by Ovid in connection with Livia at _Fast_ I 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 (_Fast_ V 157-58, _Tr_ II 161-62, _EP_ II viii 29-30, and _EP_
III 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 '[Greek: hê doious skêptroisi theous auchousa Sebastê /
Kaisaras]' from an epigram of Ovid's contemporary Honestus.[27]
[Footnote 27: Honestus XXI 1-2 Gow-Page (_Garland of Philip_); discussed
by Professor Jones at _HSCP_ 74 (1970) 249-55.]
=30. AMBIGVVM.= The same use of _ambiguum_ (which may be an Ovidian
peculiarity) at _Met_ I 765-66 '_ambiguum_ Clymene precibus Phaethontis
an ira / mota magis' and _Met_ XI 235-36 'est specus in medio, natura
factus an arte / _ambiguum_, magis arte tamen'.
=30. ANNE.= The word is found at _Am_ III xi 49-50 'quicquid eris, mea
semper eris; tu selige tantum, / me quoque uelle uelis, _anne_ coactus
amem' and _Fast_ VI 27-28 (Juno speaking) 'est aliquid nupsisse Ioui,
Iouis esse sororem / fratre magis dubito glorier _anne_ uiro'; the
resemblances between this and the present passage are obvious. Bömer _ad
loc_ cites instances of _anne_ from Plautus (_Amph_ 173), Terence (_Eun_
556), Cicero (_Fin_ IV 23, _Att_ XII xiv 2), and Virgil (_G_ I 32 & II
159, _Aen_ VI 864).
=31. DVOS IVVENES.= Germanicus and Drusus. For other mentions of them, see
_Tr_ II 167 'tui, sidus iuuenale, nepotes', _Tr_ IV ii 9 'et qui
Caesareo iuuenes sub nomine crescunt', _EP_ II ii 71-72 'praeterit ipse
suos animo Germanicus annos, / nec uigor est Drusi nobilitate minor',
and _EP_ II 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 be _adiumento_, as at Cic
_Att_ XII xxxi 2 'magno etiam adiumento nobis Hermogenes potest esse in
repraesentando ['in making cash payment'--Shackleton Bailey]', Varro
_LL_ V 90, and _Rhet Her_ III 29. _TLL_ I 704 1 cites "Caecil. _mort._
18" for 'duo minores, qui sint adiumento', which resembles 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 of _Camena_,
which seems to have been a Horatian idiom: see _Carm_ II xvi 38
'spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae', _Ep_ I i 1-3 'Prima dicte mihi, summa
dicende Camena ... Maecenas', and _AP_ 275 '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.
Compare _Met_ XIII 123-24 'finierat Telamone satus, uulgique secutum /
ultima _murmur_ erat'. Livy (XXXII 22 1) has a _murmur_ of mingled
praise and dissent following a speech: '_murmur_ ortum aliorum cum
adsensu, aliorum inclementer adsentientes increpantium'. Other _murmura_
are disapproving or anxious, as at _Met_ I 206, VIII 431 & IX 421, and
_Aen_ XII 238-39.
The Latin _murmur_ could 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.= _Nocere_ again used of the _Ars Amatoria_ at xiv 20
'telaque adhuc demens quae _nocuere_ sequor?' and _Tr_ IV 1 35.
=42. PRIMAQVE TAM MISERAE CAVSA FVERE FVGAE.= The second cause was of
course Ovid's _error_ (_EP_ III iii 67-72).
=43. STVDII COMMVNIA FOEDERA SACRI.= Similar references to shared poetic
interests at viii 81 '_communia sacra_ tueri', _EP_ II v 60 (to Salanus,
a famous orator) 'seruat _studii foedera_ quisque sui', _EP_ II ix 63-64
(to Cotys, king of Thrace, who was a writer of verse) 'haec quoque res
aliquid tecum mihi _foederis_ adfert; / eiusdem _sacri_ cultor uterque
sumus', _EP_ II x 17 'sunt tamen inter se _communia sacra_ poetis', and
_EP_ III iv 67 'sunt mihi uobiscum _communia sacra_, poetae'.
The _foedera_ would 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 at _Tr_ I viii 15 'illud _amicitiae_ sanctum et
uenerabile nomen', and _EP_ II iii 19-20 'illud _amicitiae_ quondam
uenerabile _nomen_ / prostat', III ii 43 & III ii 100.
=44-46. AMICITIAE ... INGENIIS.= For Ovid's use of quadrisyllable endings
for pentameters, see at ii 10 _Alcinoo_ (p 164).
