the _Ars Amatoria_ was immoral. Professor E. Fantham suggests to me that
_nouum_ could have the meaning 'unprecedented', as at Cic _Lig_ 1
'_Nouum crimen_, C. Caesar, et ante hunc diem non auditum propinquus
meus ad te Q. Tubero detulit'. Ovid would therefore be saying that the
kind of geographical _maiestas_ the Tomitans were accusing him of did
not constitute a proper charge.
=43. PECTORE CANDIDVS.= 'Kind of heart'. This sense of _candidus_ is
constantly misunderstood by modern commentators. The basic transferred
sense of the word is 'kind' or 'generous towards others'. This can be
clearly seen in such passages as _Tr_ III vi 5-8 'isque erat usque adeo
populo testatus, ut esset / paene magis quam tu quamque ego notus, amor;
/ quique est in caris animi [_codd_: animo _fort legendum_] tibi
_candor_ amicis-- / cognita sunt ipsi quem colis ipse uiro', _Tr_ IV x
130-32 'protinus ut moriar non ero, terra, tuus. / siue fauore tuli siue
hanc ego carmine famam, / iure tibi grates, _candide_ lector, ago',
_Tr_ V iii 53-54 'si uestrum merui _candore_ fauorem, / nullaque iudicio
littera laesa meo est', _EP_ II v 5, _EP_ III ii 21-22 'aut meus excusat
caros ita _candor_ amicos, / utque habeant de me crimina nulla fauet',
and _EP_ III iv 13 'uiribus infirmi uestro _candore_ ualemus'.
For _pectore candidus_ compare from other authors Hor _Epod_ XI 11-12
'candidum / pauperis ingenium', Val Max VIII xiv praef 'candidis
... animis' and Scribonius Largus praef 5 26 'candidissimo animo'.
=44. EXTAT ADHVC NEMO SAVCIVS ORE MEO.= Ovid makes similar claims at _Tr_
II 563-65 'non ego mordaci destrinxi carmine quemquam ... _candidus_ a
salibus suffusis felle refugi' and _Ibis_ 1-8 'Tempus ad hoc, lustris
bis iam mihi quinque peractis, / omne fuit Musae carmen inerme meae
... nec quemquam nostri nisi me laesere libelli ... unus ... perennem /
_candoris_ titulum non sinit esse mei'. André says of the present
passage, 'C'est oublier le poème _Contre Ibis_', but Housman wrote 'Who
was Ibis? Nobody. He was much too good to be true. If one's enemies are
of flesh and blood, they do not carry complaisance so far as to chose
the dies Alliensis for their birthday and the most ineligible spot in
Africa for their birthplace. Such order and harmony exist only in worlds
of our own creation, not in the jerry-built edifice of the demiurge
... And when I say that Ibis was nobody, I am repeating Ovid's own words.
In the last book that he wrote, several years after the Ibis, he said,
ex Pont. IV 14 44, "extat adhuc nemo saucius ore meo"' (1040). Housman
is wrong to adduce this line as though it were a statement made under
oath (compare the claim made in 26 'littera de uobis est mea questa
nihil'). It is nonetheless true that in the extant poems of reproach
Ovid does not identify the person he is addressing.
=45. ADDE QVOD.= See at xi 21 _adde quod_ (p 368).
=45. ILLYRICA ... PICE NIGRIOR.= For the formula, Otto (_pix_) cites this
passage and _Il_ IV 275-77 '[Greek: nephos ... melanteron êute pissa]'
and from Latin poetry _AA_ II 657-58 'nominibus mollire licet mala:
fusca uocetur / _nigrior Illyrica_ cui _pice_ sanguis erit', _Met_ XII
402-3 'totus _pice nigrior_ atra, / candida cauda tamen', _EP_ III iii
97 'sed neque mutatur [_uar_ fuscatur] _nigra pice_ lacteus umor', _Her_
XVIII 7 'ipsa uides caelum _pice nigrius_', and Martial I cxv 4-5 'sed
quandam uolo nocte _nigriorem_, / formica, _pice_, graculo, cicada'.
