et fuge turbato tecta nefanda pede!', _detecte_ should similarly be
read. _Detecte_ better explains why Hymenaeus should flee; also,
Hymenaeus has not been deceived, for it appears from 61-62 'spes bona
det uires; fratris [_Palmer_: fratri _codd_] nam nupta futura es; /
illius de quo mater, et uxor eris' that Macareus had fully intended to
marry Canace.
=16. SPEM NOSTRAM TERRAS DESERVITQVE SIMVL.= The _-que_ should of course
be taken with _terras_.
This is a typical instance of Ovid's love of _syllepsis_, of giving a
single verb two objects (or more), each of which uses a different
meaning of the verb. Compare, from many instances, ix 90 'nec cum
fortuna mens quoque uersa mea est', _Her_ VII 9 'certus es, Aenea, cum
foedere soluere naues', _Met_ II 601-2 'et pariter uultusque deo
plectrumque colorque / excidit', _Met_ VIII 177, _Fast_ III 225, _Fast_
III 857 'hic [the messenger of Ino] ... corruptus cum semine', _Fast_ V
652 'montibus his ponunt spemque laremque suum', and _EP_ II vii 84
'meque simul serua iudiciumque tuum'.
=16. DESERVITQVE.= Ovid does not use _deserere_ with things as object
until his poetry of exile: compare _Tr_ I ix 65 'nec amici _desere_
causam'. Instances in the later _Heroides_ at XV 155 'Sappho _desertos_
cantat amores' and XVI 260 'orantis medias _deseruere_ preces'; in both
cases the objects are virtually equivalent to persons.
=17. TAMEN.= 'In spite of my dejection'.
=17-18. DE CAELITE ... RECENTI ... CARMEN.= The poem does not survive. At
xiii 25-32 Ovid describes a similar poem on the apotheosis of Augustus,
written in Getic.
=17. RECENTI.= 'New, freshly created'. Used in similar contexts at _Met_
IV 434-35 'umbraeque _recentes_ ... simulacraque functa sepulcris', VIII
488 'fraterni manes animaeque _recentes_', X 48-49 'Eurydicenque uocant:
umbras erat illa _recentes_ / inter', and especially XV 844-46 'Venus
... Caesaris eripuit membris nec in aera solui / passa _recentem_ animam
caelestibus intulit astris'.
=18. VESTRA= = 'of you [plural] at Rome'.
=18. CARMEN IN ORA DEDI.= 'I sent a poem for you to recite from and speak
of'. _Dare_ meaning 'send' is usually restricted to use with _litteras_
(_OLD do_ 10; compare Cic _Att_ II i 12 & IX viiB 1, Livy XXVII 16 13).
For _in ora_, compare Catullus XL 5 'an ut peruenias _in ora_ uulgi
[_sc_ hoc facis]?', Hor _Ep_ I iii 9 ' ... Titius, Romana breui uenturus
_in ora_', Prop III ix 32 (to Maecenas) 'et uenies tu quoque _in ora_
uirum', _Tr_ V vii 29-30 'non tamen ingratum est quodcumque obliuia
nostri / impedit et profugi nomen _in ora_ refert', and Livy II 36 3.
The only instance I have found of the expression being used of a thing
rather than a person other than this passage is also from Ovid: 'illud
opus ... nunc incorrectum populi peruenit _in ora_, / in populi quicquam
si tamen ore mei est' (_Tr_ III xiv 21-24). Neither passage would have
seemed strange to the Romans, given the close identification between
poet and work: compare Ennius' famous 'uolito uiuo' per ora uirum' and
_Met_ XV 878 'ore legar populi'.
=19. QVAE PIETAS.= 'This demonstration of loyalty'.
=20. SACRAE ... DOMVS.= Augustus' house called 'magni ... Iouis ... domum' at
_Tr_ III i 38; compare as well _EP_ III i 135 'domus Augusti, Capitoli
more colenda'.
=20. MITIOR IRA.= Compare _EP_ III iii 83 'pone metus igitur: _mitescet_
Caesaris _ira_'.