=45-46. SIC VINCTO LATIIS GERMANICVS HOSTE CATENIS / MATERIAM VESTRIS
ADFERAT INGENIIS.= Compare _EP_ II viii 39-40 'sic fera quam primum
pauido Germania uultu / ante triumphantes serua feratur equos'.
Germanicus celebrated his triumph in 17: see Tac _Ann_ II 41.
_Vestris_ is a true plural referring to Carus and other poets who might
be inspired by Germanicus' exploits. For this use of _uester_ to address
one member of a collectivity, see Austin on _Aen_ I 140 and Fordyce on
Catullus XXIX 20.
=45. VINCTO= is my restoration for the manuscripts' CAPTO, which I am
unable to construe with _catenis_. _Vincto_ was first corrupted to
_uicto_, which was then displaced by the gloss _capto_. For the picture
compare _AA_ I 215 'ibunt ante duces onerati colla catenis'; for
_uincto_ compare Livy VII 27 8 'eos _uinctos_ consul ante currum
triumphans egit', and for _uincto ... catenis_ compare Caesar _BG_ I 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 take _uotum_ in this
sense, and impossible to construe _deorum_. André translates 'c'est le
voeu de tous les dieux', but it seems strange to have gods forming a
_uotum_. Postgate placed a comma before _deorum_; but Germanicus and
Agrippina were not gods. Heinsius conjectured SVORVM, but this seems
rather forced. I suspect that _deorum_ is correct, the sense of the
passage being close to that of _Fast_ II 63-64 'templorum positor,
templorum sancte repostor, / sit superis opto mutua cura tui'; but what
originally stood in place of _uotum_ is not clear.
=48. QVOS LAVS FORMANDOS EST TIBI MAGNA DATOS.= 'Whose entrustment to you
for education is an immense honour'. For the construction Ehwald (_KB_
68) cites _Aen_ IX 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 Caesar _BC_ III 70 2 'ita paruae res
magnum in utramque partem _momentum_ habuerunt', Livy I 47 6, Hor _Ep_ I
x 15-16 'ubi gratior aura / leniat et rabiem Canis et _momenta_ Leonis',
and Manilius II 901 (of the fifth temple) 'hic _momenta_ manent nostrae
plerumque salutis'.
=49. MOMENTA= _Vaticanus 1595 (saec xv), sicut coni Scaliger et Gronouius_
MONIMENTA _BCMFHILT_. Similarly, most manuscripts have _monimenta_ at
_Met_ XI 285-86 (Ceyx to Peleus) 'adicis huic animo ['my kindly nature']
_momenta_ potentia, clarum / nomen auumque Iouem'.
=49-50. SALVTI, / QVAE NISI MVTATO NVLLA FVTVRA LOCO EST.= A similar
qualification of _salus_ at _Met_ IX 530-31 'quam nisi tu dederis non
est habitura salutem / hanc tibi mittit amans'; Bömer _ad loc_ cites
other word-plays with _salus_ at _Her_ IV 1, XVI 1 & XVIII 1, and at
_Tr_ III iii 87-88.
=50. MVTATO ... LOCO.= See at viii 86 _qui minus ... distet_ (p 284).
XIV. To Tuticanus
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 sum _modo_ carmine 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 that Tomis
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, _Tr_ V 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: compare _Ibis_
9-10 'quisquis is est (nam nomen adhuc _utcumque_ tacebo), / cogit
inassuetas sumere tela manus' and _EP_ III ix 53 'postmodo collectas
[_sc_ litteras] utcumque sine ordine iunxi'. This is a prose sense of
_utcumque_, common in Livy; when the word is used in verse, it generally
means 'whenever' (Hor _Epod_ XVII 52, _Carm_ I xvii 10, I xxxv 23, II
xvii 11, III iv 29 & IV iv 35) or 'however' (_Aen_ VI 822; the only
instance of the word in Virgil).
=4. TE= _Berolinensis Diez. B. Sant. 1, saec xiii Bodleianus Rawlinson G
105ul_ ME _BCMFHILT_. _Me_ seems 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', where _salus_ refers back to _utcumque
ualemus_.
=4. INVENIES.= See at ii 10 _Alcinoo_ (p 164).
=5. VLTIMA VOTA.= 'My utmost wish'. For this sense of _ultimus_ compare
Cic _Fin_ III 30 'summum bonum, quod _ultimum_ appello', Livy XXVII 10
11 'aurum ... quod ... ad _ultimos_ casus ['the greatest emergencies']
seruabatur promi placuit', Hor _Carm_ II vii 1-2 'O saepe mecum tempus
in _ultimum_ / deducte Bruto militiae duce' (_tempus_ has the same
meaning as _casus_ in the passage from Livy), and Petronius 24 'non
tenui ego diutius lacrimas ... ad _ultimam_ perductus tristitiam'.
