recipient of _EP_ I vi, an appeal for his assistance, and of _EP_ II vi,
a request that he be more lenient towards Ovid's faults and continue to
assist him. He must have been an old friend of Ovid, for _Am_ II x is
addressed to him ('Tu mihi, tu certe, memini, Graecine, negabas / uno
posse aliquem tempore amare duas'), and he was clearly a literary patron
(_EP_ I vi 7-8 'artibus ingenuis, _quarum tibi maxima cura est_, /
pectora mollescunt asperitasque fugit').
The poem begins with Ovid's wish that his letter might arrive on the day
Graecinus becomes consul (1-4). He imagines himself present when
Graecinus enters his magistracy; since he will not be there, he will at
least in his mind imagine Graecinus carrying out his consular functions
(5-56). He then speaks of Graecinus' brother Flaccus, who will succeed
him as _consul ordinarius_ for 17: the two brothers will take pleasure
in each other's office (57-65). He describes the brothers' devotion to
Tiberius, and asks for their assistance in obtaining his removal from
Tomis (65-74). The mention of his exile serves as a bridge to the topic
of his life in Tomis. Flaccus can attest to the hardships Ovid endures,
since he was recently stationed in the area (75-86). Once Graecinus has
learned of these hardships from Flaccus, he should ask what Ovid's
reputation in Tomis is. He will learn that Ovid is well liked, and has
even received public honours (87-104). His loyalty to the imperial
family is well known: Flaccus may have heard of this, Tiberius will
eventually learn of it, but Augustus has certainly observed it from
heaven; Ovid's poems are perhaps inducing Augustus to yield to his
prayers (105-34).
The poem is the longest in the book, and combines several almost
unrelated sections dealing with a number of subjects. The first section
of the poem, the celebration of Graecinus' nomination to the consulship,
is very heavily indebted to IV iv, Ovid's first poem on Sextus Pompeius'
election to the consulship. The section detailing Flaccus' presence near
Tomis owes something to IV vii, the letter to Vestalis. The description
of Ovid's reputation in Tomis is new, and shows a softening of his
attitude towards his fellow-townsmen, but the description of his piety
to the imperial family owes much to III ii, a letter of thanks to Cotta
for the gift of images of the members of the family. The poem's
discursiveness and large number of derived elements suggest a hasty
composition.
=1. GRAECINE.= Graecinus became a _frater Arualis_ in 21 (_CIL_ VI 2023);
the C. Pomponius Graecinus of _CIL_ XI 5809 (Iguvium) seems not to have
survived to enter the Senate (Syme _HO_ 74-75). Graecinus is not
mentioned in literary sources apart from Ovid, but his brother Flaccus
was rather more famous: see at 75 (p 308).
=3. DI FACIANT= looks like a colloquial expression. Other instances at iv
47-48 '_di faciant_ aliquo subeat tibi tempore nostrum / nomen', _Tr_ V
xiii 17, and Prop II ix 24.
=3. AVRORAM= here is virtually equivalent to _diem_; it is not found
elsewhere in the poetry of exile, but compare _Fast_ I 461 & II 267-68
'tertia post idus nudos aurora Lupercos / aspicit'.
=3. OCCVRRAT.= 'Arrive', as commonly: compare Cic _Phil_ I 9, Livy XXXVII
50 7 '_ad comitiorum tempus occurrere_ non posse', and Pliny _Ep_ VI
xxxiv 3 'uellem Africanae [_sc_ pantherae] quas coemeras plurimas _ad
praefinitum diem occurrissent_'.
=4. BIS SENOS= = _duodecim_, metrically difficult because of its
initial three consecutive short vowels. Roman poets avoid using the
usual names for numbers above _nouem_, with the obvious exceptions of
_centum_ and _mille_; sometimes, as here, metrical exigencies left them
with no alternative. For _bis seni_ (_sex_) Tarrant at Sen _Ag_ 812 _bis
seno ... labore_ cites Ennius _Ann_ 323 Vahlen2, _Ecl_ I 43, _Aen_ I 393,
Prop II xx 7, _Met_ VIII 243, _Fast_ I 28, Sen _Tro_ 386 & _Oed_ 251,
and from Greek Callimachus _Aetia_ I fr. 23 19 Pfeiffer.