=21. LIQVIDO POSSVM IVRARE.= 'I can swear unambiguously'. The only other
instance of this sense in verse apparently III iii 49-50 'scis tamen et
_liquido_ iuratus dicere possis / non me legitimos sollicitasse toros'.
From prose compare Cic _II Verr_ IV 124 'confirmare hoc _liquido_,
iudices, possum, ualuas magnificentiores ... nullas umquam ullo in templo
fuisse', _II Verr_ III 136, _Fam_ XI 27 7 'alia sunt quae _liquido_
negare soleam', and Sen _Ben_ VII 9 5.
=22. NON DVBIA ... NOTA.= The phrase logically belongs with the preceding
line: on the firm evidence of Brutus' past behaviour (described in
23-42), Ovid can confidently state that Brutus prays for his
restoration. _Non dubia_ by litotes for _certa_ (for which see _Her_ XX
207 'te ... nimium miror, _nota certa_ furoris'); _nota_ 'tangible sign,
evidence' similarly used at _Met_ I 761 (_generis_). FIDE (_LTM2ulF2ul_)
is an obvious gloss for _nota_.
=23. VERVM ... AMOREM.= 'Sincere love' (Wheeler); compare _Met_ V 61
'_ueri_ non dissimulator _amoris'_ and _Tr_ IV iv 71 'et comes exemplum
_ueri_ Phoceus _amoris_'.
=25. TVAS ... LACRIMAS NOSTRASQVE.= The tears of Ovid's friends at his
departure described at _Tr_ III iv 39-40, _EP_ I ix 17-18, and _EP_ II
xi 9-10 (to Rufus) 'grande uoco lacrimas meritum quibus ora rigabas, /
cum mea concreto sicca dolore forent'.
=26. PASSVROS POENAM CREDERET ESSE DVOS.= Compare _Tr_ V iv 37-38 (Ovid's
letter speaking) 'quamuis attonitus, sensit tamen omnia, _nec te / se
minus aduersis indoluisse suis_'.
=27. LENEM TE MISERIS GENVIT NATURA.= Compare Cic _Tusc_ II 11 'te
_natura_ excelsum quendam uidelicet et altum et humana despicientem
_genuit_' and Ennius _Ann_ 112 Vahlen3 (of Romulus) 'qualem te patriae
custodem di _genuerunt_'.
=29. MARTE FORENSI.= Similar metaphor for the lawcourts at _Fast_ IV 188
'et fora _Marte suo_ litigiosa uacent', _Tr_ III xii 17-18 'ludis /
cedunt uerbosi garrula _bella_ fori' and _Tr_ IV x 17-18 'frater
... fortia uerbosi natus ad _arma_ fori'. According to Ovid real wounds
were suffered in the forum at Tomis: 'adde quod iniustum rigido ius
dicitur ense, / dantur et in medio uulnera saepe foro' (_Tr_ V x 43-44).
=30. POSSE TVO PERAGI VIX PVTET ORE REOS.= Similar language at _Tr_ I i
23-24 'protinus admonitus repetet mea crimina lector, / _et peragar
populi publicus ore reus_'. _Peragere_ refers to the prosecution of a
defendant carried to its end, but does not imply success for the
prosecutor: see Pliny _Ep_ III ix 30 and Ulpian _Dig_ XLVIII v 2 1 'non
alias ad mulierem possit peruenire, nisi reum peregerit [_sc_
adulterii]; peregisse autem non alias quis uidetur, _nisi et
condemnauerit_'.
=31. QVAMVIS PVGNARE VIDENTVR= _BMFH_. Given the dependent _pugnare_, it
seems hardly possible to read the VIDETVR given by the other
manuscripts. The same problem arises at _Met_ VIII 463-64 '_pugnant_
materque sororque, / et diuersa trahunt unum duo nomina pectus', where
the manuscripts divide between _pugnant_ and _pugnat_; for an
unambiguous parallel, see _Her_ XIX 173 'nunc, male res iunctae, calor
et reuerentia _pugnant_'.
Heinsius further suggested deleting _est_ from the preceding _scilicet
eiusdem est_ 'cum tribus libris', but the change in number does not seem
unduly harsh.
