22. INTER INHVMANOS ... GETAS.The same phrase in the same metrical position atEPI v 65-66 'hoc ubi uiuendum est satis est si consequor aruo /inter inhumanosesse poetaGetas' andEPIII v 27-28'quem ... fatum ...inter inhumanosmaluit esseGetas'.
23. LAVDES DE CAESARE DIXI.In 1896 J. Gilbert ingeniously proposed the punctuation 'laudes [potential subjunctive]: de Caesare dixi'. Butlaus de+ ablative instead of the more usual objective genitive construction is supported by TacAnnI 12 'addidit laudem de Augusto'. Nipperdey there explainsdeby equatinglauswithoratioandsermo, both of which takedeas a normal construction; but it appears from the present passage thatlaus demay have been a special term for panegyric. Professor E. Fantham notes that Ovid may have been seeking a synonym forlaudātĭō.
24. ADIVTA EST NOVITAS NVMINE NOSTRA DEI.Nouitas nostracould mean either 'my novel attempt' (Wheeler, Lewis and Short) or 'my inexperience'; if the latter,adiutawould bear the uncommon but quite valid meaning 'compensated for';OLD adiuuo7 cites passages from Cicero (FamV xiii 5 'ea quibus secundae res ornantur, aduersae adiuuantur'), Livy, and Ulpian.
25-32.Similar catalogues of the imperial family occur atMetXV 834-47,TrII 161-68,TrIV ii 7-12,EPII ii 69-74, andEPII viii 29-34; these passages are quoted from below.
25-26. NAM PATRIS AVGVSTI DOCVI MORTALE FVISSE / CORPUS, IN AETHERIAS NVMEN ABISSE DOMOS.Other mentions of the deified Augustus at vi 15-16 'coeperat Augustus detectae ignoscere culpae; / spem nostram terras deseruitque simul' and viii 63-64 'et modo, Caesar, auum, quem uirtus addidit astris, / sacrarunt aliqua carmina parte tuum'.Ovid had predicted Augustus' apotheosis: seeMetXV 838-39 'nec nisi cum senior Pylios aequauerit annos, / aetherias sedes cognataque sidera tanget',TrII 57-58 'optaui peteres caelestia sidera tarde, / parsque fui turbae parua precantis idem', andTrV ii 51-52, V v 61-62, V viii 29-30 & V xi 25-26.
Augustus' apotheosis was similar to those of Hercules, Aeneas, Romulus, and Julius Caesar: compare the descriptions atMetIX 262-72 'interea quodcumque fuit populabile flammae / Mulciber abstulerat, nec ... quicquam ab imagine ductum / matris habet, tantumque Iouis uestigia seruat ... maiorque uideri / coepit etaugustafieri grauitate uerendus. / quem pater omnipotens inter caua nubila raptum / quadriiugo curru radiantibus intulit astris',MetXIV 603-4 'quicquid in Aenea fuerat mortale, repurgat [scNumicius] / et respersit aquis; pars optima restitit illi',MetXIV 824-28 'abstulit [scMars] Iliaden: corpus mortale per auras / dilapsum tenues ... pulchra subit facies et puluinaribus altis / dignior', andMetXV 844-46 'Venus ... Caesaris eripuit membris neque in aera solui / passa recentem animam caelestibus intulit astris'.
25. PATRIS AVGVSTI.Patristo make it clear that Ovid is not speaking of Tiberius CaesarAugustus.
26. CORPVS ... NVMEN.Precisely the same distinction is found in Velleius' description of Augustus' apotheosis and the start of Tiberius' reign: 'post redditum caelo patrem etcorpuseius humanishonoribus,numendiuinis honoratum, primum principalium eius operum fuit ordinatio comitiorum' (II 124 3).
27. PAREM VIRTVTE PATRI.CompareEPII viii 31-32 (to Augustus, about Tiberius) 'perque tibisimilem uirtutis imaginenatum, / moribus agnosci qui tuus esse potest'.
27-28. FRENA ... IMPERII.The same metaphor atTrII 41-42 'nec te quisquam moderatius umquam /imperiipotuitfrenatenere sui',EPII ix 33 'Caesar utimperiimodereturfrenaprecamur', andEPII v 75 (of Germanicus) 'succedatque suis orbis moderatorhabenis'.
AtFastI 531-34 Ovid uses the same metaphor, as here, of Tiberius' accession to power: (Carmenta is prophesying Rome's future) 'et penes Augustos patriae tutela manebit: / hanc fasimperii frenatenere domum. / inde nepos natusque dei [Tiberius was the adopted son of Augustus, and therefore the grandson of Julius Caesar], licet ipserecuset, / pondera caelesti mente paterna feret'. In all of these passages Ovid may have had in mindAenVII 600 (of Latinus) 'saepsit se tectisrerumquereliquithabenas'.
27-28. FRENA ... SAEPE RECVSATI ... IMPERII.AtTrV iv 15-16 Ovid had usedfrena recusareof a horse: 'fert tamen, ut debet, casus patienter amaros, / more nec indomitifrena recusatequi'. This perhaps influenced his choice of words here.
27. COACTVSexcerpta ScaligeriROGATVScodd. Ovid is referring to the second meeting of the Senate after the death of Augustus (the first meeting had been devoted to funeral arrangements); at this meeting there had been some confusion over Tiberius' intentions.Rogatusis awkward to construe, since Tiberius must already have been asked to accept power: otherwise he could not have refused the offer. The difficulty ofrogatusis clearly shown by the description of the scene in Tacitus: 'et ille [scTiberius] uarie disserebat de magnitudine imperii sua modestia. solam diui Augusti mentem tantae molis capacem: se in partem curarum ab illo uocatum experiendo didicisse quam arduum, quam subiectum fortunae regendi cuncta onus, proinde in ciuitate tot inlustribus uiris subnixa non ad unum omnia deferrent: plures facilius munia rei publicae sociatis laboribus executuros ... senatu ad infimas obtestationes procumbente, dixit forte Tiberius se ut non toti rei publicae parem, ita quaecumque pars sibi mandaretur eius tutelam suscepturum ... fessus ... clamore omnium, expostulatione singulorum flexit paulatim, non ut fateretur suscipi a se imperium, sed ut negare etrogaridesineret' (AnnI 11-13). Scaliger's conjecture is supported by (and is probably based on) the corresponding description at SuetoniusTib24 'principatum ... diu ... recusauit ... tandem quasicoactuset querens miseram et onerosam iniungi sibi seruitutem, recepit imperium'.
Professor A. Dalzell notes, however, that Suetonius' description is an imperfect parallel, sincecoactusis there modified byquasi;he suggests to me thatrogatuscould be accepted, if it is taken closely withrecusati—Tiberius finally accepted what he had many times been offered and had many times refused.
29. VESTAM.Ovid similarly equates Livia with Venus and Juno atEPIII i 117-18 'quae Veneris formam, mores Iunonis habendo / sola est caelesti digna reperta toro', and implicitly equates her with Juno atFastI 650 'sola toro magni digna reperta Iouis'. These appear to be instances of metaphor rather than true equations; but PW XIII,1 913-14 cites inscriptions indicating a cult of Livia-as-Juno.
29-30. LIVIA ... AMBIGVVM NATO DIGNIOR ANNE VIRO.Tiberius is mentioned by Ovid in connection with Livia atFastI 649, a description of the rededication of the temple of Concordia in AD 10: 'hanc tua constituit genetrix et rebus et ara', but does not figure in Ovid's other mentions of Livia (FastV 157-58,TrII 161-62,EPII viii 29-30, andEPIII i 117-18); these passages would have been written before Tiberius' assumption of power.
For the coupling of both Augustus and Tiberius with Livia, Professor C. P. Jones cites 'ἡ δοίους σκήπτροισι θεοὺς αὐχοῦσα Σεβαστή / Καίσαρας' from an epigram of Ovid's contemporary Honestus.[27]
30. AMBIGVVM.The same use ofambiguum(which may be an Ovidian peculiarity) atMetI 765-66 'ambiguumClymene precibus Phaethontisan ira / mota magis' andMetXI 235-36 'est specus in medio, natura factus an arte /ambiguum, magis arte tamen'.
