PRIMVS ADESSE IOCIS.= The same joining of _seria_ and _ioci_ (or _lusus_)
at _Tr_ I viii 31-32, _EP_ I ix 9-10, _EP_ II iv 9-10 '_seria_ multa
mihi tecum conlata recordor, / nec data _iucundis_ tempora pauca
_iocis_', and _EP_ II x 41-42. It is found in prose and early Latin:
Luck at _Tr_ I viii 31-32 cites Cic _Fin_ II 85 'at quicum _ioca, seria,
ut dicitur_, quicum arcana, quicum occulta omnia? tecum, optime', Pliny
_Ep_ II xiii 5 'cum hoc _seria_, cum hoc _iocos_ miscui', Pliny _Ep_ IV
xvii 5 'nihil a me ille secretum, non _ioculare_, non _serium_, non
triste, non laetum', and Ennius _Ann_ 239-40 Vahlen3 'cui res audacter
magnas paruasque iocumque / eloqueretur'.
=15. CONVICTOR.= The word belongs properly to prose, the only other
occurrences in verse being two passages in Horace's _Satires_: I iv 96
'me ... _conuictore_ usus amicoque' & I vi 47 'quia sim tibi, Maecenas,
_conuictor_'. _Conuictus_ is similarly found in verse twice only, in
Ovid's poetry of exile (_Tr_ I viii 29-30 '_conuictu_ causisque
ualentibus ... temporis et longi iunctus amore tibi' & _EP_ II x 9-10
'quam [_sc_ curam] tu uel longi debes _conuictibus_ aeui, / uel mea quod
coniunx non aliena tibi est').
=15. DENSOQVE.= 'Frequent, often recurring'. This sense of _densus_ is not
found elsewhere in Ovid, but compare Virgil _G_ IV 347 '_densos_ diuum
numerabat amores', Statius _Theb_ VI 421, and Juvenal IX 35-37 'quamuis
... blandae assidue _densaeque_ tabellae / sollicitent'. The closest
parallel for the poetic singular cited by _OLD densus_ 3a is Martial IX
lxxxvii 1-2 'Septem post calices Opimiani / _denso_ cum iaceam
triente[19] blaesus'.
[Footnote 19: A drinking-vessel holding one third of a _sextarius_
(_OLD_ _triens_ 3).]
=15. DOMESTICVS.= Apparently the only instance of the substantive in
verse. The word is common enough in prose, and formed part of the spoken
language, for it is found in reported speech at Petronius 45 6.
=17. QVEM= _Leidensis Heinsii_ QVI _codd plerique_. _Qui_ cannot be
connected with _nescis_, and so is without antecedent. The scribe was
probably influenced by 11, 13, and 15, in which _ille ego_ is completed
by a nominative clause.
For _quem ... an uiuam_ compare _EP_ III vi 57 '_te_que tegam, _qui
sis_'.
=17. VIVAM.= Heinsius' VIVAT is unnecessary: the assimilation of person
seems reasonable enough in view of such passages as _EP_ I ii 129-31
'ille ego sum qui te _colui_ ... ille ego qui _duxi_ uestros Hymenaeon ad
ignes'.
=18. SVBIT= _Heinsius_ FVIT _codd_. The preceding _nescis_ requires a verb
with present meaning; and _fuit_ seems impossible to construe as a true
perfect (with present result). Heinsius' _subit_ seems an elegant
solution: certain manuscripts offer the same corruption of _subit_ to
_fuit_ at _Met_ IX 93-94 'lux _subit_, et primo feriente cacumina sole /
discedunt iuuenes' and _Met_ XIV 827-28 'pulchra _subit_ facies et
puluinaribus altis / dignior'.
=19-20. SIVE FVI NVMQVAM CARVS, SIMVLASSE FATERIS; / SEV NON FINGEBAS,
INVENIERE LEVIS.= For a similar opposition (either alternative being
discreditable), see _Met_ IX 23-24 'nam, quo te iactas, Alcmena nate,
creatum, / Iuppiter aut falsus pater est aut crimine uerus'.