=32. SVPPLICIBVS FACILEM.= See on iv 30 _faciles in tua uota_, and compare
_Am_ II iii 5-6 (to his girl's eunuch) 'mollis in obsequium _facilisque
rogantibus_ esses, / si tuus in quauis praetepuisset amor' and _Her_ XVI
197-98 'da modo te _facilem_, nec dedignare maritum ... Phrygem'.
Ovid is here indirectly referring to his own situation: compare _EP_ III
iii 107-8 'at tua _supplicibus_ domus est adsueta _iuuandis_, / _in
quorum numero me precor esse uelis_'.
=33. LEGIS VINDICTA.= 'The exacting of punishment on behalf of the law'.
The law has been broken, and therefore demands retribution; Brutus acts
on its behalf. For the sense of the genitive compare Val Max I 1 ext 3:
(Dionysius of Syracuse committed many acts of sacrilege, but punishment
was visited on him after his death in the form of his son's ignominious
career) 'lento enim gradu ad _uindictam sui_ diuina procedit ira
tarditatemque supplicii grauitate pensat'.
=33. LEGIS ... SEVERAE.= _Seuerae_ here serves as a standard epithet and
has no such special force as at _EP_ III iii 57-58 'uetiti ... _lege
seuera_ / credor adulterii composuisse notas'.
=34. VERBA VELVT TAETRVM SINGVLA VIRVS HABENT.= The same image at _EP_ III
iii 105-6 'ergo alii noceant miseris optentque timeri, / _tinctaque
mordaci spicula felle gerant_'.
=34. TAETRVM= _R. J. Tarrant_ TINCTV _Ehwald_ TINCTVM _codd_. _Tinctum_ is
impossible: if the word were used, it would have to go with _uerba_.
Compare _Ibis_ 53-54 'liber iambus / _tincta_ Lycambeo sanguine _tela_
dabit', _Ibis_ 491 '[tamque cadas domitus ...] quam qui _dona_ tulit
Nesseo _tincta_ ueneno', _EP_ III i 26 _'tinctaque_ mortifera tabe
_sagitta_ madet', and _EP_ III iii 106 _'tinctaque_ mordaci _spicula_
felle gerant'. Ehwald's _tinctu_ is linguistically and palaeographically
somewhat better than Merkel's _tinguat_: for similar corruptions compare
_Fast_ III 612 'flet tamen _admonitu_ motus, Elissa, tui', where many
manuscripts read _admonitus_, and _Tr_ I iv 9 'pinea texta sonant pulsu
[_Rothmaler_: pulsi _codd_], stridore rudentes'. Even so, 'Each of your
words carries poison, as though it had been dipped in it' seems awkward.
For Professor Tarrant's _taetrum_ compare Lucretius I 936 'absinthia
taetra', _Dirae_ 23 'taetra uenena', and _Hal_ 131 'nigrum ... uirus'.
=34. VIRVS HABENT.= Compare _Tr_ IV i 84 'aut telo _uirus habente_ perit'
& III x 64 'nam uolucri ferro tinctile _uirus inest_'.
=35-36. HOSTIBVS EVENIAT QUAM SIS VIOLENTVS IN ARMIS / SENTIRE.= _Hostibus
eueniat_ is a common phrase in Ovid: compare _Am_ II x 16-17 '_hostibus
eueniat_ uita seuera meis! / _hostibus eueniat_ uiduo dormire cubili',
_Am_ III xi 16, _AA_ III 247, _Fast_ III 493-94 'at, puto, praeposita
est fuscae mihi Candida paelex! / _eueniat nostris hostibus_ ille dolor
[_recc quidam_: color _codd plerique_]!', and _Her_ XVI 219-20 (Paris to
Helen) '_hostibus eueniant_ conuiuia talia nostris, / experior posito
qualia saepe mero!'.
=37. QVAE TIBI TAM TENVI CVRA LIMANTVR.= 'Which are sharpened by you with
such painstaking care'. For this meaning of _limare_ compare Pliny _NH_
VIII 71 'cornu ad saxa _limato_' and Cic _Brut_ 236 '[M. Piso ...]
habuit a natura genus quoddam _acuminis_, quod etiam arte _limauerat_'.
