=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_.

=27. TE SVBEVNTE RECEPTA.= 'Recaptured on your attack'. Intransitive _subire_ in this sense belongs to military vocabulary: compare Caesar _BG_ VII 85 'alii tela coniciunt, alii testudine facta _subeunt_' and Curtius IV 2 23. For instances from military prose of _subire_ with a direct object see Caesar _BG_ II 27 '_subire_ iniquissimum locum', Hirtius _BG_ VIII 15, _Bell Alex_ 76 2 '_subierant_ iniquum locum', and _Bell Hisp_ 24 2.

=22. INGENIO ... LOCI.= 'The nature (i.e. difficulty) of its terrain'. The same standard phrase at Tac _Ann_ VI 41 'locorumque ingenio', _Hist_ I 51 'diu infructuosam et asperam militiam tolerauerant _ingenio loci_ caelique ['climate']', and from Ovid _Tr_ V x 17-18 'tumulus defenditur ipse / moenibus exiguis ingenioque loci' and _EP_ II i 52 '[oppida ...]

nec satis _ingenio_ tuta fuisse _loci_'.

=22. NIL OPIS.= The expression is rather prosaic: compare Cic _Fam_ IV i 1 '_aliquid opis_ rei publicae tulissemus'.

=23. DVBIVM= _BMFHIT_ DVBIVM EST _CL_. The same variant in many manuscripts at _EP_ III i 17-18 (Ovid is addressing Tomis) 'nec tibi sunt fontes laticis nisi paene marini, / qui potus _dubium_ sistat alatne sitim'.

=24. NVBIBVS AEQVA.= 'As high as the clouds'. For this use of _aequus_ compare _Aen_ IX 674 'abietibus iuuenes patriis in [_Heyne_: et _codd_; _cf Il XII 132_ '[Greek: hestasan hos hote te dryes ouresin hypsikarenoi]'] montibus aequos', Statius _Ach_ I 173 'aequus uertice matri', Sen _Ep_ 94 61 'aequum arcibus aggerem ... et muros in miram altitudinem eductos', and _Aen_ IV 89 '_aequataque_ machina caelo'.

=25. SITHONIO= = _Thracio_.

=25. INTERCEPERAT.= _Intercipere_ 'capture' common in Livy (IX 43 3, XXI 1 5, XXVI 51 12, XXXVI 31 10); compare Ammianus XX 7 17 & XX 10 3 'locis ... recuperatis quae olim barbari intercepta retinebant ut propria'.

=26. EREPTAS VICTOR HABEBAT OPES.= Similar phrasing at _Fast_ III 49-51 'hoc ubi cognouit contemptor Amulius aequi / (nam _raptas_ fratri _uictor habebat opes_), / amne iubet mergi geminos'.

=27. FLVMINEA ... VNDA.= _Flumineus_ does not occur elsewhere in the _Tristia_ or _Ex Ponto_; _fluminea ... aqua_ at _Fast_ II 46 & 596.

=27. VITELLIVS.= This Vitellius is presumably one of the four sons of Publius Vitellius, grandfather of the emperor. Suetonius wrote of the sons, Aulus, Quintus, Publius, and Lucius, that they were 'quattuor filios amplissimae dignitatis cognomines ac tantum praenominibus distinctos' (_Vit_ 2 2). Heinsius suggested Aulus (_cos_ AD 32) was the one here meant, 'nisi ad L. Vitellium patrem [_sc_ principis] referre mauis'. 'On the general and reasonable assumption', wrote Syme (_HO_ 90), 'this is P. Vitellius'. But Suetonius calls P. Vitellius 'Germanici comes', and he is heard of in 15 assisting Germanicus in a campaign (Tac _Ann_ I 70 1): it is perhaps more likely that Publius would have been with Germanicus at the time of the capture of Aegissos, and that another of the brothers is meant. Certainty is in any case not attainable.

=29. PROGENIES ALTI FORTISSIMA DONNI.= For the phrasing, compare _EP_ II ix 1-2 'Regia _progenies_, cui nobilitatis origo / nomen in Eumolpi peruenit usque ['goes back to'], Coty'.

The Donnus here referred to is Vestalis' grandfather (_CIL_ V 7817), or possibly a more distant ancestor. Vestalis' father, Cottius, became a client of Augustus; at XV 10 7 Ammianus mentions the worship still accorded Cottius 'quod iusto moderamine rexerat suos, et ascitus in societatem rei Romanae quietem genti praestitit sempiternam'. At _Nero_ 18 Suetonius mentions as one of the few additions to the empire under Nero the 'regnum ... Alpium defuncto Cottio'. This Cottius would probably have been Vestalis' older brother; Andre is therefore right to infer that Vestalis 'n'etait pas l'heritier du trone, ce qu'Ovide n'aurait pas manque de signaler'.

=30. IMPETVS.= _Impetus_ + infinitive usually indicates a mad impulse: the only other exception in Ovid is _Met_ V 287-88 (one of the Muses speaking) '_impetus ire fuit_; claudit sua tecta Pyreneus / uimque parat, quam nos sumptis effugimus alis'.

=31. CONSPICVVS LONGE FVLGENTIBVS ARMIS.= Modelled on _Aen_ XI 769 '_insignis longe_ Phrygiis _fulgebat_ in _armis_'.

=32. FORTIA NE POSSINT FACTA LATERE CAVES.= Vestalis would in any case have fought bravely; so that his deeds would not pass unnoticed, he led the attack.