=6. TVRBAE.= Compare iv 27 'cernere iam uideor rumpi paene atria _turba_'.
=7. IN DOMINI SVBEAT PARTES.= _Partes_ = 'function'; see at ii 27 _uix
uenit ad partes ... Musa_ (p 170). For _subeat_ 'undertake' compare
Quintilian X i 71 'declamatoribus ... necesse est secundum condicionem
controuersiarum plures _subire personas_' and the passages cited at _OLD
subeo_ 7b.
=8. FESTO= _Burman_ IVSSO _BCMFHIL_ IVSTO _T, sicut coni Merkel_. _Iusso_
has been explained since Merula as meaning that Ovid hopes the letter
will arrive on the day it is told to; but the word seems rather
strange, and lacks the point it has in the passages cited by Ehwald
(_KB_ 64), _AA_ II 223-24 'iussus adesse foro, _iussa_ maturius _hora_ /
fac semper uenias, nec nisi serus abi' and Prop IV vi 63-64 (of
Cleopatra) 'illa petit Nilum cumba male nixa fugaci, / hoc unum, _iusso_
non moritura _die_' (she would commit suicide at a time of her own
choosing), or at _Aen_ X 444 (cited by Owen in 1894) 'socii cesserunt
_aequore iusso_', where _iusso_ stands by hypallage for _iussi_. The
meaning of _iusto_ is inappropriate for the present passage, as will be
seen from Suet _Tib_ 4 2 'retentis ultra _iustum tempus_ ['the time
allowed'] insignibus'. Burman's conjecture _festo_ was not placed in the
text even by its author, but it seems a reasonable solution to the
difficulty. For it Burman cited 56 'hic quoque te _festum_ consule
_tempus_ agam'; see as well _Fast_ I 79-80 'uestibus intactis Tarpeias
itur in arces, / et populus _festo_ concolor ipse suo est'. The
corruption of so straightforward an epithet may seem unlikely, but
compare Prop IV xi 65-66 'uidimus et fratrem sellam geminasse curulem; /
consule quo, _festo_ [_Koppiers_: facto _codd_] _tempore_, rapta soror'.
=9. ATQVI= _unus e duobus Hafniensibus Heinsii_. The ATQVE of _BCMFHILT_
is possibly right. For the adversative sense here required, _OLD_
_atque_ 9 cites Plautus _Aul_ 287-88 '_atque ego_ istuc, Anthrax,
aliouorsum dixeram, / non istuc quod tu insimulas', _Mer_ 742, and Ter
_Heaut_ 189 (apparently a misprint for 187 'atque etiam nunc tempus
est') from comedy, but from the classical period only Cic _Att_ VI i 2
'ac putaram paulo secus' and _Fam_ XIV iv 5 '_atque ego_, qui te
confirmo, ipse me non possum', and instances of _ac tamen_ at _Fam_ VII
xxiii 1, Caesar _BC_ III 87 4, and Tac _Ann_ III 72. In view of the
doubtful status of adversative _atque_ at the time of Ovid and the ease
of corruption of _atqui_ to _atque_ I have followed Heinsius in reading
_atqui_. Heinsius similarly restored _atqui_ from his _codex
Richelianus_ for the other manuscripts' _atque_ at _Tr_ II 121-24
'corruit haec ... sub uno ... crimine lapsa domus. / _atqui_ ea sic lapsa
est ut surgere, si modo laesi / ematuruerit Caesaris ira, queat'; and
_atque_ is found for the correct _atqui_ in some manuscripts at Hor
_Sat_ I ix 52-53 '"magnum narras, uix credibile!" "atqui / sic habet"'
and _EP_ I ii 33-34 '_atqui_ / si noles sanus, curres hydropicus', and
in most manuscripts at _Ep_ I vii 1-5 'Quinque dies tibi pollicitus me
rure futurum / Sextilem totum mendax desideror. _atqui_, / si me uiuere
uis sanum recteque ualentem, / quam mihi das aegro, dabis aegrotare
timenti, / Maecenas, ueniam'.