=6. SCILICET= seems 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 final _s_ of the preceding _istis_.
=7. MVTER= _F1_ _Bodleianus Canon. lat. 1, saec xiii Barberinus lat. 26,
saec xiii_. _Muter_ is so much choicer than the better attested _mittar_
that I have followed editors from Ciofanus to Merkel in printing it.
Gronovius (_Obseruationes_ III 1) made a strong case for _muter_, citing
Virgil _G_ II 50 (where however the meaning of _mutata_ is disputed),
Hor _Sat_ II vii 63-64 'illa tamen se / non habitu _mutatue_ loco
peccatue superne', Claudian _Rap Pros_ I 62 'rursus corporeos animae
_mutantur_ in artus' (where _mittuntur_ is a variant reading, which Hall
prints), and from Ovid _Tr_ V ii 73-74 'hinc ego dum _muter_, uel me
Zanclaea [_Politianus_: Panchea _codd_] Charybdis / deuoret aque
[_Heinsius_: atque _codd_] suis ad Styga mittat aquis', and _EP_ I i 79
'inque locum Scythico uacuum _mutabor_ ab arcu'; compare as well Cic
_Balb_ 31 'ne quis inuitus ciuitate _mutetur_' and Livy V 46 11 'quod
nec iniussu populi _mutari_ finibus posset'.
=11. SI QVID EA EST.= See at i 17 _si quid ea est_ (p 153).
=11. BENE.= 'Profitably'. Compare Tac _Ann_ III 44 'miseram pacem uel
bello _bene mutari_'. The word in this sense is generally used in
describing good commercial investments: see Plautus _Cur_ 679-80
'argentariis _male credi_ qui aiunt, nugas praedicant, / nam et _bene_
et male _credi_ dico', Sen _Suas_ VII v 'si _bene_ illi pecunias
_crediderunt_ faeneratores', Cic _II Verr_ V 56 'ut intellegerent
Mamertini _bene_ se apud istum tam multa pretia ac munera _conlocasse_',
and Livy II 42 8.
=11. COMMVTABITVR.= _Commutare_ was a commercial term: it is used of
selling at Cic _Clu_ 129 'ad perniciem innocentis fidem suam et
religionem pecunia _commutarit_', Columella XII 26 2 'reliquum mustum
... aere _commutato_', _Dig_ II xv 8 24 'si uinum pro oleo uel oleum pro
uino uel quid aliud _commutauit_', and _CIL_ I 585 27.
=12. SI QVID ET INFERIVS QVAM STYGA MVNDVS HABET.= Professor R. J. Tarrant
notes another instance of the same idea at Sen _Thy_ 1013-14 'si quid
infra Tartara est / auosque nostros'.
=13. GRAMINA.= 'Weeds'. Compare _Met_ V 485-86 'lolium tribulique fatigant
/ triticeas messes et inexpugnabile _gramen_' and _Tr_ V xii 24 'nil
nisi cum spinis _gramen_ habebit ager'; _TLL_ VI.2 2165 65 notes as well
Columella IV 4 5 'omnesque herbas et praecipue _gramina_ extirpare, quae
nisi manu eleguntur ... reuiuiscunt'.
CARMINA, the reading of _C_, is a frequent corruption of _gramina_,
occurring as a variant at _Met_ II 841 & XIV 44 and _Fast_ VI 749; it
gives no obvious sense in this passage. Bentley's FLAMINA is ingenious
but unattractive.
=14. MARTICOLIS= is possibly an Ovidian innovation, being found elsewhere
only at _Tr_ V 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 the _est_ of a perfect
passive, even in the presence of a parallel finite verb, see _Met_ VII
517-18 'Aeacus ingemuit tristique ita uoce _locutus_: / "flebile
principium melior fortuna secuta est"'.
=15. SVSCENSENT.= The word is foreign to high poetry. It occurs in Ovid
only here and at _EP_ III i 89-90 'nec mihi _suscense_, totiens si
carmine nostro / quod facis ut facias teque imitere rogo'; the only
instances from other poetry cited at _OLD suscenseo_ are from _Her_
XVI-XXI and Martial.
