrime, formam"' andHerXVI 137, passages cited by R, J. Tarrant at SenAg971 'dummodohac['your'] moriar manu'. Compare as well Prop I xi 17-18 'non quia perspecta non es mihi cognita fama, / sed quod inhacomnisparte['at Baiae'] timetur [codd: uereturLachmann] amor' and Fedeliad loc.
36. MITIA ... SI ... FATA DARENT.'If the Fates had been kind, and given'.
36. VRBISeditio Aldina 1502VERBIScodd.Ius urbis=ius urbis habitandae; compareMetXIII 471-72 'genetrici corpus inemptum / reddite, neue auro redimat ius triste sepulcri [=sepeliendi]'.
37-38. MENTE ... OCVLIS.Similarly contrasted atMetXV 62-64 'isque, licet caeli regione remotos, /mentedeos adiit et, quae natura negarat ['Medic. rectius' (Heinsius): negabatcodd] / uisibus humanis,oculiseapectorishausit'.
38. NON ITA CAELITIBVS VISVM EST.'The gods decided otherwise'. Compare xi 7 'non ita dis placuit',MetVII 699,TrIV viii 15-16 (Ovid had hoped for a peaceful and happy old age) 'non ita dis uisum est, qui me terraque marique / actum Sarmaticis exposuere locis'. These passages are probably all echoes ofAenII 426 'dis aliter uisum'.
40. IVVETBpcCMFHILTFORETBac'unde uerum eliciendum'—Riese. But the correction is by the original hand (Owen suggested that the error was induced byforetat the end of the preceding distich), andiuuetis unobjectionable: Ovid is explaining his admission in the previous line that the gods were perhaps just in his case—claiming he was innocent, that is, that the gods had been unjust, would be of no assistance to him.
41. MENTE TAMEN, QVAE SOLA DOMO NON EXVLAT, VSVS.See at iv 45qua possum, mente(p 211).
41. QVAE SOLA DOMO NON EXVLAT.Similar wording atTrIII iv 45-46 'Nasonisque tuiquod adhuc non exulat unum/ nomen ama'.
41. DOMO NON EXVLAT.Domois my conjecture for the transmitted LOCO, which is strange and difficult to construe. FOCO is also possible; but the singular would be unusual. Fordomocompare TerEun610 'domo exulo nunc'.
42. PRAETEXTAM FASCES ASPICIAMQVE.The-quelogically belongs withfasces, joining it withpraetextam: such dislocations are common in the pentameter because of its strict metrical requirements.
According to the manuscripts the preceding line ends with VTAR; I have printed Heinsius' VSVS, since there would otherwise be an asyndeton betweenutarandaspiciam. There are similar errors at 57 and xi 15 (cedetforcedens;peruenitforperueniens): here we may have a deliberate alteration by a scribe who did not understand the force of the delayed enclitic and sought a verb to coupleaspiciamwith.
44. DECRETISKornSECRETIScoddSECRETOWheeler. Korn's conjecture makes the pentameter an amplification of the hexameter, a common pattern in Ovid; its corruption tosecretiswould be easy. Ehwald (KB39-40) retainedsecretis, citing TacAnnIII 37 'secreta['solitarydesigns'—Grant] patris mitigari' and PlinyPan53 6 (we should rejoice in our present good fortune under Trajan, and weep at the tribulations endured under previous emperors) 'hocsecretanostra ['our private thoughts'], hoc sermones, hoc ipsae gratiarum actiones agant'. But in a list of the consul's public functions such a deviation of subject seems inappropriate. Wheeler'ssecretois a little forced: 'my mind ... shall fancy itself present unseen at your actions'. Ehwald objected that Korn did not explain what his conjecture meant; butdecernerewas used of the consuls' judicial decisions (CicAttXVI xvi a 4(6) 'consulum decretum').
45. LONGI ... LVSTRI.The epithet seems to have no special force: compare iv 23 'longum ... annum'.
45. REDITVS HASTAE SVPPONERE.See at v 19reditus ... componet(p 219).
46. CERNETPM2c, Gothanus membr. II 121 (saec xiii)CREDETBCFHILT.Cernetseems preferable tocredetas continuing the image ofuidebitin 43.