=10. SINCERO.= 'Unbroken'.
=12. SALVTANDI MVNERE ... TVI.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me
the notably prosaic use of the defining gerundive.
=13. GRATATVS= has the force of a present participle, as is shown by _cum
dulcibus ... uerbis_; André mistranslates 'après t'avoir félicité, je
t'embrasserai avec des mots tendres'. The perfect participle of deponent
verbs takes past or present meaning indifferently, according to
context.
=16. VT CAPERET FASTVS VIX DOMVS VLLA MEOS= seems strange, as does
Némethy's explanation 'poeta elatus superbia tectum uertice tangere sibi
uidetur'. Perhaps the distich means something like 'on that day I would
be filled with a pride which no ancestry, no matter how illustrious,
could justify'.
=16. FASTVS.= 'Haughtiness'--Wheeler. The same sense at _AA_ II 241-42
'exue _fastus_, / curam mansuri quisquis amoris habes' and _Aen_ III
326-27 (Andromache speaking) 'stirpis Achilleae _fastus_ iuuenemque
superbum ... tulimus'. Ovid generally uses _fastus_ of the arrogance of
women to their suitors (_Am_ II xvii 9, _Met_ XIV 762, _Fast_ I 419);
the word is not found elsewhere in the poetry of exile.
=17. DVMQVE LATVS SANCTI CINGIT TIBI TVRBA SENATVS.= Compare iv 41 'inde
domum repetes toto comitante senatu'; Ovid is here obviously referring
to the earlier procession _from_ the new consul's house.
=20. LATERIS ... LOCVM= is a strange phrase, but is made easier by _latus
... cingit_ in 17. Compare also such passages as _Met_ II 448-49 'nec
... iuncta deae lateri nec toto est agmine prima' and _Aen_ X 160-61
'Pallas ... sinistro / adfixus lateri'. It is possible that _latus_ here
means 'companion', as at Martial VI lxviii 4 'Eutychos ille, tuum,
Castrice, dulce latus'.
=20. HABVISSE= is equivalent to _habere_, as is shown by _esse_ in the
preceding line. For the idiom, see at viii 82 _imposuisse_ (p 282) and
xi 2 _habuisse_ (p 361).
=21. TVRBA QVAMVIS ELIDERER.= _Elidere_ similarly used of a crowd's
jostling at Sen _Clem_ I 6 1; an extended description at Juvenal III
243-48.
=23. PROSPICEREM.= Owen in his second edition, Wheeler, and Lenz follow
Ehwald (_KB_ 64) in printing _B_'s ASPICEREM. Ehwald argued that
_prospicerem_, 'survey from a distance', was inappropriate in view of
the preceding _turba quamuis eliderer_. But the verb should be taken not
with the pentameter that precedes, but with the one that follows,
'densaque quam longum turba teneret iter': _prospicerem_ seems very
appropriate. Riese conjectured RESPICEREM 'look back at', but emendation
seems unnecessary.
Compounds of _specere_ (the simple verb is used by Plautus and Ennius)
are peculiarly liable to confusion: _prospicere_ is similarly corrupted
to _aspicere_ in some manuscripts at _Met_ III 603-4 'ipse quid aura
mihi tumulo promittat ab alto / _prospicio_' and _Met_ XI 715-16 'notata
locis reminiscitur acta fretumque / _prospicit_', and other instances of
variation of prefix will be found at _Met_ II 405, VI 343, XI 150, XIV
179, XV 577, 660 & 842, _Fast_ I 139 & 461, V 393 & 561, and _Her_ XIX
21.