30. ANNE.The word is found atAmIII xi 49-50 'quicquid eris, mea semper eris; tu selige tantum, / me quoque uelle uelis,annecoactus amem' andFastVI 27-28 (Juno speaking) 'est aliquid nupsisse Ioui, Iouis esse sororem / fratre magis dubito glorieranneuiro'; the resemblances between this and the present passage are obvious. Bömerad loccites instances ofannefrom Plautus (Amph173), Terence (Eun556), Cicero (FinIV 23,AttXII xiv 2), and Virgil (GI 32 & II 159,AenVI 864).
31. DVOS IVVENES.Germanicus and Drusus. For other mentions of them, seeTrII 167 'tui, sidus iuuenale, nepotes',TrIV ii 9 'et qui Caesareo iuuenes sub nomine crescunt',EPII ii 71-72 'praeterit ipse suos animo Germanicus annos, / nec uigor est Drusi nobilitate minor', andEPII viii 33-34.
31. ADIVMENTA.The word is rare in verse (but see Lucretius VI 1022 and Silius XI 605 & XVI 12), and Ovid here seems to be giving a version of the construction in which people are said to beadiumento, as at CicAttXII xxxi 2 'magno etiam adiumento nobis Hermogenes potest esse in repraesentando ['in making cash payment'—Shackleton Bailey]', VarroLLV 90, andRhet HerIII 29.TLLI 704 1 cites "Caecil.mort.18" for 'duo minores, qui sint adiumento', whichresembles the present passage, but I do not understand the reference: "Caecil." does not appear in the table of authors.
33. NON PATRIA ... SCRIPTA CAMENA.'Written in a poem that was not in Latin'. This is the only instance in Ovid of this sense ofCamena, which seems to have been a Horatian idiom: seeCarmII xvi 38 'spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae',EpI i 1-3 'Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena ... Maecenas', andAP275 'tragicae ... Camenae'. Professor R. J. Tarrant cites Martial XII xciv 5 'fila lyrae moui Calabris exculta Camenis', which possibly refers to Horace.
36. MVRMVR.The hum caused by the exchange of approving comments. CompareMetXIII 123-24 'finierat Telamone satus, uulgique secutum / ultimamurmurerat'. Livy (XXXII 22 1) has amurmurof mingled praise and dissent following a speech: 'murmurortum aliorum cum adsensu, aliorum inclementer adsentientes increpantium'. Othermurmuraare disapproving or anxious, as atMetI 206, VIII 431 & IX 421, andAenXII 238-39.
The Latinmurmurcould be quite loud: Martial uses the word of a lion's roar (VIII liii [lv] 1).
40. SEXTA ... BRVMA.The poem must have been written in the winter of 14.
41. NOCVERVNT.Nocereagain used of theArs Amatoriaat xiv 20 'telaque adhuc demens quaenocueresequor?' andTrIV 1 35.
42. PRIMAQVE TAM MISERAE CAVSA FVERE FVGAE.The second cause was of course Ovid'serror(EPIII iii 67-72).
43. STVDII COMMVNIA FOEDERA SACRI.Similar references to shared poetic interests at viii 81 'communia sacratueri',EPII v 60 (to Salanus, a famous orator) 'seruatstudii foederaquisque sui',EPII ix 63-64 (to Cotys, king of Thrace, who was a writer of verse) 'haec quoque res aliquid tecum mihifoederisadfert; / eiusdemsacricultor uterque sumus',EPII x 17 'sunt tamen inter secommunia sacrapoetis', andEPIII iv 67 'sunt mihi uobiscumcommunia sacra, poetae'.
Thefoederawould carry the obligation of mutual assistance.
44. PER NON VILE TIBI NOMEN AMICITIAE.'By the name of friendship which is not cheap in your eyes' (Wheeler). Professor R. J. Tarrant cites similar invocations atTrI viii 15 'illudamicitiaesanctum et uenerabile nomen', andEPII iii 19-20 'illudamicitiaequondam uenerabilenomen/ prostat', III ii 43 & III ii 100.
44-46. AMICITIAE ... INGENIIS.For Ovid's use of quadrisyllable endings for pentameters, see at ii 10Alcinoo(p 164).
45-46. SIC VINCTO LATIIS GERMANICVS HOSTE CATENIS / MATERIAM VESTRIS ADFERAT INGENIIS.CompareEPII viii 39-40 'sic fera quam primum pauido Germania uultu / ante triumphantes serua feratur equos'. Germanicus celebrated his triumph in 17: see TacAnnII 41.
Vestrisis a true plural referring to Carus and other poets who might be inspired by Germanicus' exploits. For this use ofuesterto address one member of a collectivity, see Austin onAenI 140 and Fordyce on Catullus XXIX 20.
45. VINCTOis my restoration for the manuscripts' CAPTO, which I am unable to construe withcatenis.Vinctowas first corrupted touicto, which was then displaced by the glosscapto. For the picture compareAAI 215 'ibunt ante duces onerati colla catenis'; foruinctocompare Livy VII 27 8 'eosuinctosconsul ante currum triumphans egit', and foruincto ... cateniscompare CaesarBGI 53 'trinis catenis uinctus'.
47. PVERI.The sons of Germanicus: Nero, Drusus III, and Gaius Caligula.
47. VOTVM COMMVNE DEORVM.Wheeler translates 'the source of universal prayers to the gods'. But it seems difficult to takeuotumin this sense, and impossible to construedeorum. André translates 'c'est le voeu de tous les dieux', but it seems strange to have gods forming auotum. Postgate placed a comma beforedeorum; but Germanicus and Agrippina were not gods. Heinsius conjectured SVORVM, but this seems rather forced. I suspect thatdeorumis correct, the sense of the passage being close to that ofFastII 63-64 'templorum positor, templorum sancte repostor, / sit superis opto mutua cura tui'; but what originally stood in place ofuotumis not clear.
48. QVOS LAVS FORMANDOS EST TIBI MAGNA DATOS.'Whose entrustment to you for education is an immense honour'. For the construction Ehwald (KB68) citesAenIX 92 (Cybebe asks that Aeneas' ships be rescued from fire) 'prosit nostris in montibus ortas', 'let it profit them that it was in my mountains that they had their origin' (Jackson Knight).
49. MOMENTA.'Influence'. Compare CaesarBCIII 70 2 'ita paruae res magnum in utramque partemmomentumhabuerunt', Livy I 47 6, HorEpI x 15-16 'ubi gratior aura / leniat et rabiem Canis etmomentaLeonis', and Manilius II 901 (of the fifth temple) 'hicmomentamanent nostrae plerumque salutis'.
49. MOMENTAVaticanus 1595 (saec xv), sicut coni Scaliger et GronouiusMONIMENTABCMFHILT. Similarly, most manuscripts havemonimentaatMetXI 285-86 (Ceyx to Peleus) 'adicis huic animo ['my kindly nature']momentapotentia, clarum / nomen auumque Iouem'.
49-50. SALVTI, / QVAE NISI MVTATO NVLLA FVTVRA LOCO EST.A similar qualification ofsalusatMetIX 530-31 'quam nisi tu dederis non est habitura salutem / hanc tibi mittit amans'; Bömerad loccites other word-plays withsalusatHerIV 1, XVI 1 & XVIII 1, and atTrIII iii 87-88.
50. MVTATO ... LOCO.See at viii 86qui minus ... distet(p 284).
In his first poem to Tuticanus, Ovid had promised that other poems would follow: 'teque canam quacumque nota,tibi carmina mittam' (xii 19). The present poem was written quite shortly after xii, perhaps in AD 16: 'Haec tibi mittuntur quem summodocarmine questus / non aptum numeris nomen habere meis'.
The opening distich indicates that the poem is addressed to Tuticanus. The dedication is a perfunctory one, however, since he is not referred to at any other point of the letter: Ovid perhaps felt that he had fulfilled any obligations he had to Tuticanus with the highly personal earlier poem.
