=19. DIXIT ET= has a definite epic flavour, being found in Virgil at _Aen_ I 402 & 736, II 376, III 258, IV 659, V 477, VI 677, VIII 366 & 615, IX 14, X 867, XI 561 & 858, XII 266 & 681, and _G_ IV 499; from Ovid compare _Met_ I 466-67 'dixit et eliso percussis aere pennis / impiger umbrosa Parnasi constitit arce', I 762 'dixit et implicuit materno bracchia collo', III 474, IV 162 & 576, V 230 & 419, VIII 101, and VIII 757. A close parallel at _EP_ III iii 93-94 (Amor has been speaking with Ovid) 'dixit et aut ille est tenues dilapsus in auras, / coeperunt sensus aut uigilare mei'.

=22. EXCIDIT.= 'I forgot'; the opposite of _subit_ 'I remember'. The idiom is standard Latin (_OLD excido1_ 9b); Ovidian instances at _Her_ XII 71, _Am_ II i 18, _Met_ VIII 449-50 'excidit omnis / luctus et a lacrimis in poenae uersus amorem est', _Met_ XIV 139, _Fast_ V 315, _Tr_ I v 14, _EP_ II iv 24, and _EP_ II x 8 'exciderit tantum ne tibi cura mei'.

=23. VBI ... RESERAVERIS ANNVM.= 'When you have unlocked the year'. Compare Ovid's descriptions of Janus at _Fast_ I 99 'tenens baculum dextra _clauemque_ sinistra' and _Fast_ I 253-54 '"nil mihi cum bello: pacem postesque tuebar / et" _clauem_ ostendens "haec" ait "arma gero"'.

=23. LONGVM ANNVM.= Andre translates, 'l'annee longue a venir', citing Cic _Phil_ V 1 'Nihil umquam longius his Kalendiis Ianuariis mihi uisum est', to which _OLD longus_ 14a adds (among other passages) Caesar _BG_ I 40 13 'in longiorem diem collaturus' and Sen _Ep_ 63 3 'non differo in _longius_ tempus'; but the meaning 'far off' seems unsuited to the present context. _Longum_ should be taken in its usual sense; it perhaps emphasizes that the whole year is still ahead.

=24. SACRO MENSE.= _Sacer_ because of the religious ceremonies marking the New Year.

=25-28.= The first action of the new consul was to take auspices at his home and to assume the consular toga: compare Livy XXI 63 10 (217 BC; Flaminius has entered his consulship while absent from Rome) 'magis pro maiestate uidelicet imperii Arimini quam Romae magistratum initurum et in deuersorio hospitali quam apud penates suos praetextam sumpturum'

(Mommsen _Staatsrecht_ I3 615-17).

=26. NE TITVLIS QVICQVAM DEBEAT ILLE SVIS.= There are two possible ways of understanding this line.

One way is to take _titulis_ as referring to Pompeius' earlier magistracies, 'as if the series of offices were a score which Pompey would pay in full when he became consul' (Wheeler). A similar use at _Her_ IX 1 'Gratulor Oechaliam titulis accedere nostris'.

_Titulis_ does not have to be taken as a strict reference to the offices Pompeius had already held, but can have the wider sense of 'reputation, honour'. Compare the opening line of _Her_ IX quoted above; Professor R.

J. Tarrant cites _Met_ XV 855 'sic magnus cedit _titulis_ Agamemnonis Atreus' and Juvenal VIII 241.

The second way to take the passage is, with Nemethy, to understand _titulis ... suis_ as being equivalent to _maioribus suis, qui magnos titulos habent_, the _tituli_ being the inscriptions below the _imagines_ of Pompeius' ancestors. A parallel for the sense at _EP_ III i 75-76 'hoc domui _debes_ de qua censeris, ut illam / non magis officiis quam probitate colas'. Professor E. Fantham suggests a refinement: _titulis ... suis_ should be taken in the sense 'achievements of his ancestors'. Compare Prop IV xi 32 'et domus est titulis utraque fulta suis'.