=21. AVT.= 'Otherwise'. For the use of _aut_ as a disjunctive adverb
rather than a conjunction compare xii 3 'aut ego non alium prius hoc
dignarer honore' and the passages there cited. Here, as at xii 3, the
idiom has been misunderstood by scribes, with such resulting variants in
late manuscripts as EIA ('uterque Medonii pro diuersa lectione';
accepted by Heinsius) and DIC (_Gothanus II 121_; printed by Burman).
=21. IRAM.= 'Cause for anger'. This seems to be the only instance of the
meaning, _ira_ not being found even as a predicative dative; but compare
the use of _laudes_ to mean 'acts deserving praise', as at viii 87 'tuas
... laudes ... recentes'.
=23. QVOD TE NVNC CRIMEN SIMILEM= seems to be the correct reading; the
line connects with the _an crimen ..._ of 24. QVAE TE CONSIMILEM RES
NVNC (_FIL_) looks like a rewriting of the line, perhaps following the
loss of _crimen_ by haplography (_cr_iM _s_im_ilE_). There seems
no good reason why Ovid would have used the emphatic _consimilem_
instead of the more usual _similem_.
=25. SI ... OPEM NVLLAM ... FEREBAS.= 'If you had no intention of assisting
me'--the inceptive or conative imperfect (Woodcock 200). Similar
phrasing at _Tr_ I viii 9-10 'haec ego uaticinor, quia sum deceptus ab
illo / _laturum_ misero quem mihi rebar _opem_' and _EP_ II vii 46 'et
nihil inueni quod mihi _ferret opem_'.
=25. REBVS ... FACTISQVE.= 'Through financial help or action on my behalf'.
Ovid does not use this sense of _res_ elsewhere in his poetry.
=26. VERBIS ... TRIBVS.= 'A few words'. For the idiom Williams cites
Plautus _Mil_ 1020 '"breuin an longinquo sermoni?" "tribu' uerbis"' and
_Trin_ 963 'adgrediundust hic homo mi astu.--heus, Pax, te tribu' uerbis
uolo'; from comedy, _OLD tres_ b cites Ter _Ph_ 638. From the classical
period compare Sen _Apocol_ 11 3 'ad summam, tria uerba cito dicat, et
seruum me ducat', Sen _Ep_ 40 9, and Quint IX iv 84 'haec omnia in
tribus uerbis'; Camps sees _tres_ as having the same indefinite meaning
at Prop II xiii 25-26 'sat mea sit magno [_Phillimore_: sit magna _uel_
sat magna est _codd_] si tres sint pompa libelli / quos ego Persephonae
maxima dona feram'.
=27. SED ET= was the standard reading until Ehwald's defence (_KB_ 63) of
SVBITO, the reading of (_B1_) and _C_.
Ehwald's reasoning was that _sed et_ would indicate that the news of his
friend's slandering him was additional information, and that Ovid
already knew something of his friend's behaviour. But this is precisely
the case: Ovid has just finished saying that his friend has done nothing
to help him (9-10), and now he gives the additional information that his
friend is even working against him. Ehwald supported the asyndeton that
_subito_ creates by quoting _Met_ XV 359-60 'haud equidem credo: sparsae
quoque membra uenenis / exercere artes Scythides memorantur easdem',
where in fact _quoque_ seems a convincing parallel to _sed et_.
=27. INSVLTARE IACENTI.= 'Torment in my misery'. Ovid plays on the literal
meanings of _iacere_ and _in-saltare_; for the latter, see _Aen_ XII
338-39 'caesis / hostibus insultans'. Ovid uses _insultare_ in only
three other passages. All are from the poems of exile, and all are about
the ill-treatment accorded Ovid: _Tr_ II 571 'nec mihi credibile est
quemquam _insultasse iacenti_', _Tr_ III xi 1, and _Tr_ V viii 3-4
'curue / casibus insultas quos potes ipse pati?'.
=29. A DEMENS.= _A_ indicates a certain amount of sympathy with the person
addressed, as can be seen from _Tr_ V x 51-52 'quid loquor, _a demens_?
ipsam quoque perdere uitam, / Caesaris offenso numine, dignus eram' and
_Ecl_ II 60-61 'quem fugis, _a demens_? habitarunt di quoque siluas /
Dardaniusque Paris'. _O_ (_M1FILT_) would indicate rather less sympathy:
compare _Met_ III 640-41 'dextera Naxos erat: dextra mihi lintea danti /
"quid facis, _o demens_? quis te furor" inquit "Acoete?"'.