In 3-14 Ovid expresses at length his wish to be sent anywhere, even the Syrtes, Charybdis, or the Styx, as long as he can escape Tomis. Such complaints as these have caused the Tomitans to be angry with him (15-22). But he has been misunderstood: he was complaining not of the people but of the land. Hesiod criticized Ascra, Ulysses Ithaca, and Metrodorus Rome, all with impunity, but Ovid's verse has once more caused him trouble (23-44). The Tomitans have been as kind to him as the Paeligni would have been: they have even granted him immunity from taxation, and publicly crowned him (45-56). After this lengthy account of the Tomitans, he moves to an unexpectedly quick summing-up: Tomis is as dear to him as Delos is to Latona (57-60). This conclusion is immediately undercut by the final distich: his only wish is thatTomis were not subject to attack, and that it had a better climate. This type of undercutting is paralleled elsewhere in Ovid's verse: I discuss these passages at 61-62.
At ix 97-104 Ovid had mentioned the Tomitans' sympathy for him; but the present poem is unique for the praise Ovid bestows on them, and furnishes a striking contrast to the horrific picture of Tomis in, for instance,TrV x. A primary purpose of Ovid's poetry from exile was to secure recall, and so he no doubt intentionally emphasized his hardships; it is clear enough from this poem that at the same time he was in fact reaching an accommodation with his new conditions of life.
3. VTCVMQVE.'Somehow (in spite of my hardships)'. The word is used by Ovid only in the poetry of exile, and only in this sense: compareIbis9-10 'quisquis is est (nam nomen adhucutcumquetacebo), / cogit inassuetas sumere tela manus' andEPIII ix 53 'postmodo collectas [sclitteras] utcumque sine ordine iunxi'. This is a prose sense ofutcumque, common in Livy; when the word is used in verse, it generally means 'whenever' (HorEpodXVII 52,CarmI xvii 10, I xxxv 23, II xvii 11, III iv 29 & IV iv 35) or 'however' (AenVI 822; the only instance of the word in Virgil).
4. TEBerolinensis Diez. B. Sant. 1, saec xiii Bodleianus Rawlinson G 105ulMEBCMFHILT.Meseems unlikely to be right, for the phrase 'nil me praeterea quod iuuet inuenies' would not only be awkward in itself, but would also be in apparent contradiction with the following'ipsa quoque est inuisa salus', wheresalusrefers back toutcumque ualemus.
4. INVENIES.See at ii 10Alcinoo(p 164).
5. VLTIMA VOTA.'My utmost wish'. For this sense ofultimuscompare CicFinIII 30 'summum bonum, quodultimumappello', Livy XXVII 10 11 'aurum ... quod ... adultimoscasus ['the greatest emergencies'] seruabatur promi placuit', HorCarmII vii 1-2 'O saepe mecum tempus inultimum/ deducte Bruto militiae duce' (tempushas the same meaning ascasusin the passage from Livy), and Petronius 24 'non tenui ego diutius lacrimas ... adultimamperductus tristitiam'.
6. SCILICETseems difficult to explain in this context, and the translators ignore its presence. ILICET ('at once') should possibly be read: the corruption of the rarer word to the more common would be easy enough in view of the finalsof the precedingistis.
7. MVTERF1Bodleianus Canon. lat. 1, saec xiii Barberinus lat. 26, saec xiii.Muteris so much choicer than the better attestedmittarthat I have followed editors from Ciofanus to Merkel in printing it. Gronovius (ObseruationesIII 1) made a strong case formuter, citing VirgilGII 50 (where however the meaning ofmutatais disputed), HorSatII vii 63-64 'illa tamen se / non habitumutatueloco peccatue superne', ClaudianRap ProsI 62 'rursus corporeos animaemutanturin artus' (wheremittunturis a variant reading, which Hall prints), andfrom OvidTrV ii 73-74 'hinc ego dummuter, uel me Zanclaea [Politianus: Pancheacodd] Charybdis / deuoret aque [Heinsius: atquecodd] suis ad Styga mittat aquis', andEPI i 79 'inque locum Scythico uacuummutaborab arcu'; compare as well CicBalb31 'ne quis inuitus ciuitatemutetur' and Livy V 46 11 'quod nec iniussu populimutarifinibus posset'.
11. SI QVID EA EST.See at i 17si quid ea est(p 153).
11. BENE.'Profitably'. Compare TacAnnIII 44 'miseram pacem uel bellobene mutari'. The word in this sense is generally used in describing good commercial investments: see PlautusCur679-80 'argentariismale crediqui aiunt, nugas praedicant, / nam etbeneet malecredidico', SenSuasVII v 'sibeneilli pecuniascredideruntfaeneratores', CicII VerrV 56 'ut intellegerent Mamertinibenese apud istum tam multa pretia ac muneraconlocasse', and Livy II 42 8.
11. COMMVTABITVR.Commutarewas a commercial term: it is used of selling at CicClu129 'ad perniciem innocentis fidem suam et religionem pecuniacommutarit', Columella XII 26 2 'reliquum mustum ... aerecommutato',DigII xv 8 24 'si uinum pro oleo uel oleum pro uino uel quid aliudcommutauit', andCILI 585 27.
12. SI QVID ET INFERIVS QVAM STYGA MVNDVS HABET.Professor R. J. Tarrant notes another instance of the same idea at SenThy1013-14 'si quid infra Tartara est / auosque nostros'.
13. GRAMINA.'Weeds'. CompareMetV 485-86 'lolium tribulique fatigant / triticeas messes et inexpugnabilegramen' andTrV xii 24 'nil nisi cum spinisgramenhabebit ager';TLLVI.2 2165 65 notes as well Columella IV 4 5 'omnesque herbas et praecipuegraminaextirpare, quae nisi manu eleguntur ... reuiuiscunt'.
CARMINA, the reading ofC, is a frequent corruption ofgramina, occurring as a variant atMetII 841 & XIV 44 andFastVI 749; it gives no obvious sense in this passage. Bentley's FLAMINA is ingenious but unattractive.
14. MARTICOLISis possibly an Ovidian innovation, being found elsewhere only atTrV iii 21-22 'adusque niuosum / Strymona uenisti Marticolamque Geten'.
14. NASO.The use of the third person adds to the emotive power of the tricolon 'ager ... hirundo ... Naso'.
15-16. TALIA SVSCENSENT PROPTER MIHI VERBA TOMITAE, / IRAQVE CARMINIBVS PVBLICA MOTA MEIS.For the similar omission of theestof a perfect passive, even in the presence of a parallel finite verb, seeMetVII 517-18 'Aeacus ingemuit tristique ita uocelocutus: / "flebile principium melior fortuna secuta est"'.
15. SVSCENSENT.The word is foreign to high poetry. It occurs in Ovid only here and atEPIII i 89-90 'nec mihisuscense, totiens si carmine nostro / quod facis ut facias teque imitere rogo'; the onlyinstances from other poetry cited atOLD suscenseoare fromHerXVI-XXI and Martial.
SVSCENSENT is the spelling ofC; the other manuscripts have SVCCENSENT. I printsusc-because that is the spelling given by the ninth-century Hamburg manuscript atEPIII i 89 (cited above), where most manuscripts offersucc-.Succ-is, however, quite possibly correct, for althoughsusc-is the spelling of the ancient manuscripts of Plautus and Terence (and of the older manuscripts of theHeroides),succ-is found at Livy XLII 46 8 in the fifth-century Vienna codex.
18. PLECTAR.Similar uses atTrIII v 49 'inscia quod crimen uiderunt lumina,plector' andEPIII iii 64 (Ovid to Amor) 'meque locoplecticommodiore uelit'.
18. AB INGENIOis parallel toper carminain the preceding line; for the idiom, see at x 46ab amne(p 346).
20. TELAQVE ... QVAE NOCVERE SEQVOR.See at xiii 41nocuerunt(p 406).
23. SED NIHIL ADMISI.'But I have committed no crime'—Wheeler. CompareEPIII vi 13 'nec scelusadmittassi consoleris amicum'.Admitterein this sense belonged to daily speech:TLLI 752 77 cites PlautTrin81, TerHT956 'quid ego tantum scelerisadmisimiser', Lucilius 690 Marx, and HorEpI xvi 53.