SVSCENSENT is the spelling of _C_; the other manuscripts have
SVCCENSENT. I print _susc-_ because that is the spelling given by the
ninth-century Hamburg manuscript at _EP_ III i 89 (cited above), where
most manuscripts offer _succ-_. _Succ-_ is, however, quite possibly
correct, for although _susc-_ is the spelling of the ancient manuscripts
of Plautus and Terence (and of the older manuscripts of the _Heroides_),
_succ-_ is found at Livy XLII 46 8 in the fifth-century Vienna codex.
=18. PLECTAR.= Similar uses at _Tr_ III v 49 'inscia quod crimen uiderunt
lumina, _plector_' and _EP_ III iii 64 (Ovid to Amor) 'meque loco
_plecti_ commodiore uelit'.
=18. AB INGENIO= is parallel to _per carmina_ in the preceding line; for
the idiom, see at x 46 _ab amne_ (p 346).
=20. TELAQVE ... QVAE NOCVERE SEQVOR.= See at xiii 41 _nocuerunt_ (p 406).
=23. SED NIHIL ADMISI.= 'But I have committed no crime'--Wheeler. Compare
_EP_ III vi 13 'nec scelus _admittas_ si consoleris amicum'. _Admittere_
in this sense belonged to daily speech: _TLL_ I 752 77 cites Plaut
_Trin_ 81, Ter _HT_ 956 'quid ego tantum sceleris _admisi_ miser',
Lucilius 690 Marx, and Hor _Ep_ I xvi 53.
=25. EXCVTIAT.= See at viii 17 _excutias_ (p 263).
=25. NOSTRI MONIMENTA LABORIS= is rather grand, perhaps because Ovid
intended the poem to come near the end of the collection. At _Tr_ III
iii 78 Ovid's _libelli_ are called his most lasting _monimenta_, and at
_EP_ III v 35 Ovid flatteringly refers to Maximus Cotta's _monimenta
laboris_.
=26. LITTERA DE VOBIS EST MEA QVESTA NIHIL.= This, of course, is
manifestly untrue. See _Tr_ V x entire, and compare for instance _Tr_ V
vii 45-46 'siue homines [_sc_ specto], uix sunt homines hoc nomine
digni, / quamque lupi saeuae plus feritatis habent'.
=28. ET QVOD PVLSETVR MVRVS AB HOSTE QVEROR.= Compare _EP_ III i 25 'adde
metus _et quod murus pulsatur ab hoste_'.
=30. SOLVM= _BCFILT_ LOCVM _MH_. The interchange is very common (examples
at _Met_ I 345 & VII 57); the reverse corruption in some manuscripts at
_EP_ II ii 96 'sit tua mutando gratia blanda _loco_'.
=31-40.= The argument Ovid here employs ("other have done what I have
done, and not suffered for it") is that used at _Tr_ II 361-538 to
excuse the _Ars Amatoria_.
=31-40. VITABILIS.= A. G. Lee has ingeniously conjectured VITIABILIS
(_PCPhS_ 181 [1950-51] 3). It would have the sense _uitiosa_; Lee
compares such words as _aerumnabilis_, _perniciabilis_, and
_lacrimabilis_. He argued that Hesiod nowhere said that Ascra was
'always to be avoided' (although this is a natural inference from _Op_
639-40) and that the variants _miserabilis_, _mirabilis_, and
_mutabilis_ 'point to the conclusion that the archetype was here
difficult to make out'. For _uitium_ used of localities he cited _EP_
III ix 37 'quid nisi de _uitio_ scribam regionis amarae', and for the
word _uitiabilis_ (in the sense 'corruptible') Prudentius _Apoth_ 1045
and _Ham_ 215 (there is a variant _uitabilis_ in a ninth-century
manuscript of the _Hamartigenia_).
Lee's argument is a good one, but _uitabilis_ does 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 found _uitabilis_
somewhat strange: Heinsius considered the verse suspect, while Bentley
conjectured VT ILLAVDABILIS.
=31. ASCRA= _MFILT_. I take ASCRE (_BCH_) to be a hypercorrect formation
by the scribes; _Ascra_ is metrically guaranteed at 34 'Ascra suo' and
_AA_ I 28 'Ascra tuis'. It is possible that _Ascre_ is correct, although
its use would be strange so close to _Ascra_ in 34: Ovid certainly used
both _nympha_ and _nymphe_ (_Her_ IX 103; _Met_ III 357).
=32. AGRICOLAE ... SENIS.= For Hesiod as an old man compare _AA_ II 3-4
'laetus amans donat uiridi mea carmina palma, / praelata Ascraeo
Maeonioque _seni_', Prop II xxxiv 77 'tu canis Ascraei _ueteris_
praecepta poetae', and _Ecl_ VI 69-70 'hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe,
Musae, / Ascraeo quos ante _seni_'.