=29. RECEDAT= (_TM2_) is no doubt a scribal conjecture, but a correct one:
'Why, in case disaster should strike ...'. Most manuscripts have
RECEDIT.
=31. ORBE= probably means 'wheel'; compare Tib I v 70 'uersatur celeri
Fors leuis orbe _rotae_' and _Cons ad Liuiam_ 51-52 (quoted in the next
note). However, Professor E. Fantham points out to me that it could also
mean 'sphere': she cites Pacuvius 366-67 Ribbeck2 (_Rhet Her_ II 36)
'Fortunam insanam esse et caecam et brutam perhibent philosophi, /
_saxoque_ instare in _globoso_ praedicant _uolubilei_'. Smith at Tib I v
70 gives numerous instances of both images.
=32. QVEM=, found in Heinsius' _fragmentum Boxhornianum_ (=Leid. Bibl.
Publ. 180 G), must be right as against the QVAE of the other
manuscripts; if a definition is to be given after the preceding 'haec
dea non stabili quam sit leuis orbe fatetur', it should be a definition
of the wheel, not the goddess. But the resulting _quem summum dubio_
seems very awkwardly phrased, and further emendation is probably needed.
The obvious solution would be to read 'quem summo [_C_ in fact reads
_summo_] _dubium_ sub pede semper habet'. This would give _orbis_ a
standard epithet, as at _Tr_ V viii 7-8 'nec metuis _dubio_ Fortunae
stantis in _orbe_ / numen' and _Cons ad Liuiam_ 51-52 'nempe per hos
etiam Fortunae iniuria mores / regnat et _incerta_ est hic quoque nixa
_rota_'. In support of the rather more difficult _summo ... pede_
(='toes') Professor R. J. Tarrant cites Sen _Suas_ II 17 'insistens
_summis digitis_ ['toes']--sic enim solebat quo grandior fieret', Sen
_Tro_ 1090-91 'in cacumine / erecta _summos_ [_uar_ summo] turba
librauit _pedes_', and _Met_ IV 562 'aequora destringunt _summis_
Ismenides _alis_'; compare as well _Met_ IX 342-43 'in adludentibus
undis / _summa pedum_ taloque tenus uestigia tingit'.
A second solution might be to read 'quem _dubio summum_ sub pede semper
habet'; the transfer of _dubius_ from _orbis_ to _pes_ seems acceptable
enough, and _Met_ IV 134-36 'oraque buxo / pallidiora gerens exhorruit
aequoris instar, / quod tremit exigua cum summum stringitur aura' offers
a good parallel to _summum_.
The image of Fortune standing on her wheel occurs elsewhere in Ovid's
poems of exile at _Tr_ V viii 7-8 (quoted above) and _EP_ II iii 55-56
'scilicet indignum, iuuenis carissime, ducis / te fieri comitem stantis
in orbe deae'.
=33. QVOLIBET EST FOLIO ... INCERTIOR.= For the proverb, see Otto _folium_
1; and from Ovid compare _Am_ II xvi 45-46 'uerba puellarum, foliis
leuiora caducis, / inrita qua uisum est uentus et unda ferunt', _Her_ V
109-10 'tu leuior foliis tum cum sine pondere suci / mobilibus uentis
arida facta uolant', and _Fast_ III 481-82 (Ariadne speaking) 'Bacche
leuis leuiorque tuis quae tempora cingunt / frondibus'.
=33. QVAVIS INCERTIOR AVRA.= Compare _Her_ VI 109-10 'mobilis Aesonide
uernaque incertior aura, / cur tua polliciti pondere uerba carent?'.
Otto (_uentus_ 1) cites as well Prop II v 11-13 'non ita Carpathiae
uariant Aquilonibus undae, / nec dubio nubes uertitur atra Noto, / quam
facile irati uerbo mutantur amantes', _Her_ XVIII 185-86 (Leander to
Hero) 'cumque minus firmum nil sit quam uentus et unda, / in uentis et
aqua spes mea semper erit?', and Calpurnius _Ecl_ III 10 'mobilior
uentis o femina!'.