25. EXCVTIAT.See at viii 17excutias(p 263).
25. NOSTRI MONIMENTA LABORISis rather grand, perhaps because Ovid intended the poem to come near the end of the collection. AtTrIII iii 78 Ovid'slibelliare called his most lastingmonimenta, and atEPIII v 35 Ovid flatteringly refers to Maximus Cotta'smonimenta laboris.
26. LITTERA DE VOBIS EST MEA QVESTA NIHIL.This, of course, is manifestly untrue. SeeTrV x entire, and compare for instanceTrV vii 45-46 'siue homines [scspecto], uix sunt homines hoc nomine digni, / quamque lupi saeuae plus feritatis habent'.
28. ET QVOD PVLSETVR MVRVS AB HOSTE QVEROR.CompareEPIII i 25 'adde metuset quod murus pulsatur ab hoste'.
30. SOLVMBCFILTLOCVMMH. The interchange is very common (examples atMetI 345 & VII 57); the reverse corruption in some manuscripts atEPII ii 96 'sit tua mutando gratia blandaloco'.
31-40.The argument Ovid here employs ("other have done what I have done, and not suffered for it") is that used atTrII 361-538 to excuse theArs Amatoria.
31-40. VITABILIS.A. G. Lee has ingeniously conjectured VITIABILIS (PCPhS181 [1950-51] 3). It would have the senseuitiosa; Lee compares such words asaerumnabilis,perniciabilis, andlacrimabilis. He argued that Hesiod nowhere said that Ascra was 'always to be avoided' (although this is a natural inference fromOp639-40) and that thevariantsmiserabilis,mirabilis, andmutabilis'point to the conclusion that the archetype was here difficult to make out'. Foruitiumused of localities he citedEPIII ix 37 'quid nisi deuitioscribam regionis amarae', and for the worduitiabilis(in the sense 'corruptible') PrudentiusApoth1045 andHam215 (there is a variantuitabilisin a ninth-century manuscript of theHamartigenia).
Lee's argument is a good one, butuitabilisdoes not seem in itself objectionable enough to be removed from the text. The variant readings he cites are from unnamed manuscripts of Burman, and are not safe evidence for the condition of the archetype. It can be said in Lee's favour that Heinsius and Bentley before him clearly founduitabilissomewhat strange: Heinsius considered the verse suspect, while Bentley conjectured VT ILLAVDABILIS.
31. ASCRAMFILT. I take ASCRE (BCH) to be a hypercorrect formation by the scribes;Ascrais metrically guaranteed at 34 'Ascra suo' andAAI 28 'Ascra tuis'. It is possible thatAscreis correct, although its use would be strange so close toAscrain 34: Ovid certainly used bothnymphaandnymphe(HerIX 103;MetIII 357).
32. AGRICOLAE ... SENIS.For Hesiod as an old man compareAAII 3-4 'laetus amans donat uiridi mea carmina palma, / praelata Ascraeo Maeonioqueseni', Prop II xxxiv 77 'tu canis Ascraeiueterispraecepta poetae', andEclVI 69-70 'hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musae, / Ascraeo quos anteseni'.
35. SOLLERTE ... VLIXE.Sollertecould represent either πολυμήχανος (IlII 173) or πολύτροπος (OdI 1). I believe that Ovid was translating πολύτροπος, since Livius Andronicus in translatingOdI 1 had useduersutusto represent the adjective: 'Virum mihi, Camena, inseceuersutum'. It is clear from CicBrut236 'genus ... acuminis ... quod erat in reprehendendis uerbisuersutum et sollers' that the Romans regarded the two adjectives as having much the same force.
At HorSatII v 3-5 πολυμήχανος is translated bydolosus: (Tiresias to Ulysses) 'iamne doloso / non satis est Ithacam reuehi patriosque penates / aspicere?'.
36. HOC TAMEN ASPERITAS INDICE DOCTA LOCI EST.AtOdIX 27 Ulysses describes Ithaca to Alcinous as 'τρηχεῖ' [=aspera] ἀλλ' ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος'.
36. DOCTA(B;Chas DOCTVS) seems clearly preferable to DICTA, offered by most of the manuscripts, which cannot be construed withhoc ... indice. The difficulty withdoctais that the passive ofdocereseems in general to have been used of the person taught, not the thing; this is no doubt what induced Riese to print NOTA, found in certain of Heinsius' manuscripts. Still, the construction seems logical enough in view of the double accusative construction of the verb in the active.
38. SCEPSIVS.Metrodorus[28]of Scepsis (a town on the Scamander, about60 kilometres upstream from Troy) was famous for his hatred of Rome; see PlinyNHXXXIV 34 'signa quoque Tuscanica per terras dispersa quin [Detlefsen: quaecodd] in Etruria factitata sint non est dubium. deorum tantum putarem ea fuisse, ni Metrodorus Scepsius, cui cognomen [Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests that 'Μισορωμαῖος' has fallen out of the text around this point] a Romani nominis odio inditum est, propter MM statuarum Volsinios expugnatos obiceret'. According to Plutarch (Lucullus22) and Strabo (GeogXIII 1 55), he was a close confidant of Mithridates; apparently, when on a mission to Tigranes, he privately advised him not to give Mithridates the requested assistance against Rome. Tigranes reported this to Mithridates; Metrodorus was either executed by Mithridates, or died of natural causes while being sent back to him. Cicero mentions Metrodorus and his phenomenal memory atde OrII 360.
The present passage is more specific than any other surviving reference to Metrodorus' anti-Roman sentiments; Ovid had perhaps read thescriptain question.
As both Cicero and Pliny use the epithet 'Scepsius', Ovid's reference would have been immediately understood:Mētrŏdōruscould not be used in elegiac verse.
38. ACTAQVE ROMA REA EST.Similar verse-endings atRA387-88 'si mea materiae respondet Musa iocosae, / uicimus, et falsi criminisacta rea est',FastIV 307-8 'casta quidem, sed non et credita: rumor iniquus / laeserat, et falsi criminisacta rea est', andTrIV i 26'cum mecum iuncti criminis acta [scMusa] rea est'; other instances ofreus agiatHerXIV 120,MetXV 36,TrI i 24,TrI viii 46, andHerXX 91. See at xv 12nil opus est legum uiribus, ipse loquor(p 434) for a full discussion of Ovid's use of legal terminology.
39. FALSA ... CONVICIAhas a place in the rhetoric of Ovid's argument, balancinguerissima criminaat 29.
40. OBFVIT AVCTORI NEC FERA LINGVA SVO.Obesseis used of Ovid's own situation atTrI i 55-56 'carmina nunc si non studiumque quodobfuitodi, / sit satis', IV i 25 'scilicet hoc ipso nunc aequa [scMusa], quodobfuitante', IV iv 39 'aut timor aut error nobis, priusobfuiterror' & V i 65-68. Compare as wellTrII 443-44 'uertit Aristiden Sisenna, necobfuitilli / historiae turpis inseruisse iocos'.
41. MALVS=malignus.
41. INTERPRES.The word probably combines the senses of 'translator' and 'interpreter'; that is, the person intentionally misconstrued the meaning of certain passages.
As André points out, Ovid's statement here that his Latin poems have caused him difficulty in Tomis indicates that Latin was not as completely unknown in the city as Ovid claims at, for example,TrIII xiv 47-48, V vii 53-54 'unus in hoc nemo est populo qui forte Latine / quamlibet [Heinsius: quaelibetcodd] e medio reddere uerba queat' & V xii 53-54 'non liber hic ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem, /uerbaque significent quid mea norit, adest'; compare as wellTrIII xiv 39-40.
42. INQVE NOVVM CRIMEN CARMINA NOSTRA VOCAT.In crimen uocarewas a normal idiom: compare CicScaur(e) 'custos ille rei publicae proditionis estin crimen uocatus' andFamV xvii 2 'ego te, P. Sitti, et primis temporibus illis quibus in inuidiam absens etin crimen uocabaredefendi'.