=25-26.= Heinsius and Bentley questioned the authenticity of these lines,
but the distich does not seem lame enough to warrant excision, and
_tegeret_ (see below) is paralleled elsewhere.
=25. QVOQVE MAGIS NORIS.= 'Listen: this will make you understand better'.
Ovid is very fond of _quoque magis_ and the corresponding _quoque
minus_, particularly at line-beginnings. He generally uses the formula
to denote the emotion which information he then gives should induce.
Compare _Met_ I 757-58 '"quo"que "magis doleas, genetrix" ait, "ille ego
liber, / ille ferox tacui"', _Met_ III 448-50 (Narcissus to his
reflection) 'quoque magis doleam, nec nos mare separat ingens ... exigua
prohibemur aqua', _Met_ XIV 695-97 'quoque magis timeas ... referam tota
notissima Cypro / facta', _Tr_ I vii 37-38, and _EP_ I viii 9-10 'quoque
magis nostros uenia dignere libellos, / haec in procinctu carmina facta
leges'; similar instances of _quoque minus_ at _Met_ II 44, VIII 579,
620 & 866, and _EP_ III ii 52. The present passage shows the same idiom,
but with the difference that a subordinate clause (_quam me uulgaria
tangant_) depends on the verb (_noris_) introduced by the _quoque magis_
clause.
The same formula is used with a different sense, the _quoque_ being an
ablative of degree of difference, at _Am_ III ii 28 and _Met_ IV 64
'quoque magis tegitur, tectus magis aestuat ignis'.
_EP_ II v 15-16 'quoque magis moueare malis, doctissime, nostris, /
credibile est fieri condicione loci' reads oddly; something has probably
been lost from the text after the hexameter.
=25. VVLGARIA.= 'Commonplace, ordinary'. Compare Hor _Sat_ II ii 38 and
Cic _De or_ II 347 'neque enim paruae [_sc_ res] neque usitatae neque
uulgares admiratione aut omnino laude dignae uideri solent'.
=25. TANGANT.= 'Impress'; compare _Her_ V 81 'non ego miror opes, nec me
tua regia tangit', _Her_ VI 113, _Her_ VII 11, _Met_ IV 639, _Met_ X
614-15 'nec forma _tangor_ (poteram tamen hac quoque tangi), / sed quod
adhuc puer est: non me mouet ipse, sed aetas', and _Fast_ V 489, as well
as _Her_ XVI 83. For _tangere_ with a neuter plural subject see _Aen_ I
462 'mentem mortalia _tangunt_'.
=26. TEGERET.= There are twenty trisyllabic pentameter endings in
Tibullus, thirty in Propertius, but only five in Ovid, all in the _Ex
Ponto_: I i 66 _faciet_, I vi 26 _scelus est_, I viii 40 _liceat_, III
vi 46 _uideor_, and this passage (Platnauer 15-16). Quadrisyllabic
endings are similarly frequent in the poetry of exile: see at ii 10
_Alcinoo_ (p 164).
=27. SIGNA ... IN SELLA ... FORMATA CVRVLI.= For _signum_ 'bas-relief' see
at v 18 _conspicuum signis ... ebur_ (the phrase also of the curule
chair).
=28. NVMIDAE SCVLPTILE DENTIS OPVS.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to
me the clear imitation of Prop II xxxi 12 'ualuae, Llbyci nobile dentis
opus'.
=28. NVMIDAE ... DENTIS= _edd_ NVMIDI ... DENTIS _codd_. The masculine first
declension substantive _Numida_ is occasionally used as an adjective:
compare _AA_ II 183 'Numidasque leones' (some manuscripts read
_Numidosque_) and Juvenal IV 99-100 'ursos ... Numidas'. André prints
_Numidi_, citing a nominative _Numidus_ at _CIL_ VIII 17328, the
variant at _AA_ II 183, and Apicius VI 8 4 'pullum Numidum' (where
there is a variant _Numidicum_, which André printed in his 1974 edition
of Apicius). But given the support for the first-declension form offered
by the Juvenal passage and the better manuscripts of the _Ars Amatoria_,
the danger in adducing a doubtful passage of Apicius and a single
inscription to determine poetic usage, and the ease of corruption to the
second declension, it seems better to assume that Ovid here used the
first declension form.