The _folium_ and _uentus_ images of the present line are found together
at Prop II ix 33-35 'non sic incerto mutantur flamine Syrtes, / nec
folia hiberno tam tremefacta Noto, / quam cito feminea non constat
foedus in ira'.
=34. PAR ILLI= = _par illius leuitati_. Similar compressions at vi 40
'mollior est animo femina nulla tuo' and commonly.
=37-38.= Ovid gives four instances of unexpected catastrophe, two from
Greek history, two from Roman; the greater importance of the Roman
examples is emphasized by their position and by the doubling of the
space allotted to each example from two lines to four. There is a
similar transition at Prop II vi 19-20 'cur exempla petam Graium? tu
criminis auctor / nutritus duro, Romule, lacte lupae'.
The Greek examples may have been a traditional pairing: Croesus and
Dionysius are mentioned together at Lucian _Gall_ 23 as notable
instances of personal catastrophe.
=37. OPVLENTIA CROESI.= Croesus as the archetype of wealth also at _Tr_
III vii 41-42 'nempe dat ... Fortuna rapitque, / Irus et est subito qui
modo Croesus erat'.
The story of Croesus' downfall and the subsequent sparing of his life by
Cyrus is taken from Herodotus I 86-88.
It is clear from his poetry that Ovid had a good knowledge of at least
the first book of Herodotus:
(1) _Met_ III 135-37 'sed scilicet ultima semper / expectanda dies
homini est, dicique beatus / ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet'
may have been drawn from Solon's advice to Croesus at Herodotus I 32 7:
'[Greek: ei de pros toutoisi] [if in addition to having prosperity while
alive] [Greek: eti teleutêsei ton bion eu, houtos ekeinos ton su
zêteeis, ho] [[Greek: ho] _add Stein_] [Greek: olbios keklêsthai axios
esti; prin d' an teleutêsêi, epischein mêde kaleein kô olbion, all'
eutychea]'.
(2) At _Fast_ II 79-118 Ovid tells the story of Arion found at Herodotus
I 23-24.
(3) At _Fast_ II 663-66 there occurs the clearest instance of borrowing:
Ovid uses the story of the border dispute between Sparta and Argos
(Herodotus I 82) in the course of his discussion of the god Terminus:
'si tu signasses olim Thyreatida terram, / corpora non leto missa
trecenta forent, / nec foret Othryades congestis lectus [_Barth_: tectus
_codd_] in armis. / o quantum patriae sanguinis ille dedit!'.
=37. AVDITA EST CVI NON.= Compare _Met_ XV 319-20 '_cui non audita est_
obscenae Salmacis undae / Aethiopesque lacus?'.
=38. NEMPE TAMEN VITAM CAPTVS AB HOSTE TVLIT.= 'Even so, it is undeniable
that he became a prisoner, and received his life as a gift from his
enemy'. _Vitam ferre_ also at _EP_ II i 45 (from a description of
Germanicus' triumph of AD 12) 'maxima pars horum _uitam_ ueniamque
_tulerunt_'.
=39. ILLE ... FORMIDATVS.= Equivalent to _ille_ with a defining
_qui_-clause: 'The famous man who had once been feared ...'. Ovid is
referring to Dionysius II, the student of Plato, who was expelled from
Syracuse in 344 and became a schoolmaster in Corinth. Valerius Maximus
(VI ix ext 6) also gives Dionysius as an example of unexpected disaster,
and Plutarch (_Timoleon_ 14) cites him as an example of the operations
of Fortune. For an account of Dionysius' life at Corinth, see Justinus
XXI v. There was a Greek proverb '[Greek: Dionysios en Korinthôi]' (Cic
_Att_ IX ix 1; Quintilian VIII vi 52), apparently referring to his
continued lust for power: 'Dionysius ... Syracusis expulsus Corinthi
pueros docebat: usque eo imperio carere non poterat' (Cic _Tusc_ III
27). Discussions of the proverb at Otto _Dionysius_ and Shackleton
Bailey on _Att_ IX ix 1.