=37-38. VT OMNES / ISTIVS INGENVI PECTORIS ESSE NEGENT.= 'So that all
would deny that they are the product of your kindly spirit'; for this
sense of _ingenuus_ compare Catullus LXVIII 37-38 'quod cum ita sit,
nolim statuas nos mente maligna / id facere aut _animo_ non satis
_ingenuo_'. _Ingenui pectoris_ is my correction for the manuscripts'
INGENIVM CORPORIS, which could only mean 'so that all would deny that
the talent of your body exists'; Ovid can hardly be identifying the
_tela_ of 36 with Brutus' _ingenium_. Wheeler translates 'On these [the
missiles of your tongue] you use the file with such extreme care that
none would recognize in them your real nature', and André 'que personne
ne croirait qu'un tel esprit habite ton corps'; neither translation fits
the Latin. Shackleton Bailey's INGENIVM NOMINIS still leaves unsolved
the problem of _ingenium_.
The corruption of _ingenui_ to _ingenium_ (or rather, _ingeniU_) is
simple enough; and the interchange of _pectus_ and _corpus_ is a common
error.
=42. NOTITIAM ... INFITIATA.= _Infitiari_ used similarly at _EP_ I vii 27
'nec tuus est genitor nos _infitiatus_ amicos'.
=43. IMMEMOR ... IMMEMOR.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out the similar
epanalepsis at Hor _Ep_ I xi 9 '_oblitusque_ meorum, _obliuiscendus_ et
illis'.
=44. SOLLICITI= _BCM2ul_ SOLLICITE _M1FHILT_. The adjective with adverbial
meaning would be especially liable to corruption. The same construction
at _Am_ II iv 25 'dulce canit flectitque _facillima_ uocem'.
=44. LEVASTIS= _Barberinus lat. 26, saec xiii_ LEVATIS _BCMFHILT_. If 44
were taken in isolation, _leuatis_, which most editors print, would be
acceptable enough; compare _Tr_ IV i 49 ' iure deas igitur ueneror mala
nostra _leuantes_' and _EP_ III vi 13-14 'nec scelus admittas si
consoleris amicum, / mollibus et uerbis aspera fata _leues_'. But it is
clear from 42 'est infitiata' and 49 'doluistis' that Ovid is speaking
of the time of his banishment, and so _leuastis_ must be read. Compare
_Tr_ I v 75 'me deus oppressit, nullo _mala nostra leuante_', _EP_ II
vii 61-62 'recta fides comitum poterat _mala nostra leuare_: / ditata
est spoliis perfida turba meis', and _EP_ III ii 25-26 'pars estis pauci
melior, qui rebus in artis / ferre mihi nullam turpe putastis [_uar_
putatis] opem'.
=45-50.= Compare the listing of _adynata_ at the end of v (41-44), which
again illustrates Ovid's eternal gratitude (to Sextus Pompeius). Here
the personal detail (_hic nimium nobis conterminus Hister_) makes the
_adynaton_ reflect Ovid's own circumstances.
=46. DE MARE.= The same form of the ablative at _Tr_ V ii 20 'pleno de
mare'. Compare Ovid's frequent use of the metrically convenient ablative
in _-e_ of third-declension adjectives.
=47-48.= Thyestes' feast cited as a proverbial example at _Met_ XV 62
(Pythagoras is urging a vegetarian diet) 'neue Thyesteis cumulemus
uiscera mensis', _Tr_ II 391-92 'si non Aeropen [_Politianus_: Meropen
_uel_ Europen _codd_] frater sceleratus amasset, / auersos Solis non
legeremus equos', Lucan I 534-44, and Martial III xlv 1-2 'Fugerit an
Phoebus mensas cenamque Thyestae / ignoro: fugimus nos, Ligurine, tuam'.
=47. VTQVE ... SI= = _et, quasi_. All of the instances of the idiom cited
by Lewis & Short _ut_ II A 2e and _OLD ut_ 8d are from prose, except for
Ter _Eun_ 117 and Lucilius 330 Marx. In none of these passages is _ut_
separated from _si_: the hyperbaton elevates the phrase and makes more
natural its use in verse.