=35. SOLLERTE ... VLIXE.= _Sollerte_ could represent either [Greek:
polymêchanos] (_Il_ II 173) or [Greek: polytropos] (_Od_ I 1). I believe
that Ovid was translating [Greek: polytropos], since Livius Andronicus
in translating _Od_ I 1 had used _uersutus_ to represent the adjective:
'Virum mihi, Camena, insece _uersutum_'. It is clear from Cic _Brut_ 236
'genus ... acuminis ... quod erat in reprehendendis uerbis _uersutum et
sollers_' that the Romans regarded the two adjectives as having much the
same force.
At Hor _Sat_ II v 3-5 [Greek: polymêchanos] is translated by _dolosus_:
(Tiresias to Ulysses) 'iamne doloso / non satis est Ithacam reuehi
patriosque penates / aspicere?'.
=36. HOC TAMEN ASPERITAS INDICE DOCTA LOCI EST.= At _Od_ IX 27 Ulysses
describes Ithaca to Alcinous as '[Greek: trêchei'] [=_aspera_] [Greek:
all' agathê kourotrophos]'.
=36. DOCTA= (_B_; _C_ has DOCTVS) seems clearly preferable to DICTA,
offered by most of the manuscripts, which cannot be construed with _hoc
... indice_. The difficulty with _docta_ is that the passive of _docere_
seems 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, about
60 kilometres upstream from Troy) was famous for his hatred of Rome; see
Pliny _NH_ XXXIV 34 'signa quoque Tuscanica per terras dispersa quin
[_Detlefsen_: quae _codd_] in Etruria factitata sint non est dubium.
deorum tantum putarem ea fuisse, ni Metrodorus Scepsius, cui cognomen
[Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests that '[Greek: Misorômaios]' has fallen
out of the text around this point] a Romani nominis odio inditum est,
propter MM statuarum Volsinios expugnatos obiceret'. According to
Plutarch (_Lucullus_ 22) and Strabo (_Geog_ XIII 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
at _de Or_ II 360.
[Footnote 28: PW XV,2 1481 3; Jacoby _FGrH_ no. 184.]
The present passage is more specific than any other surviving reference
to Metrodorus' anti-Roman sentiments; Ovid had perhaps read the
_scripta_ in question.
As both Cicero and Pliny use the epithet 'Scepsius', Ovid's reference
would have been immediately understood: _MEtrodOrus_ could not
be used in elegiac verse.
=38. ACTAQVE ROMA REA EST.= Similar verse-endings at _RA_ 387-88 'si mea
materiae respondet Musa iocosae, / uicimus, et falsi criminis _acta rea
est_', _Fast_ IV 307-8 'casta quidem, sed non et credita: rumor iniquus
/ laeserat, et falsi criminis _acta rea est_', and _Tr_ IV i 26 'cum
mecum iuncti criminis acta [_sc_ Musa] rea est'; other instances of
_reus agi_ at _Her_ XIV 120, _Met_ XV 36, _Tr_ I i 24, _Tr_ I viii 46,
and _Her_ XX 91. See at xv 12 _nil opus est legum uiribus, ipse loquor_
(p 434) for a full discussion of Ovid's use of legal terminology.
=39. FALSA ... CONVICIA= has a place in the rhetoric of Ovid's argument,
balancing _uerissima crimina_ at 29.
=40. OBFVIT AVCTORI NEC FERA LINGVA SVO.= _Obesse_ is used of Ovid's own
situation at _Tr_ I i 55-56 'carmina nunc si non studiumque quod
_obfuit_ odi, / sit satis', IV i 25 'scilicet hoc ipso nunc aequa [_sc_
Musa], quod _obfuit_ ante', IV iv 39 'aut timor aut error nobis, prius
_obfuit_ error' & V i 65-68. Compare as well _Tr_ II 443-44 'uertit
Aristiden Sisenna, nec _obfuit_ illi / 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, _Tr_ III
xiv 47-48, V vii 53-54 'unus in hoc nemo est populo qui forte Latine /
quamlibet [_Heinsius_: quaelibet _codd_] 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 well _Tr_ III
xiv 39-40.
=42. INQVE NOVVM CRIMEN CARMINA NOSTRA VOCAT.= _In crimen uocare_ was a
normal idiom: compare Cic _Scaur_ (e) 'custos ille rei publicae
proditionis est _in crimen uocatus_' and _Fam_ V xvii 2 'ego te, P.
Sitti, et primis temporibus illis quibus in inuidiam absens et _in
crimen uocabare_ defendi'.