=39. SYRACOSIA ... IN VRBE.= Restored by Heinsius from the manuscripts'
unmetrical SYRACVSIA, as at _Fast_ VI 277. The same confusion between
[Greek: Syrakosios] and [Greek: Syrakousios] is found in the manuscripts
of Pindar (_Ol_ I 23), the Attic form supplanting the original Doric.
The same corruption is found in some ninth-century manuscripts of Virgil
at _Ecl_ VI 1 'Prima Syracosio dignata est ludere uersu' and in the
Veronese scholia, and in the manuscripts of Claudian _carm min_ LI 6
(Housman 1273).
=40. HVMILI ... ARTE.= For the low social position of the schoolmaster in
antiquity, see Bonner 146-62, and compare especially Juvenal VII 197-98
'si Fortuna uolet, fies de rhetore consul; / si uolet haec eadem, fiet
de consule rhetor' and Pliny _Ep_ IV xi 1 'nunc eo decidit ut exul de
senatore, rhetor de oratore fieret'.
=41. MAGNO MAIVS.= 'Greater than (Pompey) the Great'. Even in the letters
of Cicero, Pompey is occasionally called _Magnus_ without further
identification (_Att_ I xvi 12). Other plays on the name at _Fast_ I
603-4 'Magne, tuum nomen rerum est mensura tuarum; / sed qui te uicit
nomine maior erat' and Lucan I 135 'stat magni nominis umbra', where
Getty cites Velleius II 1 4 'Pompeium magni nominis uirum'.
=42. CLIENTIS OPEM.= After the final defeat at Pharsalus, Pompey fled to
Egypt and sought the protection of Ptolemy XIII (Caesar _BC_ III 103,
Plutarch _Pomp_ 77).
Pompey similarly treated as the victim of Fortune at Cic _Tusc_ I 86 and
through much of Lucan VII-VIII; compare as well _Anth Lat_ Riese 401
'Quam late uestros duxit Fortuna triumphos, / tam late sparsit funera,
Magne, tua'.
Compare as well _Anth Lat_ 415 39-40 'spes Magnum profugum toto
discurrere in orbe / iusserat et pueri regis adire pedes'; the distich
follows a description of the hardships undergone by Marius.
=44.= The line is omitted by _B1_ and _C_; other manuscripts offer (with
minor variations) INDIGVS EFFECTVS OMNIBVS IPSE MAGIS or ACHILLAS
PHARIVS ABSTVLIT ENSE CAPVT, a line apparently devised with the aid of
Juvenal X 285-86 'Fortuna ... uicto _caput abstulit_' and Lucan VIII
545-46 'ullusne in cladibus istis / est locus Aegypto _Phariusque_
admittitur _ensis_?', both passages concerned with Pompey's murder by
Achillas. Clearly a line of the poem was lost in transmission.
Heinsius and Bentley felt that the entire distich should be deleted; but
43 seems acceptable enough, and it is appropriate that the description
of Pompey's downfall be balanced with the four-line mention of Marius
that follows. It would be strange if Pompey's sensational murder were
overlooked, as this was regarded by the poets as the ultimate reversal
of his fortunes: compare Manilius IV 50-55, Juvenal X 283-86 (which is
joined to a mention of Marius' reversal) and _Anth Lat_ 401-3 Riese.
=45. ILLE= goes with Marius two lines on--'the famous Marius'.
=45. IVGVRTHINO ... CIMBROQVE TRIVMPHO.= Marius rose to prominence in the
Jugurthine war, celebrating his triumph in 104; in 101 his defeat in the
Po valley of the Cimbri, a Germanic tribe originally from Jutland, ended
a twelve-year military threat to Rome.
=47. IN CAENO LATVIT MARIVS.= In 88 Sulla, whose command against
Mithridates had been transferred to Marius by a special law, marched on
Rome and induced the Senate to name Marius an outlaw; Marius was forced
to escape to Africa, at one point on the route hiding in the marshes of
Minturnae. This ordeal is mentioned by the poets who deal with Marius,
but they consider that he reached the low point of his fortunes when he
arrived at Carthage. Compare Manilius IV 47-49, Juvenal X 276-77
'exilium et carcer Minturnarumque paludes / et mendicatus uicta
Carthagine panis' and _Anth Lat_ 415 33-38 Riese.