=33. INGENTIQVE GRADV.= When Ovid elsewhere use _ingens gradus_ (_passus_) he gives the phrase a humorous tone: see _Am_ III i 11 'uenit et _ingenti_ uiolenta Tragoedia _passu_', _AA_ III 303-4 'illa uelut coniunx Vmbri rubicunda mariti / ambulat _ingentes_ uarica fertque _gradus'_, and _Met_ XIII 776-77 (of Polyphemus) 'gradiens _ingenti_ litora _passu_ / degrauat'. The straightforwardness of this passage is of a piece with the rest of the poem.

For an example of the normal epic use of this detail, see _Aen_ X 572 'longe gradientem'.

=33. FERRVM LOCVMQVE= reflects 23 'dubium _positu_ melius defensa _manune_'.

=34. SAXAQVE ... GRANDINE PLVRA.= The same phrase in the same metrical position at _Ibis_ 467-68 'aut te deuoueat certis Abdera diebus, / _saxaque_ deuotum _grandine plura_ petant'.

=35. MISSA SVPER IACVLORVM TVRBA.= 'The crowding missiles hurled from above' (Wheeler).

=38. FERE.= Heinsius' FERO would involve the repetition of _fero_ in 44; and _fero uulnere_ would be rather feeble when applied to a shield.

Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me that Ovid's description of Vestalis' exploit may have served as a distant model for Lucan's account of how a centurion named Scaeua rallied Caesar's forces and led an attack against Pompey's encampment (VI 140-262). Scaeua was made _primipilaris_ in reward for his bravery (Caesar _BC_ III 53 5).

=40. SED MINOR EST ACRI LAVDIS AMORE DOLOR.= Similar language of a similar exploit at _Met_ XI 525-28 'ut miles, numero praestantior omni, / cum saepe adsiluit defensae moenibus urbis, / spe potitur tandem _laudisque accensus amore_ / inter mille uiros murum tamen occupat unus'. Ovid's description of Vestalis' exploit is little more than a string of conventional phrases.

=40. ACRI.= 'Sharp'. Compare ii 36 'immensum gloria _calcar_ habet'.

=41-42. TALIS APVD TROIAM DANAIS PRO NAVIBVS AIAX / DICITVR HECTOREAS SVSTINVISSE FACES.= Compare _Met_ XIII 7-8 (Ajax speaking of Ulysses) 'at non Hectoreis dubitauit cedere flammis, / quas ego sustinui, quas hac a classe fugaui' and _Met_ XIII 384-85 (the death of Ajax) 'Hectora qui solus, qui ferrum ignesque Iouemque / sustinuit totiens, unam non sustinet iram'. All three passages are drawn from _Il_ XV 674-746, the description of how Ajax repulsed Hector's attempt to set the Greek ships afire, and in particular from 730-31 '[Greek: enth ar' ho g' hestekei dedokemenos, enche d' aiei / Troas amyne neon, hos tis pheroi akamaton pyr]'.

=41. PRO NAVIBVS.= 'In front of the ships'; a reminiscence of _Il_ XV 746 (the final line of the book) '[Greek: dodeka de proparoithe neon autoschedon outa]'.

=43. DEXTERA DEXTRAE.= Ovid used syncope in _dextera_ where metrically convenient. Elsewhere when he employs the two forms he is usually describing the joining of hands in pledge or friendship. See _Her_ II 31 'commissaque _dextera dextrae_', _Her_ XII 90 '_dextrae dextera_ iuncta meae', and _Met_ VI 447-48 '_dextera dextrae_ / iungitur'. For a different use, see _Met_ III 640-41 '_dextera_ [_uar_ dextra] Naxos erat: _dextra_ mihi lintea danti / "quid facis, o demens? quis te furor," inquit "Acoete?"'.

=45-46. DICERE DIFFICILE EST QVID MARS TVVS EGERIT ILLIC, / QVOTQVE NECI DEDERIS QVOSQVE QVIBVSQVE MODIS.= As Professor E. Fantham points out to me, this _praeteritio_ takes the place of a full _aristeia_ detailing Vestalis' exploits.

=46. QVOSQVE QVIBVSQVE MODIS.= Compare _quotque quibusque modis_ in an erotic context at _Am_ II viii 28, and _Tr_ III xii 33-34 'sedulus occurram nautae, dictaque salute, / quid ueniat quaeram _quisue quibusue locis_'.

=47. ENSE TVO FACTOS CALCABAS VICTOR ACERVOS.= Compare _Met_ V 88 (of Perseus) 'extructos morientum _calcat aceruos_'.

=50. MVLTAQVE FERT MILES VVLNERA, MVLTA FACIT.= A similar conjunction of verbs at _Fast_ II 233-34 'non moriuntur inulti, / _uulneraque_ alterna _dantque feruntque_ manu'.

=52. IBAT.= IBIT (_BP_) is printed by all modern editors except Andre, and is possibly correct: compare _Am_ II iv 31-32 'ut taceam de me, qui causa tangor ab omni, / illic Hippolytum pone, Priapus _erit_' for the future tense used of a mythological character, and _EP_ II xi 21-22 'acer et ad palmae per se cursurus honores, / si tamen horteris, fortius _ibit_ [_uar_ ibat] equus' for the corruption of future to imperfect.

=53. TEMPVS IN OMNE.= Similar promises of immortality at _Tr_ I vi 36 (to his wife) 'carminibus uiues _tempus in omne_ meis', _EP_ II vi 33-34 (to Graecinus) 'crede mihi, nostrum si non mortale futurum est / carmen, in ore frequens posteritatis eris', and _EP_ III i 93 (to his wife) 'nota tua est probitas testataque _tempus in omne_'.

Vestalis is known to us only through this poem.

VIII. To Suillius

This poem, nominally addressed to Suillius, husband of Ovid's stepdaughter, is in fact directed to Germanicus, of whose staff Suillius was a member (see at 23 [pp 264-65]).