42. NOVVM CRIMEN.Theuetus crimenwas of course the accusation that theArs Amatoriawas immoral. Professor E. Fantham suggests to me thatnouumcould have the meaning 'unprecedented', as at CicLig1 'Nouum crimen, C. Caesar, et ante hunc diem non auditum propinquus meus ad te Q. Tubero detulit'. Ovid would therefore be saying that the kind of geographicalmaiestasthe Tomitans were accusing him of did not constitute a proper charge.
43. PECTORE CANDIDVS.'Kind of heart'. This sense ofcandidusis constantly misunderstood by modern commentators. The basic transferred sense of the word is 'kind' or 'generous towards others'. This can be clearly seen in such passages asTrIII vi 5-8 'isque erat usque adeo populo testatus, ut esset / paene magis quam tu quamque ego notus, amor; / quique est in caris animi [codd: animofort legendum] tibicandoramicis— / cognita sunt ipsi quem colis ipse uiro',TrIV x 130-32 'protinus ut moriar non ero, terra, tuus. / siue fauore tuli siue hanc ego carmine famam, / iure tibi grates,candidelector, ago',TrV iii 53-54 'si uestrum meruicandorefauorem, / nullaque iudicio littera laesa meo est',EPII v 5,EPIII ii 21-22 'aut meus excusat caros itacandoramicos, / utque habeant de me crimina nulla fauet', andEPIII iv 13 'uiribus infirmi uestrocandoreualemus'.
Forpectore candiduscompare from other authors HorEpodXI 11-12 'candidum / pauperis ingenium', Val Max VIII xiv praef 'candidis ... animis' and Scribonius Largus praef 5 26 'candidissimo animo'.
44. EXTAT ADHVC NEMO SAVCIVS ORE MEO.Ovid makes similar claims atTrII 563-65 'non ego mordaci destrinxi carmine quemquam ...candidusa salibus suffusis felle refugi' andIbis1-8 'Tempus ad hoc, lustris bis iam mihi quinque peractis, / omne fuit Musae carmen inerme meae ... nec quemquam nostri nisi me laesere libelli ... unus ... perennem /candoristitulum non sinit esse mei'. André says of the present passage, 'C'est oublier le poèmeContre Ibis', but Housman wrote 'Who was Ibis? Nobody. He was much too good to be true. If one's enemies are of flesh and blood, they do not carry complaisance so far as to chose the dies Alliensis for their birthday and the most ineligible spot in Africa for their birthplace. Such order and harmony exist only in worlds of our own creation, not in the jerry-built edifice of the demiurge ... And when I say that Ibis was nobody, I am repeating Ovid's own words. In the last book that he wrote, several years after the Ibis, he said, ex Pont. IV 14 44, "extat adhuc nemo saucius ore meo"' (1040). Housman is wrong to adduce this line as though it were a statement made under oath (compare the claim madein 26 'littera de uobis est mea questa nihil'). It is nonetheless true that in the extant poems of reproach Ovid does not identify the person he is addressing.
45. ADDE QVOD.See at xi 21adde quod(p 368).
45. ILLYRICA ... PICE NIGRIOR.For the formula, Otto (pix) cites this passage andIlIV 275-77 'νέφος ... μελάντερον ἠύτε πίσσα' and from Latin poetryAAII 657-58 'nominibus mollire licet mala: fusca uocetur /nigrior Illyricacuipicesanguis erit',MetXII 402-3 'totuspice nigrioratra, / candida cauda tamen',EPIII iii 97 'sed neque mutatur [uarfuscatur]nigra picelacteus umor',HerXVIII 7 'ipsa uides caelumpice nigrius', and Martial I cxv 4-5 'sed quandam uolo noctenigriorem, / formica,pice, graculo, cicada'.
45. ILLYRICA ... PICE.A famous mineral pitch was produced near Apollonia; André cites PlinyNHXVI 59 'Theopompus scripsit in Apolloniatarum agro picem fossilem non deteriorem Macedonica inueniri',NHXXXV 178, and Dioscorides I 73.
45. NIGRIOR.The man who wasnigerhad qualities opposite to those of the man who wascandidus; that is, he habitually thought and spoke evil of others. This is illustrated by HorSatI iv 81-85 'absentem qui rodit amicum, / qui non defendit alio culpante, solutos / qui captat risus hominum famamque dicacis, / fingere qui non uisa potest, commissa tacere / qui nequit—hicnigerest, hunc tu, Romane,caueto'. The same sense is seen atSatI iv 91 & 100, and at CicCaec28 'argentarius Sex. Clodius cui cognomen est Phormio, nec minusnigernec minus confidens quam ille Terentianus est Phormio'. A similar sense ofateris seen at HorEpodVI 15-16 'an si quisatrodente me petiuerit, / inultus ut flebo puer'; Lindsay Watsonad loc(in an unpublished University of Toronto dissertation) cites HorEpI xix 30 'nec socerum quaerit quem uersibus oblinatatris' for the same meaning.
A specific connection is often made between blackness and envy: compareMetII 760 (the home ofInuidiaisnigro squalentia tabo) and StatiusSilIV viii 16-17 (atra Inuidia).
Catullus XCIII 2 'nec scire utrum sis albus anaterhomo' and similar passages at CicPhilII 41 and ApuleiusApol16 are examples of an unrelated idiom meaning 'I know absolutely nothing about you'.
46. MORDENDA.For biting as an image of malice, Watson at HorEpodVI 15 'atro dente' cites CicBalb57 'in conuiuiis rodunt, in circulis uellicant; non illo inimico, sed hoc malo dente carpunt', and Val Max IV 7 ext 2 'malignitatis dentes'; Professor R. J. Tarrant cites HorSatII i 77 and Martial V xxviii 7 'robiginosis cuncta dentibus rodit'. The image is of course used at times specifically of jealousy; Watson citesTrIV x 123-24 'nec, qui detrectat praesentia Liuor iniquo / ullum de nostris dente momordit opus' andEPIII iv 73-74 'scripta placent a morte fere, quia laedere uiuos / liuor et iniusto carpere dente solet', and Professor Tarrant cites HorCarmIV iii 16 'et iamdente minus mordeor inuido' and PindarPII 52-53 'ἐμὲ δὲ χρεὼν / φεύγειν δάκος ἀδινὸν κακαγοριᾶν'.
47. MEA SORS=ego sortem grauem passus.
48. GRAIOS.The more poeticGraiusis more than four times as common in Ovid asGraecus, which, apart fromHerIII 2, is only found in theFasti(I 330, IV 63 & V 196) and theTristia(III xii 41, V ii 68 & V vii 11).
49. GENS MEA PAELIGNI REGIOQVE DOMESTICA SVLMO.This line is a type of hendiadys, the first half of the line being redefined by the second. The other cities of the Paeligni were Corfinium and Superaequum.
51-52. INCOLVMI ... SALVOQVE.The two words, equivalent in meaning, were used together as a common Latin phrase; see CaesarBCI 72 3 'mouebatur etiam misericordia ciuium ... quibussaluis atque incolumibusrem obtinere malebat' & II 32 12 'saluum atque incolumemexercitum', CicFinIV 19,Diuin in Q Caec72,InuenII 169, and Livy XXIII 42 4 'saluo atque incolumiamico', XXIX 27 3 & XLI 28 9.
53. IMMVNISis also used without a qualifying word or phrase at PlautusTr354, SallIug89 4 'eius [scoppidi] apud Iugurtham immunes', CicOffIII 49 'piratasimmunes, socios uectigales habemus',CicFont17, Livy XXXIV 57 10 'urbes ... liberas etimmunes' & XXXVII 55 7, andCILXIV 4012 4. For a recent discussion ofimmunitas, see V. Nutton, "Two Notes on Immunitas:Digest27,1,6,10 and 11",JRS1971, 52-63.
54. EXCEPTIS SI QVI MVNERA LEGIS HABENT.The phrase is difficult. Perhaps legal magistrates enjoyed immunity from taxation; if this is what Ovid is saying,munera legisis related to such expressions asconsulatus munus(CicPis23) andlegationis munus(PhilIX 3).Munusby itself of magistrates' duties is quite common.
Professor E. Fantham suggests to me, however, thatmunera legisis a reference to civic duties, or liturgies, that Greek cities imposed on certain of their citizens, and Ovid may be saying that citizens performing such liturgies at Tomis procured exemption from regular taxation.