46. EXACTA CVNCTA LOCARE FIDE.Graecinus will be careful and incorruptible in assigning taxation contracts. Forfidecompare v 20 'et minui magnae non sinet urbis opes'; forexactacompare SuetTib18 'cum animaduerteret Varianam cladem temeritate et neglegentia ducisaccidisse ... curam ... solita [scripsi; confer Liu XXVII 47 1 'multitudo ... maior solita' solitocodd]exactiorempraestitit'.
48. PVBLICA QVAERENTEM QVID PETAT VTILITAS.The consul acted as chairman of the Senate, proposing the order of the day, and asking the senators in order of seniority for theirsententiaeon the appropriate action for the question under discussion.
48. PVBLICA ... VTILITAS.'The people's interest'. ForutilitascompareMetXIII 191 'utilitas populi', CicPart Or89 'persaepe euenit ututilitascum honestate certet', CicSul25 'populi utilitatimagis consulere quam uoluntati', and Livy VI 40 5 & VIII 34 2 'posthabita filii caritaspublicae utilitati'.
49. PRO CAESARIBVS=pro Caesarum factis. CompareRes Gestae4 'ob res a me aut per legatos meos auspicis [=auspiciis] meis terra marique prospere gestas quinquagiens et quinquiensdecreuit senatussupplicandum esse dis immortalibus. dies autem per quosex senatus consultosupplicatum est fuere DCCCLXXXX'.
49. CAESARIBVS.Tiberius, Germanicus, and Drusus. Similarly used atEPII vi 18 (to Graecinus) 'omniaCaesaribus[Augustus and Tiberius] sic tua facta probes'.
49. DECERNERE GRATES.'Propose (in the Senate) the decreeing of thanks'. The sense ofdecernereis common in prose: see CicProu Cons1,AttVII i 7, and the other passages atOLD decerno6.
49. GRATESappears occasionally in prose (Tarrant at SenAg380reddunt gratescites Livy XXIII 11 12, Curtius IX 6 17, and Vell PatII 25 4), but in hexameter and elegiac verse is the necessary representative forgrātĭās.
51. CVM IAM FVERIS POTIORA PRECATVS.Forpotior'more important' compare CaesarBCI 8 (a reported remark of Pompey) 'semper se rei publicae commoda priuatis necessitudinibus habuissepotiora', Livy VIII 29 2, and the many passages atOLD potior24. The usage belongs to prose: Ovid elsewhere and Virgil always usepotiorto mean either 'more powerful' or 'preferable'.
53-54. SVRGAT ... DETQVE.The apodosis of an implied condition: 'If you prayed for me, the fire would rise'.
53. SVRGAT AD HANC VOCEM PLENA PIVS IGNIS AB ARA.The same favourable omen atMetX 278-79 (Pygmalion has finished his prayer to Venus) 'amici numinis omen, / flamma ter accensa est apicemque per aera duxit'.
53. PLENA ... AB ARA.Another indication of Graecinus' devotion to the Caesars.
53. PIVS.'Holy'; comparepia turaatAmIII iii 33,MetXI 577, andTrII 59,pia sacraatTrV v 2, andpio ... igneatTrV v 12.
54. LVCIDVS.Proleptic: 'The flame-tips would become bright and furnish a good omen for your prayer'.
55. NE CVNCTA QVERAMVR.'So that not everything I say will be a complaint'.
57. LAETITAE ESTLT. Most manuscripts have LAETITIA EST. Similarly atMetVIII 430 'illilaetitiae estcum munere muneris auctor' most codices readlaetitia est. Heinsius thought LAETITIAE possibly correct here, as might be the case also in theMetamorphoses:laetitiaecould easily have been misread aslaetitia ē[=est], withlaetitiae estas a later correction.