_Numidae ... dentis_ is high poetic diction: compare _Met_ XI 167-68
'instructam ... fidem gemmis et _dentibus Indis_', Catullus LXIV 47-48
'puluinar ... _Indo_ ... _dente_ politum', Prop II xxxi 12 (quoted above),
and Statius _Sil_ III iii 94-95 'Indi / dentis honos'.
=28. SCVLPTILE.= The word does not seem to occur again in Latin until
Prudentius _Steph_ X 266.
=29. TARPEIAS ... IN ARCES.= See at iv 29 _Tarpeiae ... sedis_ (p 208).
=30. DVM= expresses purpose; if it were temporal, the verb would be
_cadit_ instead of _caderet_: compare 17-18 '_dumque_ latus sancti
_cingit_ tibi turba senatus, / consulis ante pedes ire iuberer eques'.
=31. SECRETO= represents Ovid's response to the bidding _fauete linguis_.
The word is frequent in comedy, but is very rare in verse, being
virtually confined to satire (Hor _Sat_ I ix 67, Juvenal I 95).
=31-32. MAGNVS ... DEVS= = Iuppiter Optimus _Maximus_. Compare _AA_ II 540
'eris _magni_ uictor in arce _Iouis_'.
=33. TVRAQVE MENTE MAGIS PLENA QVAM LANCE DEDISSEM.= The same notion of
sincerity of feeling being more important than size of gifts at viii
35-40.
=34. TER QVATER ... LAETVS.= 'Infinitely happy'; compare Prop III xii 15
'_ter quater_ in casta felix, o Postume, Galla!', _Aen_ I 94 'o _terque
quaterque_ beati', _AA_ II 447-48, and _Tr_ III xii 25-26 'o _quater_ et
_quotiens non est numerare beatum_ / non interdicta cui licet urbe
frui!'. The phrase is common in Ovid, but he generally uses it to mean
'several times': compare _Am_ III i 31-32 'mouit ... _terque quaterque_
caput', _Met_ II 49, _Met_ IV 734 '_ter quater_ exegit repetita per ilia
ferrum', _Met_ VI 133, _Met_ IX 217, _Met_ XII 288, _Fast_ I 576, and
_Fast_ I 657 '_ter quater_ euolui signantes tempora fastos'.
=35. HIC.= 'Hier auf dem Kapitol'--Ehwald (_KB_ 65). The idiom is somewhat
strange, but seems well enough supported by _Met_ XIV 372-73 '"per o,
tua lumina" dixit / "quae mea ceperunt, perque _hanc_, pulcherrime,
formam"' and _Her_ XVI 137, passages cited by R, J. Tarrant at Sen _Ag_
971 'dummodo _hac_ ['your'] moriar manu'. Compare as well Prop I xi
17-18 'non quia perspecta non es mihi cognita fama, / sed quod in _hac_
omnis _parte_ ['at Baiae'] timetur [_codd_: ueretur _Lachmann_] amor'
and Fedeli _ad loc_.
=36. MITIA ... SI ... FATA DARENT.= 'If the Fates had been kind, and given'.
=36. VRBIS= _editio Aldina 1502_ VERBIS _codd_. _Ius urbis_ = _ius urbis
habitandae_; compare _Met_ XIII 471-72 'genetrici corpus inemptum /
reddite, neue auro redimat ius triste sepulcri [=_sepeliendi_]'.
=37-38. MENTE ... OCVLIS.= Similarly contrasted at _Met_ XV 62-64 'isque,
licet caeli regione remotos, / _mente_ deos adiit et, quae natura
negarat [_'Medic. rectius' (Heinsius)_: negabat _codd_] / uisibus
humanis, _oculis_ ea _pectoris_ hausit'.