=49. QVI ME DOLVISTIS ADEMPTVM.= 'Who mourned my exile' is the meaning
imposed by context, but the phrase would usually mean 'who mourned my
death': compare _EP_ I ix 41 'iure igitur lacrimas Celso libamus
_adempto_', and the similar use of _raptus_ for the exiled Ovid at xi 5
and xvi 1. For Ovid's considering his exile as his death, see xvi 1-4,
_Tr_ III iii 53 'cum patriam amisi, tunc me periisse putato', and _EP_ I
ix 56 'et nos extinctis adnumerare potest'.
VII. To Vestalis
Vestalis, a younger son of Cottius, monarch of a small kingdom in the
Alps (see at 29 [p 253]), was _primipilaris_ of the legion of the area
(perhaps the _V Macedonica_). He had just been named administrator of
the region around Tomis (see at 1); as an important local official, he
was a natural choice as recipient of one of Ovid's letters.
The poem starts with a description of the harsh climate of Tomis, to
which Vestalis along with Ovid can now testify, and of the savagery of
the inhabitants (1-12). This serves as a bridge to a compliment to
Vestalis on being named _primipilaris_ (13-18), and to the main body of
the poem, a long and rather conventional description of how Vestalis led
the final attack in the recovery of Aegissos (19-52). In the concluding
distich Ovid declares that he has rendered immortal the deeds of
Vestalis.
=1. ORAS= (_CI_) seems more suited to the nature of Vestalis' command than
VNDAS, the reading of the other manuscripts. After _Euxinas_, corruption
from _oras_ to _undas_ would be very easy, the inverse less so. Ovid
does not elsewhere use _Euxinae orae_, the usual substantives with
_Euxinus_ being _aquae_, _mare_, _fretum_, and, closest in meaning,
_litus_, for which see iii 51 'litus ad Euxinum ... ibis', _Tr_ V ii
63-64 'iussus ad Euxini deformia litora ueni / aequoris', and
_Tr_ V iv 1.
=2. POSITIS ... SVB AXE= in effect acts as a single adjective meaning
'northern'; _axe_ plays a subordinate role and so does not require an
epithet. The phrasing may be based on Accius 566-67 Ribbeck2 '[ora ...]
_sub axe posita_ ad Stellas septem, unde horrifer / Aquilonis stridor
gelidas molitur niues'. _Lycaonio ... sub axe_ at _Tr_ III ii 2.
=3. ASPICIS EN PRAESENS.= Compare ix 81-86, where Ovid invites Graecinus
to ask his brother Flaccus, recently stationed in the Pontus, about
conditions of life in the area.
=3. IACEAMVS.= 'Lie suffering': similarly used at _EP_ I iii 49 'orbis in
extremi _iaceo_ desertus harenis', I vii 5, II ix 4 & III i 85 'ut minus
infesta _iaceam_ regione labora'.
=4. FALSA ... QVERI.= Perhaps a common phrase: Professor R. J. Tarrant
cites Sallust _Iug_ 1 '_Falso queritur_ de natura sua genus humanum'.
=5-6. ACCEDET ... FIDES.= 'People will believe'. Compare Cic _Diu_ I 5
'Cratippusque ... isdem rebus _fidem tribuit_, reliqua diuinationis
genera reiecit' and Tac _Germ_ 3 4 'ex ingenio quisque _demat uel addat
fidem_' 'each can believe or disbelieve this according to his
disposition'.
=5-6. NON IRRITA ... FIDES= = _rata fides_, a phrase meaning
'trustworthiness', _rata_ having no special force. Compare _Met_ III 341
'prima _fide_ [genitive] ... _ratae_ temptamina', _Tr_ I v 49-50 'multa
credibili tulimus _ratamque_, / quamuis acciderint, non habitura
_fidem_', and _Tr_ III x 35-36 'cum sint praemia falsi / nulla, _ratam_
debet testis habere _fidem_'. Note the hyperbaton in all these passages.
=6. ALPINIS IVVENIS REGIBVS ORTE.= See at 29 _progenies alti fortissima
Donni_ (p 253). For the language, compare Hor _Carm_ I i 1 'Maecenas
atauis edite regibus'.