=45. ILLYRICA ... PICE.= A famous mineral pitch was produced near
Apollonia; André cites Pliny _NH_ XVI 59 'Theopompus scripsit in
Apolloniatarum agro picem fossilem non deteriorem Macedonica inueniri',
_NH_ XXXV 178, and Dioscorides I 73.
=45. NIGRIOR.= The man who was _niger_ had qualities opposite to those of
the man who was _candidus_; that is, he habitually thought and spoke
evil of others. This is illustrated by Hor _Sat_ I iv 81-85 'absentem
qui rodit amicum, / qui non defendit alio culpante, solutos / qui captat
risus hominum famamque dicacis, / fingere qui non uisa potest, commissa
tacere / qui nequit--hic _niger_ est, hunc tu, Romane, caueto'. The
same sense is seen at _Sat_ I iv 91 & 100, and at Cic _Caec_ 28
'argentarius Sex. Clodius cui cognomen est Phormio, nec minus _niger_
nec minus confidens quam ille Terentianus est Phormio'. A similar sense
of _ater_ is seen at Hor _Epod_ VI 15-16 'an si quis _atro_ dente me
petiuerit, / inultus ut flebo puer'; Lindsay Watson _ad loc_ (in an
unpublished University of Toronto dissertation) cites Hor _Ep_ I xix 30
'nec socerum quaerit quem uersibus oblinat _atris_' for the same
meaning.
A specific connection is often made between blackness and envy: compare
_Met_ II 760 (the home of _Inuidia_ is _nigro squalentia tabo_) and
Statius _Sil_ IV viii 16-17 (_atra Inuidia_).
Catullus XCIII 2 'nec scire utrum sis albus an _ater_ homo' and similar
passages at Cic _Phil_ II 41 and Apuleius _Apol_ 16 are examples of an
unrelated idiom meaning 'I know absolutely nothing about you'.
=46. MORDENDA.= For biting as an image of malice, Watson at Hor _Epod_ VI
15 'atro dente' cites Cic _Balb_ 57 'in conuiuiis rodunt, in circulis
uellicant; non illo inimico, sed hoc malo dente carpunt', and Val Max IV
7 ext 2 'malignitatis dentes'; Professor R. J. Tarrant cites Hor _Sat_
II i 77 and Martial V xxviii 7 'robiginosis cuncta dentibus rodit'. The
image is of course used at times specifically of jealousy; Watson cites
_Tr_ IV x 123-24 'nec, qui detrectat praesentia Liuor iniquo / ullum de
nostris dente momordit opus' and _EP_ III iv 73-74 'scripta placent a
morte fere, quia laedere uiuos / liuor et iniusto carpere dente solet',
and Professor Tarrant cites Hor _Carm_ IV iii 16 'et iam dente minus
mordeor inuido' and Pindar _P_ II 52-53 '[Greek: eme de chreôn /
pheugein dakos adinon kakagorian]'.
=47. MEA SORS= = _ego sortem grauem passus_.
=48. GRAIOS.= The more poetic _Graius_ is more than four times as common
in Ovid as _Graecus_, which, apart from _Her_ III 2, is only found in
the _Fasti_ (I 330, IV 63 & V 196) and the _Tristia_ (III xii 41, V ii
68 & V vii 11).
=49. GENS MEA PAELIGNI REGIOQVE DOMESTICA SVLMO.= This line is a type of
hendiadys, the first half of the line being redefined by the second. The
other cities of the Paeligni were Corfinium and Superaequum.
=51-52. INCOLVMI ... SALVOQVE.= The two words, equivalent in meaning, were
used together as a common Latin phrase; see Caesar _BC_ I 72 3
'mouebatur etiam misericordia ciuium ... quibus _saluis atque
incolumibus_ rem obtinere malebat' & II 32 12 '_saluum atque incolumem_
exercitum', Cic _Fin_ IV 19, _Diuin in Q Caec_ 72, _Inuen_ II 169, and
Livy XXIII 42 4 '_saluo atque incolumi_ amico', XXIX 27 3 & XLI 28 9.