Wheeler translates 'those only excepted who have the boon by law'. This seems difficult; but Professor A. Dalzell notes that the strangeness of the phrasing may be the results of Ovid's striving for a play onmunera/immunis.
55. CORONA.Professor C. P. Jones notes that thecoronaindicates that Ovid was probably invested with a local priesthood.
57-58. DELIA TELLVS, / ERRANTI TVTVM QVAE DEDIT VNA LOCVM.Accounts of this atMetVI 186-91 (Niobe speaking) 'Latonam ... cui maxima quondam / exiguam sedem pariturae terra negauit! / nec caelo nechumo nec aquis dea uestra recepta est: / exul erat mundo, donec miserata uagantem / "hospita tu terris erras, ego" dixit "in undis" / instabilemque locum Delos dedit' and in the passages cited by Williams atAenIII 76 and Tarrant at SenAg384f.
61-62. DI MODO FECISSENT PLACIDAE SPEM POSSET HABERE / PACIS, ET A GELIDO LONGIVS AXE FORET.In this final distich Ovid unexpectedly reverts from his gratitude to the Tomitans to the subject of the first part of the poem, the inhospitality of the region.
This passage provides an example of the technique pointed out in theAmoresby Douglass Parker ("The Ovidian Coda",Arion8 [1969]) whereby Ovid unexpectedly modifies a poem's tone in the concluding distich. InAmI x Ovid rails against his girl because she has asked him for a present: 'nec dare, sed pretium posci dedignor et odi; / quod nego poscenti, desine uelle, dabo!' (63-64). InAmII xiv Ovid scolds his girl for having an abortion: 'di faciles, peccasse semel concedite tuto, / et satis est; poenam culpa secunda ferat!' (43-44). In II xv, Ovid imagines that he becomes the ring he is giving his girl: 'inrita quid uoueo? paruum proficiscere munus; / illa data tecum sentiat esse fide!' (27-28).AmI vii, I xiii, I xiv, and II xiii are other examples of the device.
62. A GELIDO ... AXE.Compare XV 36 'dura iubetgelidoParcasub axemori' andHerVI 105-6 (Hypsipyle to Jason) 'non probat Alcimedemater tua—consule matrem— / non pater,a gelidocui uenitaxenurus'.
The poem, the fourth and last in the book to be addressed to Pompeius, is an elaborate appeal to him to continue his assistance.
It starts with the assertion that Pompeius, after the Caesars, is principally responsible for Ovid's well-being (1-4). The favours Pompeius has done for Ovid are innumerable and extend throughout his life (5-10). Ovid will of his own volition declare that he is as much Pompeius' property as Pompeius' estates in Sicily and Macedonia, his house in Rome, or his country retreat in Campania; because of Ovid, Pompeius now has property in the Pontus (11-20). Ovid asks him to continue working on his behalf (21-24). He knows that he does not have to urge Pompeius, but he cannot help himself (27-34). No matter whether he is recalled or not, he will always remember Pompeius; all lands will hear that it is he who saved Ovid, and that Ovid belongs to him (35-42).
The poem effectively combines a number of commonplaces of the works of exile, subordinating them to the central theme of Ovid's indebtedness to Pompeius. The topic of Ovid as Pompeius' property is to a certain extent foreshadowed inEPI vii, throughout which Ovid refers to himself as a client of Messalinus' family: 'ecquis in extremo positus iacet orbe tuorum, / me tamen excepto, qui precor esse tuus?' (5-6); it is found explicitly at i 35-36 'sic ego sum rerum non ultima, Sexte, tuarum / tutelaeque feror munus opusquetuae'. Syme (HO156) believes that the addressing of the first and penultimate letters to Pompeius constitutes a dedication of the book to Pompeius. However, as Syme recognizes, the abnormal length of the book indicates that it may be a posthumous collection (see page 4 of the introduction); if so, the arrangement of the poems is presumably by Ovid's literary executor.
The poem is remarkable for the cluster of legal terms at 11-12. The passage is evidence for Ovid's expertise and interest in law. For other indications of this in his works, see at 12 (p 434).
1. SI QVIS ... EXTAT.Pompeius is kept in the third person through line 10; Ovid thereby indicates that he is making a public declaration.
1. EXTAT.As Riese pointed out, the choice in 1-2 is betweenextat ... requiritandextet ... requirat; the problem is that the manuscripts giveextat ... requirat,requiritbeing found only in a few manuscripts of Heinsius, whileextetis a conjecture of Guethling. Owen (1894) thought that the ending ofextatcausedrequiritto be corrupted torequirat; on the other hand, the alteration ofextettoextatwould be all but automatic. There is a similar difficulty atTrI i 17-18 'si quis ut in populo nostri non immemor illi [=illic], / si quis qui quid agam forterequiraterit', where most manuscripts haverequiret. Both passages seem to involve the assimilation ofrequirereto the mood of the verb immediately following. I printextat ... requiritin consideration ofTrIII x 1-2 'Si quis adhuc isticmeminitNasonis adempti, / etsuperestsine me nomen in urbe meum' (cited by Lenz),TrIII v 23-24 'si tamen interea quid in his ego perditus oris— / quod te credibile est quaerere—quaeris, agam' andTrV vii 5 'scilicet ut semper quid agam, carissime,quaeris'.
3. CAESARIBVS=Augusto et Tiberio. Augustus is similarly given primary credit for Ovid's survival at v 31-32 'uiuit adhuc uitamque tibi debere fatetur, / quam prius a miti Caesare [=Augusto] munus habet'.
4. A SVPERIS ... PRIMVS.The same idiomatic use ofab'after' at v 25-26 'tempus ab his uacuum Caesar Germanicus omne / auferet;a magnishunc colit illedeis' andFastIII 93-94 (of the month of March) 'quintum Laurentes, bis quintum Aequiculus acer, /a tribushuncprimumturba Curensis habet'.
5. TEMPORA ... OMNIA.Compare i 23 'numquampigra fuit nostris tua gratia rebus'.
5. COMPLECTAR.Complectiin the weak sense 'include, take in' is found in Ovid only here and atTrI v 55 'non tamen idcircocomplectereromnia uerbis'. The usage is common in prose (OLD complector8).
6. MERITIS.Compare i 21-22 'et leuis haecmeritisreferatur gratia tantis; / si minus, inuito te quoque gratus ero'.
7-10. QVAE NVMERO TOT SVNT.Ovid is very fond of using this type of catalogue to indicate great number. CompareAAI 57-59 ('tot habet tua Roma puellas'),AAII 517-19 ('tot sunt in amore dolores'),AAIII 149-50 (the many ways women can ornament themselves),TrV vi 37-40 (the number of Ovid's ills), andEPII vii 25-28 ('nostrorum ... summa laborum').
8. LENTO CORTICE.'Tough skin'.
8. GRANA.Ovid does not use pomegranates in his similar catalogues elsewhere. Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me how Ovid elaborates the novel item of comparison in a full distich with several picturesque details (Punica,lento cortice,rubent), then reviews familiar elements rather more quickly in 9-10, with geography the ordering principle.
9. AFRICA QVOT SEGETES.CompareEPII vii 25 'Cinyphiae segetis citius numerabis aristas' (the Cinyps was a river in Libya).
9. SEGETES ... RACEMOS.CompareAAI 57 'Gargara quotsegetes, quot habet Methymnaracemos'.
9. TMOLIA TERRA=Lydia. The adjectiveTmolius(fromTmolus, a mountain in Lydia famous for its wines) occurs only here.
10. QVOT SICYON BACAS.CompareAAII 518 'caerula quot bacas Palladis arbor habet'. For Sicyonianbacaecompare VirgilGII 519 'Sicyoniabaca' andIbis317 'oliuifera ... Sicyone'.
10. QVOT PARIT HYBLA FAVOS.Fauosstands by a type of metonymy forapes; compareAAII 517 'quot apes pascuntur in Hybla',AAIII 150 'nec quot apes Hybla nec quot in Alpe ferae', andTrV vi 38 'florida quam multas Hybla tuetur apes'. For a similar metonymy, seeEPII vii 26 'altaque quam multis floreat Hybla thymis'.