58. FRATER.L. Pomponius Flaccus (PIR1P 538),consul ordinariusfor 17. As the greater honour would indicate (Graecinus wasconsul suffectus), Flaccus was more prominent than his brother and, unlike Graecinus, is several times mentioned in literary sources outside Ovid. At II 129 Velleius Paterculus speaks of Flaccus' ability and modesty, and Suetonius (Tib42 1) names him as a drinking-companion of the emperor, made propraetor of Syria by Tiberius. Tacitus says that Flaccus proposed thesupplicationum diesfollowing the discovery in 16 of Libo's plot against Tiberius (AnnII 32 3); atAnnII 41 2 he names Flaccus as consul at the time of Germanicus' great triumph in 17, and at VI 27 3 mentions Flaccus' death in 34 while propraetor of Syria. For Flaccus' special mission to Thrace shortly after the time this poem was written, see at 75 (p 308).
EPI x is addressed to Flaccus, but gives little information except that Flaccus had, like Graecinus, given help to Ovid (37-40).Ovid's relations with Flaccus were clearly not as intimate as those with his brother.
59-60.The distich may be an interpolation, or at least deeply corrupted in its present form. Professor E. Fantham points out to me that the construction ofdiewith bothsummo ... DecembriandIaniis awkward, and thatdies Ianidoes not seem to be used elsewhere in Latin literature. The tense ofsuspicitis strange as well: a future would normally be expected here.
61. QVAEQVE EST IN VOBIS PIETAS.'Your family-feeling is so great that ...' The same idiom atMetV 373 'quae iam patientia nostra est',EPI vii 59,EPII ii 21-22 'quaeque tua est pietas in totum nomen Iuli, / te laedi cum quis laeditur inde [=ex illis] putas', and HorSatI ix 54-55 'quae tua uirtus, / expugnabis'. The sense is frequent in prose (OLD qui1A 12).
The expression is used as a simple relative with the implication of size only from context atTrIII v 29 'quaeque tibi linguae est facundia, confer in illud' andTrIII vi 7-8 'quique est in caris animi [codd: animofort legendum; uide ad 91] tibi candor amicis— / cognitus est illi quem colis ipse uiro'.
61-62. ALTERNA ... GAVDIA.Flaccus will first rejoice to see Graecinus become consul; then Graecinus will have the pleasure of seeing Flaccus consul.
64. BINVSseems sufficiently confirmed, as Ehwald points out (KB51-52) bybis ... bisin the preceding line; BIMVS, conjectured by Heinsius and found in certain late manuscripts, seems ingenious but unnecessary. Ehwald comparesEclIII 30 'bisuenit ad mulctram,binosalit ubere fetus'.
64-65. HONOR ... INGENS.At vii 17 Ovid calls the rank ofprimipilaris'titulus ... ingens'.
65-66. MARTIA ... ROMA.The same phrase atTrIII vii 52 andEPI viii 24; compare as wellAenI 276-77 'Romulus ... Mauortia condet / moenia'. Mars, father of Romulus and Remus, was peculiarly the god of Rome: compareFastI 39-40 & III 85-86 'Mars Latio uenerandus erat, quia praesidet armis: / arma ferae genti remque decusque dabant'.
The reference to Mars is very apt in view of the primarily military nature of the republican consul's office.
67. MVLTIPLICAT TAMEN HVNC GRAVITAS AVCTORIS HONOREM.Flaccus had been nominated for the consulship by Tiberius.
For language and sentiment compareMetVIII 430 'illi laetitiae est cum munere munerisauctor'.
67. GRAVITASis linked with Hercules atMetIX 270, with Jupiter atMetI 207 (considered suspect by Merkel) and II 847, with all the Olympian gods atMetVI 73, and with Augustus atTrII 512. Underneaththe ostensible connection to Jupiter atMetII 846-47 'non bene conueniunt nec in una sede morantur / maiestas et amor' Professor R. J. Tarrant sees an allusion to Augustus.
69-70. IVDICIIS IGITVR LICEAT FLACCOQVE TIBIQVE / TALIBVS AVGVSTI TEMPVS IN OMNE FRVI.CompareEPII vi 17-18 (to Graecinus) 'quodque soles animosemper, quod uoce precari, / omnia Caesaribus sictua facta probes'.