=53. IMMVNIS= is also used without a qualifying word or phrase at Plautus
_Tr_ 354, Sall _Iug_ 89 4 'eius [_sc_ oppidi] apud Iugurtham immunes',
Cic _Off_ III 49 'piratas _immunes_, socios uectigales habemus', Cic
_Font_ 17, Livy XXXIV 57 10 'urbes ... liberas et _immunes_' & XXXVII 55
7, and _CIL_ XIV 4012 4. For a recent discussion of _immunitas_, see V.
Nutton, "Two Notes on Immunitas: _Digest_ 27,1,6,10 and 11", _JRS_ 1971,
52-63.
=54. EXCEPTIS SI QVI MVNERA LEGIS HABENT.= The phrase is difficult.
Perhaps legal magistrates enjoyed immunity from taxation; if this is
what Ovid is saying, _munera legis_ is related to such expressions as
_consulatus munus_ (Cic _Pis_ 23) and _legationis munus_ (_Phil_ IX 3).
_Munus_ by itself of magistrates' duties is quite common.
Professor E. Fantham suggests to me, however, that _munera legis_ is a
reference to civic duties, or liturgies, that Greek cities imposed on
certain of their citizens, and Ovid may be saying that citizens
performing such liturgies at Tomis procured exemption from regular
taxation.
Wheeler translates 'those only excepted who have the boon by law'. This
seems difficult; but Professor A. Dalzell notes that the strangeness of
the phrasing may be the results of Ovid's striving for a play on
_munera_/_immunis_.
=55. CORONA.= Professor C. P. Jones notes that the _corona_ indicates that
Ovid was probably invested with a local priesthood.
=57-58. DELIA TELLVS, / ERRANTI TVTVM QVAE DEDIT VNA LOCVM.= Accounts of
this at _Met_ VI 186-91 (Niobe speaking) 'Latonam ... cui maxima quondam
/ exiguam sedem pariturae terra negauit! / nec caelo nec humo nec aquis
dea uestra recepta est: / exul erat mundo, donec miserata uagantem /
"hospita tu terris erras, ego" dixit "in undis" / instabilemque locum
Delos dedit' and in the passages cited by Williams at _Aen_ III 76 and
Tarrant at Sen _Ag_ 384f.
=61-62. DI MODO FECISSENT PLACIDAE SPEM POSSET HABERE / PACIS, ET A
GELIDO LONGIVS AXE FORET.= In this final distich Ovid unexpectedly
reverts from his gratitude to the Tomitans to the subject of the first
part of the poem, the inhospitality of the region.
This passage provides an example of the technique pointed out in the
_Amores_ by Douglass Parker ("The Ovidian Coda", _Arion_ 8 [1969])
whereby Ovid unexpectedly modifies a poem's tone in the concluding
distich. In _Am_ I x Ovid rails against his girl because she has asked
him for a present: 'nec dare, sed pretium posci dedignor et odi; / quod
nego poscenti, desine uelle, dabo!' (63-64). In _Am_ II xiv Ovid scolds
his girl for having an abortion: 'di faciles, peccasse semel concedite
tuto, / et satis est; poenam culpa secunda ferat!' (43-44). In II xv,
Ovid imagines that he becomes the ring he is giving his girl: 'inrita
quid uoueo? paruum proficiscere munus; / illa data tecum sentiat esse
fide!' (27-28). _Am_ I vii, I xiii, I xiv, and II xiii are other
examples of the device.
=62. A GELIDO ... AXE.= Compare XV 36 'dura iubet _gelido_ Parca _sub axe_
mori' and _Her_ VI 105-6 (Hypsipyle to Jason) 'non probat Alcimede
mater tua--consule matrem-- / non pater, _a gelido_ cui uenit _axe_
nurus'.
XV. To Sextus Pompeius
The poem, the fourth and last in the book to be addressed to Pompeius,
is an elaborate appeal to him to continue his assistance.