=27. PAENE ATRIA.= Heinsius preferred PENETRALIA, the reading of _I_ and _F2_ ('sed ne sic quidem locus mihi uidetur plane in integrum restitutus'), apparently objecting to _paene_. The word seems weak enough, especially in view of Virgil _G_ I 49 'illius immensae _ruperunt_ horrea messes', but Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me a similarly weak _paene_ at _Tr_ III xi 13-14 'sic ego belligeris a gentibus undique saeptus / terreor, hoste meum paene premente latus'.

Burman conjectured LAETA and PLENA; neither seems very convincing.

For _atria_ compare _Her_ XVI 185-86 'occurrent denso tibi Troades agmine matres, / nec capient Phrygias _atria_ nostra nurus'.

_Penetralia_, although poorly attested, is in itself appropriate enough, since the new consul began his magistracy in front of his _penates_: Festus (Mueller 208; Lindsay 231) defined the _penetralia_ as the 'penatium deorum sacraria'.

=28. ET POPVLVM LAEDI DEFICIENTE LOCO.= The jostling of a crowd similarly described at _Am_ III ii 21-22 'tu tamen a dextra, quicumque es, parce puellae; / contactu lateris laeditur ista tui'.

=29-34.= The new consul, accompanied by lictors, left his house and went in solemn procession to the Capitoline, where he took his place on the curule chair, and then sacrificed to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus. A meeting of the Senate followed, held in the temple of Jupiter.

At ix 17-32 Ovid gives a similar description of the consul's entering on his office.

=29. TARPEIAE ... SEDIS.= _Capitolinus_ is metrically awkward; hence the synecdoche from the _Tarpeia rupes_, the part of the Capitoline from which criminals were hurled. Similar tropes at viii 42 'uictima Tarpeios inficit icta focos', ix 29 'at cum Tarpeias esses deductus in arces', and commonly in the poets.

=30. FACILES IN TVA VOTA.= 'Receptive to your prayers'; for this frequent sense of _facilis_ compare _Her_ XII 84 'sed mihi tam _faciles_ unde meosque deos?', _Met_ V 559 'optastis _facilesque_ deos habuistis', _Tr_ IV i 53 'sint precor hae [the Muses] saltem _faciles_ mihi', _EP_ II ii 19-20 'esse ... fateor ... _difficilem_ precibus te quoque iure meis', _Her_ XVI 282 'sic habeas _faciles in tua uota deos_', and Grattius 426.

=31-32.= The asyndeton in this distich is odd, given the preceding series of connectives. If the text is unsound, however, alteration of _certae_ to _certant_ (Damste) or _cerno_ (Owen) is not the cure. By using _certae_ Ovid is indicating that there will be a clean blow with the axe, a good omen for the coming year. For the opposite omen, see _Aen_ II 222-24 (describing Laocoon) 'clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit: / qualis mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram / taurus et _incertam_ excussit ceruice securim'.

=31-32. BOVES NIVEOS ... QVOS ALVIT CAMPIS HERBA FALISCA SVIS.= Compare _Am_ III xiii 13-14 'ducuntur _niueae_ populo plaudente _iuuencae_, / _quas aluit campis herba Falisca suis_' and _Fast_ I 83-84 (a description of the sacrifices on January 1st) '_colla_ rudes operum _praebent_ ferienda iuuenci, / _quos aluit campis herba Falisca suis_'.

=33-34. CVMQVE DEOS OMNES, TVM QVOS IMPENSIVS AEQVOS / ESSE TIBI CVPIAS, CVM IOVE CAESAR ERVNT.= _Cupias_ must be supplied with _deos omnes_--'You will wish the favour of all the gods; those gods whose favour you will particularly wish will be Caesar and Jupiter'. The omission of the verb from the _cum_-clause seems very strange, however, and Ehwald (_KB_ 63-64) is possibly correct in supposing a distich to have fallen from the text after 32; in this case, _cumque deos omnes_ is probably far removed from its original form.