=38. NON ITA CAELITIBVS VISVM EST.= 'The gods decided otherwise'. Compare
xi 7 'non ita dis placuit', _Met_ VII 699, _Tr_ IV viii 15-16 (Ovid had
hoped for a peaceful and happy old age) 'non ita dis uisum est, qui me
terraque marique / actum Sarmaticis exposuere locis'. These passages are
probably all echoes of _Aen_ II 426 'dis aliter uisum'.
=40. IVVET= _BpcCMFHILT_ FORET _Bac 'unde uerum eliciendum'--Riese_. But
the correction is by the original hand (Owen suggested that the error
was induced by _foret_ at the end of the preceding distich), and _iuuet_
is unobjectionable: Ovid is explaining his admission in the previous
line that the gods were perhaps just in his case--claiming he was
innocent, that is, that the gods had been unjust, would be of no
assistance to him.
=41. MENTE TAMEN, QVAE SOLA DOMO NON EXVLAT, VSVS.= See at iv 45 _qua
possum, mente_ (p 211).
=41. QVAE SOLA DOMO NON EXVLAT.= Similar wording at _Tr_ III iv 45-46
'Nasonisque tui _quod adhuc non exulat unum_ / nomen ama'.
=41. DOMO NON EXVLAT.= _Domo_ is my conjecture for the transmitted LOCO,
which is strange and difficult to construe. FOCO is also possible; but
the singular would be unusual. For _domo_ compare Ter _Eun_ 610 'domo
exulo nunc'.
=42. PRAETEXTAM FASCES ASPICIAMQVE.= The _-que_ logically belongs with
_fasces_, joining it with _praetextam_: such dislocations are common in
the pentameter because of its strict metrical requirements.
According to the manuscripts the preceding line ends with VTAR; I have
printed Heinsius' VSVS, since there would otherwise be an asyndeton
between _utar_ and _aspiciam_. There are similar errors at 57 and xi 15
(_cedet_ for _cedens_; _peruenit_ for _perueniens_): here we may have a
deliberate alteration by a scribe who did not understand the force of
the delayed enclitic and sought a verb to couple _aspiciam_ with.
=44. DECRETIS= _Korn_ SECRETIS _codd_ SECRETO _Wheeler_. Korn's conjecture
makes the pentameter an amplification of the hexameter, a common pattern
in Ovid; its corruption to _secretis_ would be easy. Ehwald (_KB_ 39-40)
retained _secretis_, citing Tac _Ann_ III 37 '_secreta_ ['solitary
designs'--Grant] patris mitigari' and Pliny _Pan_ 53 6 (we should
rejoice in our present good fortune under Trajan, and weep at the
tribulations endured under previous emperors) 'hoc _secreta_ nostra
['our private thoughts'], hoc sermones, hoc ipsae gratiarum actiones
agant'. But in a list of the consul's public functions such a deviation
of subject seems inappropriate. Wheeler's _secreto_ is a little forced:
'my mind ... shall fancy itself present unseen at your actions'. Ehwald
objected that Korn did not explain what his conjecture meant; but
_decernere_ was used of the consuls' judicial decisions (Cic _Att_ XVI
xvi a 4(6) 'consulum decretum').
=45. LONGI ... LVSTRI.= The epithet seems to have no special force: compare
iv 23 'longum ... annum'.
=45. REDITVS HASTAE SVPPONERE.= See at v 19 _reditus ... componet_ (p 219).
=46. CERNET= _PM2c, Gothanus membr. II 121 (saec xiii)_ CREDET _BCFHILT_.
_Cernet_ seems preferable to _credet_ as continuing the image of
_uidebit_ in 43.
=46. EXACTA CVNCTA LOCARE FIDE.= Graecinus will be careful and
incorruptible in assigning taxation contracts. For _fide_ compare v 20
'et minui magnae non sinet urbis opes'; for _exacta_ compare Suet _Tib_
18 'cum animaduerteret Varianam cladem temeritate et neglegentia ducis
accidisse ... curam ... solita [_scripsi; confer Liu XXVII 47 1
'multitudo ... maior solita_' solito _codd_] _exactiorem_ praestitit'.