It starts with the assertion that Pompeius, after the Caesars, is
principally responsible for Ovid's well-being (1-4). The favours
Pompeius has done for Ovid are innumerable and extend throughout his
life (5-10). Ovid will of his own volition declare that he is as much
Pompeius' property as Pompeius' estates in Sicily and Macedonia, his
house in Rome, or his country retreat in Campania; because of Ovid,
Pompeius now has property in the Pontus (11-20). Ovid asks him to
continue working on his behalf (21-24). He knows that he does not have
to urge Pompeius, but he cannot help himself (27-34). No matter whether
he is recalled or not, he will always remember Pompeius; all lands will
hear that it is he who saved Ovid, and that Ovid belongs to him (35-42).
The poem effectively combines a number of commonplaces of the works of
exile, subordinating them to the central theme of Ovid's indebtedness to
Pompeius. The topic of Ovid as Pompeius' property is to a certain extent
foreshadowed in _EP_ I vii, throughout which Ovid refers to himself as a
client of Messalinus' family: 'ecquis in extremo positus iacet orbe
tuorum, / me tamen excepto, qui precor esse tuus?' (5-6); it is found
explicitly at i 35-36 'sic ego sum rerum non ultima, Sexte, tuarum /
tutelaeque feror munus opusque tuae'. Syme (_HO_ 156) believes that the
addressing of the first and penultimate letters to Pompeius constitutes
a dedication of the book to Pompeius. However, as Syme recognizes, the
abnormal length of the book indicates that it may be a posthumous
collection (see page 4 of the introduction); if so, the arrangement of
the poems is presumably by Ovid's literary executor.
The poem is remarkable for the cluster of legal terms at 11-12. The
passage is evidence for Ovid's expertise and interest in law. For other
indications of this in his works, see at 12 (p 434).
=1. SI QVIS ... EXTAT.= Pompeius is kept in the third person through line
10; Ovid thereby indicates that he is making a public declaration.
=1. EXTAT.= As Riese pointed out, the choice in 1-2 is between _extat
... requirit_ and _extet ... requirat_; the problem is that the
manuscripts give _extat ... requirat_, _requirit_ being found only in a
few manuscripts of Heinsius, while _extet_ is a conjecture of Guethling.
Owen (1894) thought that the ending of _extat_ caused _requirit_ to be
corrupted to _requirat_; on the other hand, the alteration of _extet_ to
_extat_ would be all but automatic. There is a similar difficulty at
_Tr_ I i 17-18 'si quis ut in populo nostri non immemor illi [=_illic_],
/ si quis qui quid agam forte _requirat_ erit', where most manuscripts
have _requiret_. Both passages seem to involve the assimilation of
_requirere_ to the mood of the verb immediately following. I print
_extat ... requirit_ in consideration of _Tr_ III x 1-2 'Si quis adhuc
istic _meminit_ Nasonis adempti, / et _superest_ sine me nomen in urbe
meum' (cited by Lenz), _Tr_ III v 23-24 'si tamen interea quid in his
ego perditus oris-- / quod te credibile est quaerere--_quaeris_, agam'
and _Tr_ V vii 5 'scilicet ut semper quid agam, carissime, _quaeris_'.
=3. CAESARIBVS= = _Augusto et Tiberio_. Augustus is similarly given
primary credit for Ovid's survival at v 31-32 'uiuit adhuc uitamque tibi
debere fatetur, / quam prius a miti Caesare [=_Augusto_] munus habet'.
=4. A SVPERIS ... PRIMVS.= The same idiomatic use of _ab_ 'after' at v
25-26 'tempus ab his uacuum Caesar Germanicus omne / auferet; _a magnis_
hunc colit ille _deis_' and _Fast_ III 93-94 (of the month of March)
'quintum Laurentes, bis quintum Aequiculus acer, / _a tribus_ hunc
_primum_ turba Curensis habet'.
=5. TEMPORA ... OMNIA.= Compare i 23 '_numquam_ pigra fuit nostris tua
gratia rebus'.