=33. OMNES, TVM QVOS.= Ehwald wished to read OMNES, TVNC HOS (_P_ reads TVNC HOS ORES), _hos_ referring to the gods of the Capitol who had been named in the distich missing after 32; but this would leave _cum Ioue Caesar erunt_ without a predicate.

=33. AEQVOS.= 'Favourable'; compare _Her_ I 23 'sed bene consuluit casto deus _aequus_ amori'; _Tr_ I ii 6 '_aequa_ Venus Teucris, Pallas _iniqua_ fuit', _Tr_ III xiv 29 '_aequus_ erit scriptis', and _Tr_ IV i 25.

=35. E MORE VOCATI.= 'Convened, as is traditional'. After the sacrifice on the Capitoline, the new consul addressed the assembled Senate; compare Livy XXVI 26 5 'M. Marcellus cum idibus Martiis consulatum inisset, senatum eo die _moris modo causa_ habuit ['held a session of the Senate simply because it was traditional to do so']' and Livy XXI 63 8 'ne die initi magistratus Iouis optimi maximi templum adiret, ne senatum inuisus ipse et sibi uni inuisum uideret consuleretque'.

=36. INTENDENT AVRES.= The expression is not found elsewhere in Ovid, or in Virgil; but compare Manilius II 511 'at nudus Geminis _intendit_ Aquarius _aurem_'. The expression is presumably an extension of _oculos (aciem) intendere_, for which see Cic _Tusc_ IV 38, _Ac_ II 80, and Tac _Ann_ IV 70.

=37. FACVNDO TVA VOX ... ORE.= For Pompeius' eloquence, Nemethy cites Val Max II vi 8 '_facundissimo_ ... sermone, qui ore eius quasi e beato quodam eloquentiae fonte manabat' and IV vii ext 2 'clarissimi ac _disertissimi_ uiri'.

=37. HILARAVERIT.= The verb is rare and elevated in tone. Compare Cic _Brut_ 44 (of Pericles' oratory) 'huius suauitate maxime hilaratae Athenae sunt', Catullus LXIII 18, and _Ecl_ V 69.

=38. VTQVE SOLET, TVLERIT PROSPERA VERBA DIES.= Compare _Fast_ I 175-76 (Ovid to Janus) '"at cur _laeta_ tuis dicuntur _uerba_ Kalendis, / et damus alternas accipimusque preces?"'.

=40.= Riese's punctuation 'facias cur ita, saepe dabit' seems preferable to the alternate 'facias cur ita saepe, dabit', as placing more emphasis on Augustus and being perhaps an echo of _Tr_ IV ii 12 'munera det meritis, _saepe datura_, deis'.

=42. OFFICIVM POPVLI= = _populum officium facientem_; the same metonymy at _Met_ XV 691-93 (of Aesculapius) 'restitit hic agmenque suum _turbaeque sequentis_ / _officium_ placido uisus dimittere uultu / corpus in Ausonia posuit rate'.

=44. NEC POTERVNT ISTIS LVMINA NOSTRA FRVI.= Other non-personal subjects at Cic _Am_ 45 (_animus_) and ps-Quint _Decl_ VII 10 'uulneribus illis non fruentur _oculi_'. In all of these passages the transition from an expressed personal subject to a faculty or part of the personality seems fairly natural.

=45. QVAMLIBET= is a correction by Heinsius: 'far away as you might be ...'. The QVOD (QVA) LICET of most manuscripts anticipates the following _qua possum_, contrary to Ovid's practice.

=45. QVA POSSVM, MENTE.= A commonplace of the poems of exile: compare ix 41-42 'mente tamen, quae sola domo non exulat, usus / praetextam fasces aspiciamque tuos', _Tr_ III iv 56, _Tr_ IV ii 57 'haec ego summotus _qua possum mente uidebo_', _EP_ I viii 34 'cunctaque mens oculis peruidet usa suis', _EP_ II iv 8, _EP_ II x 47, and _EP_ III v 47-48.

=47. SVBEAT TIBI.= See at xv 30 _subeant animo_ (p 440).