=48. PVBLICA QVAERENTEM QVID PETAT VTILITAS.= The consul acted as chairman
of the Senate, proposing the order of the day, and asking the senators
in order of seniority for their _sententiae_ on the appropriate action
for the question under discussion.
=48. PVBLICA ... VTILITAS.= 'The people's interest'. For _utilitas_ compare
_Met_ XIII 191 'utilitas populi', Cic _Part Or_ 89 'persaepe euenit ut
_utilitas_ cum honestate certet', Cic _Sul_ 25 '_populi utilitati_ magis
consulere quam uoluntati', and Livy VI 40 5 & VIII 34 2 'posthabita
filii caritas _publicae utilitati_'.
=49. PRO CAESARIBVS= = _pro Caesarum factis_. Compare _Res Gestae_ 4 'ob
res a me aut per legatos meos auspicis [=_auspiciis_] meis terra marique
prospere gestas quinquagiens et quinquiens _decreuit senatus_
supplicandum esse dis immortalibus. dies autem per quos _ex senatus
consulto_ supplicatum est fuere DCCCLXXXX'.
=49. CAESARIBVS.= Tiberius, Germanicus, and Drusus. Similarly used at _EP_
II vi 18 (to Graecinus) 'omnia _Caesaribus_ [Augustus and Tiberius] sic
tua facta probes'.
=49. DECERNERE GRATES.= 'Propose (in the Senate) the decreeing of thanks'.
The sense of _decernere_ is common in prose: see Cic _Prou Cons_ 1,
_Att_ VII i 7, and the other passages at _OLD decerno_ 6.
=49. GRATES= appears occasionally in prose (Tarrant at Sen _Ag_ 380
_reddunt grates_ cites Livy XXIII 11 12, Curtius IX 6 17, and Vell Pat
II 25 4), but in hexameter and elegiac verse is the necessary
representative for _grAtiAs_.
=51. CVM IAM FVERIS POTIORA PRECATVS.= For _potior_ 'more important'
compare Caesar _BC_ I 8 (a reported remark of Pompey) 'semper se rei
publicae commoda priuatis necessitudinibus habuisse _potiora_', Livy
VIII 29 2, and the many passages at _OLD potior2_ 4. The usage belongs
to prose: Ovid elsewhere and Virgil always use _potior_ to mean either
'more powerful' or 'preferable'.
=53-54. SVRGAT ... DETQVE.= The apodosis of an implied condition: 'If you
prayed for me, the fire would rise'.
=53. SVRGAT AD HANC VOCEM PLENA PIVS IGNIS AB ARA.= The same favourable
omen at _Met_ X 278-79 (Pygmalion has finished his prayer to Venus)
'amici numinis omen, / flamma ter accensa est apicemque per aera duxit'.
=53. PLENA ... AB ARA.= Another indication of Graecinus' devotion to the
Caesars.
=53. PIVS.= 'Holy'; compare _pia tura_ at _Am_ III iii 33, _Met_ XI 577,
and _Tr_ II 59, _pia sacra_ at _Tr_ V v 2, and _pio ... igne_ at _Tr_ V v
12.
=54. LVCIDVS.= Proleptic: 'The flame-tips would become bright and furnish
a good omen for your prayer'.
=55. NE CVNCTA QVERAMVR.= 'So that not everything I say will be a
complaint'.
=57. LAETITAE EST= _LT_. Most manuscripts have LAETITIA EST. Similarly at
_Met_ VIII 430 'illi _laetitiae est_ cum munere muneris auctor' most
codices read _laetitia est_. Heinsius thought LAETITIAE possibly correct
here, as might be the case also in the _Metamorphoses_: _laetitiae_
could easily have been misread as _laetitia E_ [=_est_], with
_laetitiae est_ as a later correction.