=47. LATVIT MARIVS= _M_ IACVIT MARIVS _H_ MARIVS LATVIT _L_ MARIVS IACVIT
_BCFIT_. _Iacere_ and _latere_ could each be corrupted to the other with
ease: such corruptions occur in certain manuscripts at _Met_ I 338 and
_Fast_ II 244 (_iacere_ corrupted to _latere_) and _Fast_ II 467, II 587
& III 265 (_latere_ corrupted to _iacere_). Although it is weakly
attested, _latuit_ should be read here in view of the use of _abdere_ at
Velleius II xix 2 'paludem Maricae, in quam se fugiens consectantis
Sullae equites _abdiderat_' and Lucan II 70 'exul limosa Marius caput
_abdidit_ ulua', and of [Greek: kryptein] at Plutarch _Marius_ 37 5:
_latere_ is often virtually a passive form of _abdere_.
_Marius latuit_ looks like a normalization of word order from the
emphatic _latuit Marius_.
=47. CANNAQVE PALVSTRI.= _Canna palustris_ is a standard feature of Ovid's
marshes; see _AA_ I 554, _RA_ 142, and _Met_ IV 298 & VIII 337. At _RA_
142 Henderson comments 'Ovid probably means the plant called in this
country [Scotland] Reed (_Phragmites communis_, a grass), which the
Italians call _canna di palude_; smaller than _harundo_ (_Arundo donax_,
the Greek [Greek: kanna] and Italian canna), it nevertheless often
reaches a height of 6 or 7 feet'.
=48. MVLTA PVDENDA.= The entire sequence of events during Marius' flight
to Africa.
=50. FACIT= _R. J. Tarrant_. For _fidem facere_ ('induce belief') compare
_Met_ VI 565-66 'dat gemitus fictos commentaque funera narrat, / et
lacrimae _fecere fidem_' and Caesar _BC_ II 37 1 'nuntiabantur haec
eadem Curioni, sed aliquamdiu _fides fieri_ non poterat: tantam habebat
suarum rerum fiduciam'. Ehwald (_KB_ 63) defends FERET (_BC_), quoting
_Aen_ X 792 'si qua _fidem_ tanto est operi _latura_ uetustas', but the
true meaning of this line is 'if antiquity can ever win belief for a
deed so grand' (Jackson Knight); the idiom cannot be fitted into the
present passage with acceptable meaning. HABET, the reading of most
manuscripts, does not account for FERET, but is in itself acceptable
enough; compare _Her_ XVI 59-60 'ecce pedum pulsu uisa est mihi terra
moueri-- / uera loquar ueri [_Heinsius_: uero _codd_] uix _habitura
fidem_' and Cic _Flac_ 21 'sed fuerint incorruptae litterae domi; nunc
uero quam _habere_ auctoritatem aut quam _fidem_ possunt?'.
=51. SI QVIS MIHI DICERET.= Compare _Tr_ IV viii 43-44 'hoc mihi si Delphi
Dodonaque diceret ipsa, / esse uideretur uanus uterque locus'.
=52. GETE= is read from the manuscripts by Heinsius; the form is the same
as at _Met_ X 608 'Hippomene uicto', _Fast_ IV 593 'uictore Gyge', _EP_
II iv 22 'in Aeacide Nestorideque', and _EP_ I viii 6 'dura pharetrato
bella mouente Gete [_uar_ Geta]'. All editors but Heinsius print GETAE,
but this is contrary to Ovid's usage: compare (to take only a few
instances) _Ibis_ 637 '_Sarmaticas_ inter _Geticasque sagittas_', _EP_ I
i 79 'inque locum _Scythico_ uacuum mutabor ab _arcu_', and _EP_ III v
45 'ipse quidem _Getico_ peream uiolatus ab _arcu_'. The only apparent
exceptions to the rule I have found are _Tr_ IV i 21 'Sinti [_Ehwald_:
inter _codd_ Sintae _Iac. Gronouius_] nec militis ensem', where the
compound expression alters matters somewhat, and _Fast_ V 580 '_Parthi_
[_uar_ Parthis] signa retenta _manu_', where _Partha_ should probably be
read; compare _Fast_ VI 244 '_Mauras_ pertimuere _manus_ [_codd_: minas
_Alton_]' and _EP_ I iii 59-60 'altera Bistonias pars est sensura
sarisas, / altera _Sarmatica_ spicula missa _manu_'.