11. CONFITEOR; TESTERE LICET.'I make a public deposition; you, Pompeius, may be a witness'. The deposition is to the effect that Ovid is now Pompeius' property by virtue of the many gifts Pompeius has made to him.
11. TESTERE ... SIGNATE.André citesDigXXII v 22 'curent magistratus cuiusque locitestariuolentibus et se ipsos et alios testes uelsignatorespraebere'.
11. SIGNATE, QVIRITES.After addressing Pompeius directly (testere licet), Ovid addresses those witnessing themancipatio. As Professor A. Dalzell points out, this was achievedex iure Quiritium; there is a similar direct address to the witnessingQuiritesin the formula for establishing a will (Gaius II 104).
Professor Dalzell also notes the abrupt change of audience; typical of Propertius, this is a very unusual procedure in Ovid.
Forsignareused without an object, compare SuetCl9 2 'etiam cognitio falsi testamenti recepta est, in quo et ipsesignauerat' &Nero17 'cautum ut testamentis primae duae cerae testatorum modo nomine inscripto uacuaesignaturisostenderentur'.
Ovid usestestisandsignarein a similarly metaphorical sense atEPIII ii 23-24 (he forgives those friends who deserted him in his disaster) 'sint hac [M (Heinsius): hicodd] contenti uenia,signentque[uarrsientque; fugiantque] licebit / purgari factum me quoquetestesuum'
12. NIL OPVS EST LEGVM VIRIBVS, IPSE LOQVOR.Ehwald (KB52) aptly cites Quintilian V vii 9 'duo genera sunt testium, aut uoluntariorum aut eorum quibus in [inadd editio Aldina] iudiciis publicis lege denuntiari solet ['or those who are summonedsub poenain trials']'.
The reference in this passage to a legal procedure is rather curious, as is the connected reference in 41-42. But it is clear from Ovid's verse that he had a solid practical expertise and interest in law. In his youth he had been one of thetresuiri monetalesorcapitales(TrIV x 33-34), and had also served in the centumviral court (TrII 93-94;EPIII v 23-24). He must have been known for his knowledge of law as well as for his fairness in order to be selected as arbitrator in private cases: 'res quoque priuatas statui sine crimine iudex, / deque mea fassa est pars quoque uicta fide' (TrII 95-96). E. J. Kenney has presented some interesting statistics concerning the frequent occurrence of legal terms in Ovid's poetry ("Ovid and the Law",Yale Classical StudiesXXI [1969] 241-63) comparing the number of occurrences of certain legal terms in Ovid and in Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Propertius, Tibullus, and theOdesof Horace.Iusandlexare not much more common in Ovid thanin the other poets (the proportions being 134:59 and 74:60 respectively for Ovid and the other poets combined); this is not surprising, since these common words could hardly be considered technical terms.Arbiter(7:4) andlis(23:10) are not much more common in Ovid than in the other poets. But it will be seen from the following list how fond Ovid was of legal terminology:legitimus(16:0),iudex(47:12),iudicium(39:7),index(26:1),indicium(36:8),arbitrium(23:6),reus(23:5),uindex(26:5),uindicare(16:6),uindicta(11:0),asserere(3:0),assertor(1:0). Compare as well the play on legal terminology atAAI 83-86 (with Hollis's notes), and the use of such terms asaddicere(MetI 617),fallere depositum(MetV 480 & IX 120),usus communis(MetVI 349),transcribere(MetVII 173),primus heres(MetXIII 154),rescindere(MetXIV 784),accensere(MetXV 546),subscribere(TrI ii 3),sub condicione(TrI ii 109), andacceptum referre(TrII 10).
13. OPES ... PATERNAS.Pompeius appears to have been very wealthy. Seneca speaks of the wealth of a Pompeius (presumably the son of Ovid's patron—so SymeTen Studies82,HO162), who was murdered by Gaius Caligula (Tranq11 10).
13. REM PARVAMMHITPARVAM REMBCFL. Either reading is possible enough. On balance, I believeparuam remto be an intentional scribal alteration to avoid the incidence of a spondaic word in the fourth foot of the hexameter; for a discussion of the phenomenon, see at i 11uellem cum(p 150).
In an older poet, the alliteration ofparuam pone paternaswould be a strong argument for the reading (see page 15 of Munro's introduction to his commentary on Lucretius), but Ovid did not use the device in his poetry.
15. TRINACRIA=Sĭcĭlĭa, unusable because it begins with three consecutive short vowels; compareMetV 474-76 (of Ceres) 'terras tamen increpat omnes / ingratasque uocat nec frugum munere dignas, /Trinacriamante alias'.
André avoids the literal meaning of the passage, joiningterrawithTrinacriaas well as withregnataque ... Philippoand taking it to mean 'estate': 'ta terre de Trinacrie et celle où régna Philippe'. But this sense ofterrais rare in Latin (Martial IX xx 2, ApuleiusMetIX 35), it is difficult to see howregnataque ... Philippocould stand as an epithet in such a case, and it is clear enough that Ovid is imitatingAenIII 13-14 'terra... acri quondamregnata Lycurgo', as he does atHerX 69 'tellus iusto regnata parenti',MetVIII 623 'arua suo quondam regnata parenti', andMetXIII 720-21 'regnataque uati / Buthrotos Phrygio'. In these lines Ovid states that Pompeius owns Sicily, Macedonia, and Campania, and by the hyperbole indicates the size of Pompeius' holdings. Seneca similarly mentions how the Pompeius murdered by Gaius Caligula possessed 'tot flumina ... in suo orientia, in suo cadentia'.
16. QVAM DOMVS AVGVSTO CONTINVATA FORO.Compare v 9-10 'protinus inde domus uobis Pompeia petetur: /non est Augusto iunctior ulla foro'.
18. QVAEQVE RELICTA TIBI, SEXTE, VEL EMPTA TENES.The line seems rather prosaic. For the thought, compare CicOffII 81 'multahereditatibus, multaemptionibus, multa dotibus tenebantur sine iniuria'; for this sense ofrelicta, compare NeposAtt13 2 'domum habuit ... ab auunculo hereditaterelictam', Livy XXII 26 1 'pecunia a patrerelicta', and Martial X xlvii 3 'res non parta labore, sedrelicta'.
19. TAM TVVS EN EGO SVM.Professor A. Dalzell notes the play on the dual sense oftuus(devoted/belonging to you) which is probably the basis of the entire poem. Fortuus'devoted' compareTrII 55-56 '[iuro ...] hunc animum fauisse tibi, uir maxime, meque, / qua sola potui, mente fuissetuum' and the other passages cited atOLD tuus6.
19. MVNERE.The word is difficult. 'Gift' seems strange in view of the stress placed on Pompeius' ownership of Ovid. Professor E. Fantham suggests to me that the phrase could mean 'by virtue of whose sadserviceyou cannot say you own nothing in the Pontus', while Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests thatmunerecould mean 'responsibility, charge', withcuius(=mei) as an objective genitive.
21. ATQVE VTINAM POSSIS, ET DETVR AMICIVS ARVVM.This elliptical use ofposseseems to be colloquial. The only instance cited byOLDpossum2a from verse is Prop IV vii 74 'potuit [uarpatuit], nec tibi auara fuit'; there as well the tone is that of lively speech.
21. AMICIVS ARVVM.The same phrase atMetXV 442-43 (Helenus to Aeneas) 'Pergama rapta feres, donec Troiaeque tibique / externum patrio contingatamicius aruum'. The use of the adjectiveamicusof things rather than person is in the main a poetic usage, but compare CicQuinct34 'breuitas postulatur, quae mihimet ipsiamicissimaest',NDII 43 'fortunam, quaeamicauarietati constantiam respuit', andAttXII xv 'nihil est mihiamiciussolitudine'; other instances in the elder Pliny and Columella.
22. REMQVE TVAM PONAS IN MELIORE LOCO.CompareEPI iii 77-78 'liquit Agenorides Sidonia moenia Cadmus / poneret ut murosin meliore loco'.