=5. COMPLECTAR.= _Complecti_ in the weak sense 'include, take in' is found
in Ovid only here and at _Tr_ I v 55 'non tamen idcirco _complecterer_
omnia uerbis'. The usage is common in prose (_OLD complector_ 8).
=6. MERITIS.= Compare i 21-22 'et leuis haec _meritis_ referatur gratia
tantis; / si minus, inuito te quoque gratus ero'.
=7-10. QVAE NVMERO TOT SVNT.= Ovid is very fond of using this type of
catalogue to indicate great number. Compare _AA_ I 57-59 ('tot habet tua
Roma puellas'), _AA_ II 517-19 ('tot sunt in amore dolores'), _AA_ III
149-50 (the many ways women can ornament themselves), _Tr_ V vi 37-40
(the number of Ovid's ills), and _EP_ II vii 25-28 ('nostrorum ... summa
laborum').
=8. LENTO CORTICE.= 'Tough skin'.
=8. GRANA.= Ovid does not use pomegranates in his similar catalogues
elsewhere. Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me how Ovid elaborates
the novel item of comparison in a full distich with several picturesque
details (_Punica_, _lento cortice_, _rubent_), then reviews familiar
elements rather more quickly in 9-10, with geography the ordering
principle.
=9. AFRICA QVOT SEGETES.= Compare _EP_ II vii 25 'Cinyphiae segetis citius
numerabis aristas' (the Cinyps was a river in Libya).
=9. SEGETES ... RACEMOS.= Compare _AA_ I 57 'Gargara quot _segetes_, quot
habet Methymna _racemos_'.
=9. TMOLIA TERRA= = _Lydia_. The adjective _Tmolius_ (from _Tmolus_, a
mountain in Lydia famous for its wines) occurs only here.
=10. QVOT SICYON BACAS.= Compare _AA_ II 518 'caerula quot bacas Palladis
arbor habet'. For Sicyonian _bacae_ compare Virgil _G_ II 519 'Sicyonia
baca' and _Ibis_ 317 'oliuifera ... Sicyone'.
=10. QVOT PARIT HYBLA FAVOS.= _Fauos_ stands by a type of metonymy for
_apes_; compare _AA_ II 517 'quot apes pascuntur in Hybla', _AA_ III 150
'nec quot apes Hybla nec quot in Alpe ferae', and _Tr_ V vi 38 'florida
quam multas Hybla tuetur apes'. For a similar metonymy, see _EP_ II vii
26 'altaque quam multis floreat Hybla thymis'.
=11. CONFITEOR; TESTERE LICET.= 'I make a public deposition; you,
Pompeius, may be a witness'. The deposition is to the effect that Ovid
is now Pompeius' property by virtue of the many gifts Pompeius has made
to him.
=11. TESTERE ... SIGNATE.= André cites _Dig_ XXII v 22 'curent magistratus
cuiusque loci _testari_ uolentibus et se ipsos et alios testes uel
_signatores_ praebere'.
=11. SIGNATE, QVIRITES.= After addressing Pompeius directly (_testere
licet_), Ovid addresses those witnessing the _mancipatio_. As Professor
A. Dalzell points out, this was achieved _ex iure Quiritium_; there is a
similar direct address to the witnessing _Quirites_ in the formula for
establishing a will (Gaius II 104).
Professor Dalzell also notes the abrupt change of audience; typical of
Propertius, this is a very unusual procedure in Ovid.
For _signare_ used without an object, compare Suet _Cl_ 9 2 'etiam
cognitio falsi testamenti recepta est, in quo et ipse _signauerat_' &
_Nero_ 17 'cautum ut testamentis primae duae cerae testatorum modo
nomine inscripto uacuae _signaturis_ ostenderentur'.