V. To Sextus Pompeius

The poem was written shortly after Pompeius' accession to the consulship (compare 4 'tectaque brumali sub niue terra latet' and 24 'deque _parum noto_ consulet officio'). It takes the form of a set of instructions to the poem on what it should do when it reaches Rome. Ovid tells the poem it should look for Pompeius, and includes a short description of some of the consular functions Pompeius might be carrying out (1-26). He then instructs the poem in what it is to say to Pompeius: it should describe to him Ovid's gratitude for past and present services, and promise (using several _adynata_ as illustrations) that this gratitude will be eternal (27-46).

A close parallel to this poem is furnished by _Tr_ III vii, in which Ovid tells the poem where it is to seek his stepdaughter Perilla and what it is to say to her. Similar personifications are found in _Tr_ I i, in which Ovid gives instructions to his book on what it should do when it reaches Rome and the prudence it should show, in _Tr_ III i, where the book describes its arrival in Rome, in _Tr_ V iv, where the letter tells of Ovid's misery and his loyalty to his friend, and in Ovid's exhortation to his _elegi_ at _Fast_ II 3-6. The device is not unique to Ovid, being found at Catullus XXXV, Hor _Ep_ I xx, and Statius _Sil_ IV iv.

=1. LEVES ELEGI.= The same phrase at Am II i 21 'blanditias _elegosque leues_, mea tela, resumpsi'.

=1. DOCTAS AD CONSVLIS AVRES.= 'To the ears of a consul who appreciates poetry'. Compare Hor _Ep_ I xiii 17-18 'carmina quae possint oculos _aurisque_ morari / Caesaris' and Prop II xiii 11-12.

=2. HONORATO ... VIRO.= Dative of agent with _legenda_.

=2. HONORATO= refers specifically to Pompeius' consulship. _Honor_ is often used with the restricted sense of 'magistracy'.

=3. LONGA VIA EST.= Compare _Tr_ I i 127-28 (the end of Ovid's instructions to his book) 'longa uia est, propera! nobis habitabitur orbis / ultimus, a terra terra remota mea'.

=3. LONGA VIA EST, NEC VOS PEDIBVS PROCEDITIS AEQVIS.= The _uia longa_ is seen as a possible cause of the metre's lameness at _Tr_ III i 11-12.

=3. NEC ... PEDIBVS ... AEQVIS.= Ovid often mentions the alternating pattern of elegiac verse: compare xvi 11 _numeris ... imparibus ... uel aequis_ and the passages there cited, _Am_ III i 8 (of Elegy) 'et, puto, pes illi _longior alter_ erat', and _EP_ III iv 85-86 'ferre etiam molles elegi tam uasta triumphi / pondera _disparibus_ non potuere _rotis_'.

=5. HAEMON= _Laurentianus 38 39 (saec xv), Ven. Marcianus XII 106 (saec xv), editio princeps Bononiensis_ HAEMVM _BCMFHILT_. I follow Heinsius and Burman in printing _Haemon_, in consideration of the preceding _Thracen_: it seems neater to have both place-names in their Greek forms. _Haemum_ is similarly the transmitted reading at _Met_ VI 87 (of the tapestry created by Minerva) 'Threiciam Rhodopen habet angulus unus et _Haemon_' and _Met_ X 76-77 (of Orpheus) 'in altam / se recipit Rhodopen pulsumque Aquilonibus _Haemon_', the preferable _Haemon_ being found only in certain late manuscripts.

=6. TRANSIERITIS.= In early Latin this would necessarily have been a perfect subjunctive, the future perfect indicative being _transieritis_ with the second 'i' short; but after Ennius and Plautus the forms (like _-erIs_ and _-eris)_) are used indifferently, according to metrical necessity. See Platnauer 56 and Kuhner-Stegmann I 115-16.

=7. LVCE MINVS DECIMA DOMINAM VENIETIS IN VRBEM.= '[Starting from Brundisium] you will arrive in Rome before the tenth day'. The same idiom at _Fast_ V 379 'nocte minus quarta promet sua sidera Chiron'.