=7. IPSE VIDES CERTE GLACIE CONCRESCERE PONTVM.= At ix 85-86 Ovid tells
Graecinus to ask his brother Flaccus 'mentiar, an coeat duratus frigore
Pontus, / et teneat glacies iugera multa freti'.
Similar language at _Tr_ III x 37-38 'uidimus ingentem glacie consistere
pontum, / lubricaque [_codd_: lubrica cum _fort scribendum_] immotas
testa premebat aquas'.
=8. IPSE VIDES RIGIDO STANTIA VINA GELV.= The same picture more explicitly
given at _Tr_ III x 23-24 'nudaque consistunt, formam seruantia testae,
/ uina, nec hausta meri, sed data frusta bibunt'.
=9-10. IPSE VIDES ONERATA FEROX VT DVCAT IAZYX / PER MEDIAS HISTRI
PLAVSTRA BVBVLCVS AQVAS.= Similar descriptions at _Tr_ III x 33-34
'perque nouos pontes, subterlabentibus undis, / _ducunt Sarmatici
barbara plaustra boues_' and _Tr_ III xii 29-30 'nec mare concrescit
glacie, nec ut ante per Histrum / stridula Sauromates _plaustra
bubulcus_ agit'.
=9. IAZYX.= The _Iazyges Sarmatae_ are mentioned by Pliny (_NH_ IV 80) and
by Strabo (VII 3 17), who describes them as one of several tribes
living between the Borysthenes (Dnepr) and the Danube. They are also
listed by Pompey, under the name of 'Iazyges Metanastae', the Wandering
Iazyges (_Geog_ III 7); the 'Iazyges' he describes as living along the
shore of the Maeotis (III 5 19). Tacitus mentions the nation at _Ann_
XII 29 4 (Vannius, king of the Suebi, is under attack) 'ipsi manus
propria pedites, eques e Sarmaticis Iazygibus erat' and at _Hist_ III 5
(the _principes Sarmatarum Iazygum_ are enlisted to ensure the defence
of Moesia in the absence of the regular troops; their offer to raise
infantry as well as supplying their usual force of cavalry is rejected
because of the fear of future treachery).
The name of the tribe was difficult metrically, so here Ovid calls them
_Iazyges_, while at _Tr_ III xii 30 (cited in the previous note) he
calls them _Sauromatae_. At _EP_ I ii 77 he solves the difficulty
through hendiadys: 'quid _Sauromatae_ faciant, quid _Iazyges_ acres'.
=11. ASPICIS.= Ovid here uses verbs of seeing in an interesting way. At 7
and 9 he has _uides_; then _aspicis_ suggests continuity but at the same
time movement toward a new subject, and with a military detail
introduced so as to introduce Vestalis' experience of war; then in 13-14
the emphasis is changed by the contrary-to-fact past optative _utinam
... spectata fuisset_.
=11. ASPICIS ET MITTI SVB ADVNCO TOXICA FERRO.= 'You behold how poison is
hurled on the barbed steel' (Wheeler). The _telum_ of 12 should be taken
to be a spear, since _mittere_ never seems to be used of arrows. At
_Ibis_ 135 the _hasta_ is mentioned as the special weapon of the
Iazyges.
=11. ADVNCO.= The spear had hooks. Compare _Met_ VI 252-53 'quod [_sc_
ferrum] simul eductum est, pars et pulmonis _in hamis_ / eruta cumque
anima cruor est effusus in auras', where Bömer cites among other
passages Curtius IX 5 23 'corpore ... nudato animaduertunt _hamos inesse
telo_ nec aliter id sine pernicie corporis extrahi posse quam ut secando
uulnus augerent' and Prop II xii 9 'et merito _hamatis_ manus est armata
sagittis'.
=13-14. ATQVE VTINAM PARS HAEC TANTUM SPECTATA FVISSET, / NON ETIAM
PROPRIO COGNITA MARTE TIBI.= A similar opposition at _Met_ III 247-48 (of
Actaeon) _'uelletque uidere, / non etiam sentire_ canum fera facta
suorum'.