Ovid uses _testis_ and _signare_ in a similarly metaphorical sense at
_EP_ III ii 23-24 (he forgives those friends who deserted him in his
disaster) 'sint hac [_M (Heinsius)_: hi _codd_] contenti uenia,
_signentque_ [_uarr_ sientque; fugiantque] licebit / purgari factum me
quoque _teste_ suum'
=12. NIL OPVS EST LEGVM VIRIBVS, IPSE LOQVOR.= Ehwald (_KB_ 52) aptly
cites Quintilian V vii 9 'duo genera sunt testium, aut uoluntariorum aut
eorum quibus in [in _add editio Aldina_] iudiciis publicis lege
denuntiari solet ['or those who are summoned _sub poena_ in trials']'.
The reference in this passage to a legal procedure is rather curious, as
is the connected reference in 41-42. But it is clear from Ovid's verse
that he had a solid practical expertise and interest in law. In his
youth he had been one of the _tresuiri monetales_ or _capitales_ (_Tr_
IV x 33-34), and had also served in the centumviral court (_Tr_ II
93-94; _EP_ III v 23-24). He must have been known for his knowledge of
law as well as for his fairness in order to be selected as arbitrator in
private cases: 'res quoque priuatas statui sine crimine iudex, / deque
mea fassa est pars quoque uicta fide' (_Tr_ II 95-96). E. J. Kenney has
presented some interesting statistics concerning the frequent occurrence
of legal terms in Ovid's poetry ("Ovid and the Law", _Yale Classical
Studies_ XXI [1969] 241-63) comparing the number of occurrences of
certain legal terms in Ovid and in Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil,
Propertius, Tibullus, and the _Odes_ of Horace. _Ius_ and _lex_ are not
much more common in Ovid than in the other poets (the proportions being
134:59 and 74:60 respectively for Ovid and the other poets combined);
this is not surprising, since these common words could hardly be
considered technical terms. _Arbiter_ (7:4) and _lis_ (23:10) are not
much more common in Ovid than in the other poets. But it will be seen
from the following list how fond Ovid was of legal terminology:
_legitimus_ (16:0), _iudex_ (47:12), _iudicium_ (39:7), _index_ (26:1),
_indicium_ (36:8), _arbitrium_ (23:6), _reus_ (23:5), _uindex_ (26:5),
_uindicare_ (16:6), _uindicta_ (11:0), _asserere_ (3:0), _assertor_
(1:0). Compare as well the play on legal terminology at _AA_ I 83-86
(with Hollis's notes), and the use of such terms as _addicere_ (_Met_ I
617), _fallere depositum_ (_Met_ V 480 & IX 120), _usus communis_ (_Met_
VI 349), _transcribere_ (_Met_ VII 173), _primus heres_ (_Met_ XIII
154), _rescindere_ (_Met_ XIV 784), _accensere_ (_Met_ XV 546),
_subscribere_ (_Tr_ I ii 3), _sub condicione_ (_Tr_ I ii 109), and
_acceptum referre_ (_Tr_ II 10).
=13. OPES ... PATERNAS.= Pompeius appears to have been very wealthy. Seneca
speaks of the wealth of a Pompeius (presumably the son of Ovid's
patron--so Syme _Ten Studies_ 82, _HO_ 162), who was murdered by Gaius
Caligula (_Tranq_ 11 10).
=13. REM PARVAM= _MHIT_ PARVAM REM _BCFL_. Either reading is possible
enough. On balance, I believe _paruam rem_ to be an intentional scribal
alteration to avoid the incidence of a spondaic word in the fourth foot
of the hexameter; for a discussion of the phenomenon, see at i 11
_uellem cum_ (p 150).
In an older poet, the alliteration of _paruam pone paternas_ would be a
strong argument for the reading (see page 15 of Munro's introduction to
his commentary on Lucretius), but Ovid did not use the device in his
poetry.
=15. TRINACRIA= = _Sicilia_, unusable because it begins with three
consecutive short vowels; compare _Met_ V 474-76 (of Ceres) 'terras
tamen increpat omnes / ingratasque uocat nec frugum munere dignas, /
_Trinacriam_ ante alias'.