24. NVMINA PERPETVA QVAE PIETATE COLIS.Tiberius and Germanicus are meant. For Pompeius' devotion to Germanicus, compare v 25-26 'tempus ab his uacuum Caesar Germanicus omne / auferet; a magnis hunc colit ille deis'.
25-26. ERRORIS NAM TV VIX EST DISCERNERE NOSTRI / SIS ARGVMENTVM MAIVS AN AVXILIVM.This distich does not belong in the text: it is in itself unintelligible, and interrupts a natural progression from 24 to 27. I am not certain that the distich is a simple interpolation, since there is nothing in the context to which it is an obvious gloss. Possibly it has been inserted from another letter from exile, in which its meaning would have been clear from context.
Argumentumis difficult. Wheeler translates, 'For 'tis hard to distinguish whether you are more the proof of my mistake or therelief', and notes 'Apparently Pompey could prove (argumentum) that "error" which Ovid regarded as the beginning of his woes'. But this seems a strange thing to say, for Ovid'serrorwas hardly in need of demonstration.
Auxiliumis used in its medical sense,errorisbeing equivalent tomorbioruulneris; compareRA48 'uulneris auxilium' and the passages collected atOLD remedium1.
25. DISCERNERE.Gronovius argued (ObseruationesIII xiii) that DECERNERE (MI1) should be read here, sincedecernerehas the required sense 'uel decertare uel iudicare et certum statuere', whereasdiscerneremeans 'separare, dirimere, distinguere, diuidere'. On the evidence of the lexica, however, Gronovius' distinction breaks down, sincediscerneremeaning 'decide, determine, make out' is common enough: compare SallustCat25 3 'pecuniae an famae minus parceret haud facilediscerneres', CicRep2 6 'ne nota quidem ulla pacatus an hostis sitdiscerniac iudicari potest', VarroLLVII 17 'quodiscerniturhomo mas an femina sit', and Livy XXII 61 10 'quid ueri sitdiscernere'. I therefore letdiscernerestand.
29-30. ET PVDET ET METVO SEMPERQVE EADEMQVE PRECARI / NE SVBEANT ANIMO TAEDIA IVSTA TVO.CompareEPIII vii entire (an apology to his friends for the monotony of his verse), and especially the opening lines: 'Verba mihi desunt eadem tam saepe roganti, / iamque pudet uanas fine carere preces. / taedia consimili fieri de carmine uobis, / quidque petam cunctos edidicisse reor'.
30. SVBEANT ANIMO.Subire animooccurs also atTrI v 13. Ovid usessubirewith the dative several times in the poetry of exile (TrI vii 9, II 147, III iii 14 & V vii 58;EPI ix 11, II x 43 & IV iv 47), but not beforehand; earlier he has the accusative (MetXII 472) or the simple verb (MetXV 307). The dative construction is taken up by the author of the laterHeroides(XVI 99, XVIII 62).
31. RES IMMODERATA CVPIDO EST.Cupidosimilarly calledimmoderataat ApuleiusPlatII 21; elsewhere qualified asimmodica(Livy VI 35 6) andimmensa(AenVI 823, TacAnnXII 7).
33. DELABOR.Cicero uses the word for moving from one subject to another (OLD delabor5b); here the metaphorical sense 'fall' is still active.
34. IPSA LOCVM PER SE LITTERA NOSTRA ROGAT.This line as it stands is clearly corrupt. I do not understand Wheeler's 'my very letters of their own accord seek the opportunity'; André's 'c'est la lettre qui, d'elle-meme, demande le sujet' seems equally difficult, althoughlocuscan certainly have the meaning 'subject, topic of discussion' (OLDlocus24b).
The only parallel I have found isFastII 861 'iure uenis, Gradiue:locum tua tempora poscunt'. Iflitterais retained in the present passage, this parallel is of little assistance, sincelocumthere means 'a place within a larger work', and Ovid's poetry cannot ask for alocusin that sense. Taking the passage from theFastiasa parallel, I once thought that Ovid wroteipsa locum pro se tristia nostra rogant(orpetunt); for the nountristecompareFastVI 463 'scilicet interdum miscenturtristialaetis',EclIII 80-81 'tristelupus stabulis, maturis frugibus imbres, / arboribus uenti, nobis Amaryllidis irae', and HorCarmI xvi 25-26 'nunc ego mitibus / mutare quaerotristia'. I now consider this unlikely, since the personal adjectivenostrawithtristiaseems unidiomatic; but I still believe thatlitterais the key to the corruption.
Professor R. J. Tarrant has tentatively suggested something likeinque locum ... redit, but questions whetherin locum, even just aftereodem, can have the sensein eundem locum. Professor Tarrant also points out to me the possible relevance oflocusin the senselocus communis(compare SenSuasI 9 'dixit ...locumde uarietate fortunae'); Ovid might be saying that his poetry had made rather frequent use of thelocus de exilio. In this case,rogatwould require emendation.
One of Heinsius' manuscripts readper se ... facit, which is just possibly correct. Heinsius proposedpro se ... facit, which I do not understand.
35. HABITVRAis a good instance of the future participle used to express what is inevitably destined to happen (withParcabalancing in the pentameter); for the sense, see Tarrant on SenAg43 'daturus coniugi iugulum suae'.
37. INOBLITA=memori. Apparently the only instance of the word in classical Latin.
39. CAELO ... SVB VLLO.Bentley oddly conjectured ILLO, the reading ofMac, which gives the sense 'under the Tomitan sky'. This obviously contradicts the followingtransit nostra feros si modo Musa Getas.
41. SERVATOREMoccurs in Ovid only here and atMetIV 737-38 (of Perseus) 'auxiliumque domusseruatoremquefatentur / Cassiope Cepheusque pater'. In prose it is several times used in a civic context (CicPis34,Planc102, Livy VI 20 16 & XLV 44 20;CILIX 4852 in a dedication toIoui optimo maximo seruatori conseruatori ... ex uoto suscepto). The solemn overtones ofseruatoremmust be part of what Ovid means for his own land and for the rest of the world to hear and know; the poem thus ends with an implied pronouncement to balance the public statement of the opening.
42. MEQVE TVVM LIBRA NORIT ET AERE MAGIS.This line clearly refers tomancipatio, the receiving of property (including slaves), which is described by Gaius as follows: 'adhibitis non minus quam [Boeth.: quodcod] quinque testibus ciuibus Romanis puberibus, et praeterea alio eiusdem condicionis qui libram aeneam teneat, qui appellatur libripens ['scale-holder'—de Zulueta], is qui mancipio accipit, aes [aesadd Boeth.] tenens, ita dicit: "hunc ego hominem ex iure [Boeth.: iūstcod] Quiritium meum esse aio isque mihi emptus estohoc aere aeneaque libra", deinde aere percutit libram, idque aes dat ei a quo mancipio accipit quasi pretii loco' (I 119).
MAGIS is found as a secondary reading inFand in the thirteenth-centuryBarberinus lat. 26; the reading of most manuscripts is MINVS, which seems to me impossible. Several explanations ofminushave been advanced:
(i) Gronovius took the line to mean 'tuus sum, immo mancipium tuum, nisi quod sola libra et aes mea mancipatione abfuerunt'. This retention ofminus, however, involves Ovid in a qualifying retraction just when he seems to be aiming for a ringing conclusion. As well, the instances ofminuscited by Gronovius do not in fact illustrate this passage: among them areEPI vii 25-26 'uno / nempe salutaris quam prius ore minus',MetXII 554-55 'bis sex Herculeis ceciderunt me minus uno ['except for me alone'] / uiribus', and Manilius I 778 'Tarquinio ... minus reges', 'the kings, except for Tarquin'.
Gronovius seems to have realized that difficulties remained, and proposed to read NOVIT in 42 and make 41-42 a relative clause dependent ontellusin 38, so that the concluding lines of the poem would mean 'mea tellus, Sulmo, Roma, Italia, me tuum esse audiet. sed audiet idem etiam, quaecumque sub alia quauis caeli parte terra posita est, et te, meum seruatorem, meque, libra et aere tuum, minus nouit'. Once again,minusseems to weaken the poem fatally.