70. AVGVSTI=Tiberii; his name in inscriptions is TI·CAESAR·AVG (Sandys 235).
71. CVMFILTQVODBCVTMHQVVMWeise. The archetype was illegible at this point, and the manuscripts offer various supplements. Of thesecumseems the most appropriate. Ehwald favouredquod(KB48), but all except one of the passages he cited are instances ofquod superestorquod reliquum est. The one relevant passage he cited wasFastII 17-18 (to Augustus) 'ergo ades et placido paulum mea munera uultu / respice, pacandosi quidab hosteuacat'. Many manuscripts however offeruacas(for which compare Prop II xxxii 7 'quodcumque uacabis'), and the corruption to the third person seems an easy one.Vacarein general does not seem to occur with an expressed impersonal subject.
71. CVRA PROPIORE.The same phrase atMetXIII 578-79 'curadeampropiorluctusque domesticus angit / Memnonis amissi'.
73. SI QVAE DABIT AVRA SINVM.'If some wind should give the opportunity of filling my sails'.Quaeis my correction for QVA (CMFHIL), which would make the sentence mean 'If the wind should in some way ...'. The difficulty here is with the apparently already existingaura: what breeze is Ovid referring to? QVEM (BT) presents the same difficulty ('If the breeze should offer any opportunity ...') and in any case looks like a scribal correction. I takequato be an unmetrical form corrupted from the rare formquaeof the indefinite adjective. For the form, compare TerHeaut44 'siquae[Bembinus (saec iv-v): quarecc] [scfabula] laboriosast, ad me curritur', HorSatI iv 93-95 'mentio siquae[uarqua] ... te coram fuerit, defendas, ut tuus est mos', HorSatII vi 10 'o si urnam argenti forsquaemihi monstret', andCILI 583 37 'SEIQVAE CAVSA ERIT'.Quaein the present passage offers the same notion of a fresh breeze rising as is found at viii 27-28 'quamlibet exigua si nos ea [scara] iuueritaura, / obruta de mediis cumba resurget aquis' andTrIV v 19-20 'remis ad opem luctare ferendam /dum ueniatplacido molliorauradeo'.
Quaeshould possibly be written atMetVI 231-33 'praescius imbris ... rector / carbasa deducit nequaleuis effluat aura', but Professor R. J. Tarrant points out thatquacan be defended by takingleuisto mean 'nimble', a sense supported here byeffluat. A strong case could be made for readingquaeat HorCarmIII xiv 19-20 'Spartacum siquapotuit uagantem / fallere testa'.
73. SINVM.Sinusin the sense of 'sail' is common enough (AmII xi 38,AAIII 500,FastV 609, andAenIII 455 & V 16; the origin of the metonymy seen at Prop III ix 30 'uelorum plenos ... sinus'); but the brachylogy here 'opportunity of filling my sails' is remarkable.
73. LAXATEeditio princeps RomanaIACTATEcodd. Korn, Lenz, and André print the manuscript reading, and Korn offers three parallel passages in its defence, none of which stands up to examination. The first isEPIII ii 5-6 'cumque labent aliiiactataqueuela relinquant, / tu lacerae remanes ancora sola rati', whereiactatameans 'storm-whipped'; compare StatiusThebVII 139-41 'uento / incipiente ... laxiiactanturubique rudentes'. At CicTuscV 40 (a Spartan to a wealthy sea-merchant) 'non sane optabilis quidem ista ... rudentibus apta fortuna', 'Well, your fortune depends on your cables, and I don't think it something to be sought for',iactaredoes not appear. The third passage, VirgilGII 354-55 'seminibus positis superest diducere terram / saepius ad capita ['roots'] et durosiactarebidentis', hardly seems relevant.
Forlaxate rudentes'let out the sails' Heinsius citedAenIII 266-67 'tum litore funem / deripere excussosque iubetlaxarerudentis' 'Next he commanded us to fling hawsers from moorings and uncoil and ease the sheets' (Jackson Knight),AenVIII 707-8 'uentis ... uela dare etlaxosiamiamque immittere funis', CicDiuI 127, Lucan V 426-27 'pariter soluere rates, totosque rudentes /laxaueresinus', and Lucan IX 1004.
74. E STYGIIS ... AQVIS.Similar phrasing atMetX 697 'Stygia ... unda,MetXI 500 'Stygia ... unda',AenVI 374 'Stygias ... aquas',AenXII 91 'Stygia ... unda', andCons Liu410 'Stygia ... aqua'.