André avoids the literal meaning of the passage, joining _terra_ with
_Trinacria_ as well as with _regnataque ... Philippo_ and taking it to
mean 'estate': 'ta terre de Trinacrie et celle où régna Philippe'. But
this sense of _terra_ is rare in Latin (Martial IX xx 2, Apuleius _Met_
IX 35), it is difficult to see how _regnataque ... Philippo_ could stand
as an epithet in such a case, and it is clear enough that Ovid is
imitating _Aen_ III 13-14 '_terra_ ... acri quondam _regnata Lycurgo'_,
as he does at _Her_ X 69 'tellus iusto regnata parenti', _Met_ VIII 623
'arua suo quondam regnata parenti', and _Met_ XIII 720-21 'regnataque
uati / Buthrotos Phrygio'. In these lines Ovid states that Pompeius owns
Sicily, Macedonia, and Campania, and by the hyperbole indicates the size
of Pompeius' holdings. Seneca similarly mentions how the Pompeius
murdered by Gaius Caligula possessed 'tot flumina ... in suo orientia, in
suo cadentia'.
=16. QVAM DOMVS AVGVSTO CONTINVATA FORO.= Compare v 9-10 'protinus inde
domus uobis Pompeia petetur: / _non est Augusto iunctior ulla foro'_.
=18. QVAEQVE RELICTA TIBI, SEXTE, VEL EMPTA TENES.= The line seems rather
prosaic. For the thought, compare Cic _Off_ II 81 'multa
_hereditatibus_, multa _emptionibus_, multa dotibus tenebantur sine
iniuria'; for this sense of _relicta_, compare Nepos _Att_ 13 2 'domum
habuit ... ab auunculo hereditate _relictam_', Livy XXII 26 1 'pecunia a
patre _relicta_', and Martial X xlvii 3 'res non parta labore, sed
_relicta_'.
=19. TAM TVVS EN EGO SVM.= Professor A. Dalzell notes the play on the dual
sense of _tuus_ (devoted/belonging to you) which is probably the basis
of the entire poem. For _tuus_ 'devoted' compare _Tr_ II 55-56 '[iuro
...] hunc animum fauisse tibi, uir maxime, meque, / qua sola potui,
mente fuisse _tuum_' and the other passages cited at _OLD tuus_ 6.
=19. MVNERE.= The word is difficult. 'Gift' seems strange in view of the
stress placed on Pompeius' ownership of Ovid. Professor E. Fantham
suggests to me that the phrase could mean 'by virtue of whose sad
_service_ you cannot say you own nothing in the Pontus', while Professor
R. J. Tarrant suggests that _munere_ could mean 'responsibility,
charge', with _cuius_ (=_mei_) as an objective genitive.
=21. ATQVE VTINAM POSSIS, ET DETVR AMICIVS ARVVM.= This elliptical use of
_posse_ seems to be colloquial. The only instance cited by _OLD_
_possum_ 2a from verse is Prop IV vii 74 'potuit [_uar_ patuit], nec
tibi auara fuit'; there as well the tone is that of lively speech.
=21. AMICIVS ARVVM.= The same phrase at _Met_ XV 442-43 (Helenus to
Aeneas) 'Pergama rapta feres, donec Troiaeque tibique / externum patrio
contingat _amicius aruum_'. The use of the adjective _amicus_ of things
rather than person is in the main a poetic usage, but compare Cic
_Quinct_ 34 'breuitas postulatur, quae mihimet ipsi _amicissima_ est',
_ND_ II 43 'fortunam, quae _amica_ uarietati constantiam respuit', and
_Att_ XII xv 'nihil est mihi _amicius_ solitudine'; other instances in
the elder Pliny and Columella.
=22. REMQVE TVAM PONAS IN MELIORE LOCO.= Compare _EP_ I iii 77-78 'liquit
Agenorides Sidonia moenia Cadmus / poneret ut muros _in meliore loco_'.
=24. NVMINA PERPETVA QVAE PIETATE COLIS.= Tiberius and Germanicus are
meant. For Pompeius' devotion to Germanicus, compare v 25-26 'tempus ab
his uacuum Caesar Germanicus omne / auferet; a magnis hunc colit ille
deis'.