=15. TENDITVR= _Owen_ TENDITIS _codd_. The number of _tenditis_ is
inappropriate to the context. Owen's _tenditur_, independently
conjectured two years later by Ehwald (_KB_ 84), seems a somewhat more
elegant solution to the problem than Merkel's TENDISTI. It puts the
weight of the line on _ad primum ... pilum_ rather than on Vestalis
himself; the pentameter, with its emphasis on the _honor_, suggests that
this is right.
=15. PRIMVM PILVM.= Compare _Am_ III viii 27-28 'proque bono uersu
_primum_ deducite _pilum_! / nox [_A. Y. Campbell_: hoc _uel_ hic
_codd_] tibi, si belles [_Madvig_: uelles _codd_], possit, Homere,
dari'. The _primipilaris_ was the commander of the first century of the
first cohort of the Roman legion, and hence first in rank among the
legion's centurions.
=17. PLENIS= is the reading of all but two of the manuscripts collated.
For this sense of _plenus_ ('abundant'), compare _Am_ I viii 56 '_plena_
uenit canis de grege praeda lupis', _Nux_ 91-92 'illa [the tree that is
not near a road] suo quaecumque tulit dare dona colono / et _plenos_
fructus adnumerare potest', Hor _Sat_ I i 57, and Cic _Sex Rosc_ 6
'alienam pecuniam tam _plenam_ atque praeclaram'. Ehwald read PLENVS
(_FacI_), joining _ingens_ with _uirtus_ in the following line, arguing
that the honour would not seem a great one to a member of a royal
family. But Ovid devoted four lines to describing Vestalis' new rank: he
must have believed that Vestalis would consider it a very great honour
indeed. As well, if _ingens_ is connected with _titulus_, _uirtus
... maior_ gains point.
=17. PLENIS ... FRVCTIBVS.= For the wealth of the _primipilaris_, see _Am_
III viii 9-10 'ecce recens diues parto per uulnera censu / praefertur
nobis sanguine pastus eques'. In that poem the newly-rich
_primipilaris_, Ovid's rival in love, is given a character very
different from that of Vestalis.
=17. INGENS= is used at ix 65 of another office, the consulship.
=18. IPSA TAMEN VIRTVS ORDINE MAIOR ERIT.= A similar sentiment at _EP_ II
ix 11-14 (to king Cotys) 'regia, crede mihi, res est succurrere lapsis
... fortunam decet hoc istam ['this befits your position'], _quae maxima
cum sit, / esse potest animo uix tamen aequa tuo_'.
=19. NON NEGAT HOC HISTER.= For the device of calling to witness the
scenes of military exploits compare Catullus LXIV 357 'testis erit
magnis uirtutibus unda Scamandri' and the passages there cited by
Fordyce. For _non negat_ Professor A. Dalzell cites Catullus IV 6-7
'negat ... negare'.
=20. PVNICEAM GETICO SANGVINE FECIT AQVAM.= Similar language at ix 79-80
(of Flaccus) 'hic raptam Troesmin celeri uirtute recepit, / _infecitque
fero sanguine Danuuium_'.
=21. AEGISSOS.= The city, the modern Tulcea, is situated about 110
kilometres directly north of Tomis (Constanta) on the southernmost
branch of the Danube, 60 kilometres from the mouth of the river. At _EP_
I viii 11-20 Ovid describes the recapture of the city from the Getes;
evidently the city had been lost once again.
_Aegissos_ is the spelling certified by three of the five sources cited
by Mommsen (_CIL_ III page 1009), namely Hierocles _Synecdemus_ 637 14,
_Notitia dignitatum_ 99, and Procopius _Aed_ IV 7 20. The _Itinerarium
Antoninianum_ (226 2) offers _Aegiso_ (ablative); Ehwald (_KB_ 41),
citing Mommsen, took this as sufficient justification for retaining the
single _s_ of the _Ex Ponto_ manuscripts, although the now lost
Strasbourg manuscript had _egissus_ at I viii 13 (and an indication of
an alternative ending in _-os_). The _Ravenna Cosmography_ (4 5),
Mommsen's final source, reads _Aegypsum_.