Ovid often uses the phrasing of his exile: seeTrI ii 65-66 'mittere meStygiassi iam uoluisset inundas/ Caesar, in hoc uestro non eguisset ope',TrIV v 22,EPI viii 27 'careo uobis,Stygiasdetrusus inoras', andEPII iii 44 'aStygiaquantum mors [codd: sorsHeinsius] mea distat aqua?'. For Ovid's exile as the equivalent of death, see at vi 49qui me doluistis ademptum(p 243).
75. PRAEFVIT HIS ... LOCIS MODO FLACCVS.AtAnnII 64-67 Tacitus reports how, following the death of Augustus, Rhescuporis attacked and imprisoned his brother Cotys (addressee ofEPII ix), alleging a plot against himself; on their father's death, the kingdom of Thrace had been divided between them, Cotys receiving the better regions. Tiberius insisted that Rhescuporis release his brother and come to Rome to explain the situation; Rhescuporis then killed his brother, claiming it was a suicide. 'nec tamen Caesar placitas semel artes mutauit, sed defuncto Pandusa, quem sibi infensum Rhescuporis arguerat [scripsi: arguebatM], Pomponium Flaccum,ueterem stipendiiset arta cum rege amicitia eoque accommodatiorem ad fallendum ob id maxime Moesiae praefecit'; the previous service mentioned by Tacitus is no doubt the command Ovid is here referring to.
Flaccus succeeded in trapping Rhescuporis and bringing him to Rome; he was found guilty and sent in exile to Alexandria, where hedied. Velleius Paterculus placed the episode first in his list of memorable events of Tiberius' reign (II 129); it is briefly mentioned at SuetTib37 4.
75. FLACCVS.'Ab hoc Flacco uolunt quidam Valachiam ['Wallachia'] fuisse dictam olimFlacciam, quod nomen sensim corruptela sermonis transiit in Valachiam. Vide Georgii a ['von'] Reychersdorff Chorographiam Transyluaniae. pag. 33 [first published in 1595; seeBritish Museum Gen Cat200 383] qui addit hinc [sic] adhuc Romanum ibi sermonem durare, licet admodum corruptum. sed hae fabulae'—Burman. Clearly the existence of Rumanian was not widely known in Western Europe at the time Burman wrote.
77. MYSAS GENTES=Moesos. Strabo (VII 3 10; cited by André) claims a common origin for the Μοισοί of Europe and the Μυσοί of Asia. For the Greek form, compare Ovid's use ofGetesforGetaandSauromatesforSarmata.
78. ARCV FISOS ... GETAS.For the bow as the typical Getic weapon, see iii 52 'arcu ... Gete",EPIII v 45 'Getico ... arcu' andIbis635 'Geticasque sagittas'.
78. ENSE.Thegladius, typical weapon of the Roman legionary. For the precise equivalence of the two terms, see Quintilian X i 11. In Ovid's poetry, the proportion of instances ofensisto instances ofgladiusis about 90:30; in the poetry of exile, it is 21:3.For a discussion ofensis/gladius, with statistics, see Axelson 51; the only poets to admitgladiusmore freely than Ovid are Lucan and Juvenal.
79. TROESMINHeinsiusTROESMENCTROESENENB1TROEZENuel similia codd plerique. Troesmis, the modern Galaţi, is located on the north bank of the Danube, about 160 kilometres inland from Aegissos (Tulcea). Heinsius did not have the assistance ofCILV 6183-88 & 6195, but seems nonetheless to have conjectured thatTroesminwas a possible reading ('sed legendum, Τρωισμὶς uel Τρωσμίς'). Korn was the first to placeTroesminin the text.
79. CELERI VIRTVTE.'With a bold surprise attack'.
80. INFECITQVE FERO SANGVINE DANVVIVM.Compare the similar description of Vestalis' recapture of Aegissos: 'non negat hocHister, cuius tua dextera quondam /puniceam Getico sanguine fecit aquam' (vii 19-20).
80. DANVVIVM.According to Owen atTrII 192 this, and not DANVBIVM (the reading of the manuscripts), is the spelling certified by the inscriptions. Manuscripts divide between the two spellings at HorCarmIV xv 21 and TacGermI 1.