_Getes_ is also used as an adjective at xiii 18 'paene poeta Getes'.
=53. I BIBE ... ANTICYRA.= A hendiadys for 'Go drink all the mind-purging
hellebore that grows in Anticyra'.
=53. PVRGANTES ... SVCOS.= For discussions of _elleborus_ see Theophrastus
_HP_ IX 10, Pliny _NH_ XXV 47-61, and Aulus Gellius XVII xv. There were
two varieties of the plant, black and white (from the colour of their
roots): the former was a laxative, the latter induced vomiting and was
thought to sharpen the intellect; compare Val Max VIII vii ext 5, Pliny
_NH_ XXV 52, Martianus Capella IV 327, and the other passages cited by
Brink at Hor _AP_ 300.
=54. ANTICYRA.= Three places of this name are known from ancient sources;
it is not known which of them Ovid had in mind. One was a city in
Locris on the north side of the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf; the
second was a city near Mount Oeta (Strabo IX v 10), and the third an
island of uncertain location (Pliny _NH_ XXV 52). It is possible that
Hor _AP_ 300 'tribus Anticyris caput insanabile' should be taken to mean
that all three places were famous for hellebore, but ps-Acron glosses
_tribus Anticyris_ as 'tribus ... potionibus [_Keller_: potus _codd_]
... aut multo elleboro', which Brink accepts, citing Hor _Sat_ II iii
82-83 'danda est ellebori multo pars maxima auaris; / nescio an
Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem' and Persius IV 16 'Anticyras
... sorbere meracas' for the metonymy, and Petronius 88 4 'Chrysippus, ut
ad inuentionem sufficeret, ter elleboro animum detersit' for the number.
The last two places at least seem to have been known for their
hellebore; compare Pliny _NH_ XXV 49 'plurimum autem nascitur in Oete
monte et optimum uno eius loco circa Pyram' and XXV 52 'Drusum quoque
apud nos ... constat hoc medicamento liberatum comitiali morbo ['epilepsy']
in Anticyra insula'.
=57. TV QVOQVE FAC TIMEAS.= That is, his friend should start to behave
better towards him. For a similar exhortation at the end of a poem of
reproach, see _Tr_ I viii 49-50 'effice peccati ne sim memor huius, et
illo / officium laudem quo queror ore tuum'; even in the _Ibis_ there is
a veiled offer of reconciliation: 'et neque nomen in hoc nec dicam facta
libello, / teque breui qui sis dissimulare sinam. / postmodo, _si
perges_, in te mihi liber iambus / tincta Lycambeo sanguine tela dabit'
(51-54).
=58. DVM LOQVERIS.= Compare _Am_ I xi 15 'dum loquor, hora fugit' and Hor
_Carm_ I xi 7-8 'dum loquimur, fugerit inuida / aetas'; Nisbet and
Hubbard cite _ad loc_ Persius V 153 and Petronius 99 3, noting that the
_sententia_ is not found before Horace.
IV. To Sextus Pompeius
In this second poem addressed to Sextus Pompeius, Ovid celebrates the
news that Pompeius is to be _consul ordinarius_ in the following year.
As Pompeius was consul in 14, Ovid probably wrote the poem shortly after
the election of magistrates in 13.
Poems iv and v form a pair, the first being an account of Ovid's
reaction on learning of Pompeius' election, the second being a letter to
the new consul. Both poems have points of contact with poem ix, a letter
of congratulation sent to Graecinus on his becoming suffect consul.
The poem begins with general reflections that no sadness is absolute,
which prepare for the description of how the news came to Ovid of
Pompeius' election (1-20). He pictures to himself the ceremonies that
will take place (21-42), and ends with the hope that in the midst of the
festivities Pompeius will still be able to remember him (43-50).