Ovid begins the poem by expressing his pleasure at receiving, at last, a letter from Suillius, saying he hopes that Suillius does not feel ashamed of being related to him by marriage (1-20). He then asks him to address Germanicus on his behalf (21-26). In 27-30 he says how grateful he will be if Germanicus assists him; at 31 he begins to address Germanicus directly in a tripartite defence of poetry. The first part (31-42) builds on 34 'Naso suis opibus, _carmine_, gratus erit': Ovid is now poor, but can still offer Germanicus his poetry. The second section (43-66) builds on 43-44 'nec tamen officio uatum per _carmina_ facto / principibus res est aptior ulla uiris', and explains how verse brings immortality to great men and their deeds. The third section (67-78) offers culminating evidence for the value of poetry: Germanicus is himself a poet. Ovid moves from this to a final plea that Germanicus help his fellow-poet: once removed from Tomis, he will praise him in verse (79-88). In the final distich of the poem, he asks Suillius to assist his prayer.

The structure of the poem is similar to that of _Tr_ V ii. In that poem Ovid addresses his wife for the first thirty-eight lines, telling her of his misery and asking her to approach Augustus on his behalf. In the six lines that follow, he asks himself what he will do if she fails him; he answers that he will make his own direct approach to Augustus. The final thirty-four lines are his prayer to Augustus, in which he describes the hardships he endures at Tomis and begs for a mitigation of his punishment. It is remarkable that in both poems direct addresses to members of the imperial family should be disguised in this way: it seems probable that _Tr_ II, Ovid's long defence of his conduct, had been received by Augustus with hostility, and that he was thenceforth more circumspect.

=1-2. SERA QVIDEM ... GRATA TAMEN.= _Tamen_ goes with _grata_, balancing _quidem_. For instances of the separate _serus tamen_ idiom ('it is late in happening, but it does in fact happen') see Nisbet and Hubbard at Hor _Carm_ I xv 19.

=1. SERA QVIDEM.= It seems that in spite of his being a close relative of Ovid, Suillius, like Sextus Pompeius (see the introduction to i), had been reluctant to be openly associated with him.

=1. STVDIIS EXCVLTE.= 'Refined'. _Studiis_ adds little to the force of _exculte_: the same idiom at Quintilian XII ii 1 'mores ante omnia oratori _studiis_ erunt _excolendi_' and Cic _Tusc_ I 4 'ergo in Graecia musici floruerunt, discebantque id omnes, nec qui nesciebat satis _excultus doctrina_ putabatur'.

=1. SVILLI.= P. Suillius Rufus (_PW_ IV A,l 719-22; _PIR1_ S 700) is otherwise chiefly known to us from three passages of Tacitus: Suillius is presented as 'strong, savage, and unbridled' (Syme _Tacitus_ 332). At _Ann_ IV 31, Tacitus describes how, in 24, Tiberius insisted that Suillius, convicted of accepting a bribe, be relegated to an island rather than merely be exiled from Italy; what seemed cruelty at the time later seemed wisdom in view of his later behaviour as a favourite of Claudius. At _Ann_ XI 1-7 Tacitus describes how Suillius' excesses resulted in a proposal in the Senate to revive the _lex Cincia_ of 204 BC, by which advocates had been forbidden remuneration: the proposal was modified by Claudius at the instance of Suillius and others affected so as to establish a maximum fee of ten thousand sesterces. At _Ann_ XIII 42-43 (AD 58) Tacitus tells how Suillius, 'imperitante Claudio terribilis ac uenalis', was charged with extortion as proconsul of Asia and with laying malicious charges under Claudius. Banished to the Balearic islands, he led a luxurious existence, remaining unrepentant.

=3-4. PIA SI POSSIT SVPEROS LENIRE ROGANDO / GRATIA.= Compare 21 'si quid agi sperabis posse _precando_'.

=5-6. ANIMI SVM FACTVS AMICI / DEBITOR.= 'Your friendly purpose has placed me in your debt' (Wheeler). The genitive similarly used for the cause of indebtedness at i 2 _'debitor_ est _uitae_ qui tibi, Sexte, suae' and _Tr_ I v 10 'perpetuusque _animae debitor huius_ ero'.

=6. MERITVM VELLE IVVARE VOCO.= 'I call the desire to help a favour already given'. Otto _uelle_ 2 cites _EP_ III iv 79 'ut desint uires, _tamen est laudanda uoluntas_', Prop II x 5-6 'quod si deficient uires, audacia certe / laus erit: in magnis _et uoluisse sat est_', _Pan Mess_ 3-7, _Laus Pisonis_ 214; the same proverb at Sen _Ben_ V 2 2 'uoluntas ipsa rectum petens laudanda est'.

=7. IMPETVS ISTE TVVS LONGVM MODO DVRET IN AEVVM.= Similar phrasing at _EP_ II vi 35-36 (Graecinus has been rendering Ovid assistance) 'fac modo permaneas lasso, Graecine, fidelis, / _duret et in longas impetus iste moras_'.

=9. IVS ALIQVOD.= 'A certain claim on each other'. The same phrase for a similar situation at _EP_ I vii 60 (to Messalinus, elder brother of Cotta Maximus) '_ius aliquod_ tecum fratris amicus habet'.

=9. ADFINIA.= The _adfinis_ was a relative by marriage, commonly, as here, a son-in-law; a relative by common descent was a _cognatus_.

=9. ADFINIA VINCVLA.= _Vinculum_ used of family relationships at _Met_ IX 550 (Byblis wishes to marry her brother) 'expetit ... _uinclo_ tecum propiore ligari' and Cic _Planc_ 27 'cum illo maximis _uinclis_ et propinquitatis et _adfinitatis_ coniunctus'.

=10. INLABEFACTA.= The word elsewhere in Latin only at xii 29-30 'haec ... concordia ... uenit ad albentes _inlabefacta_ comas'. Ovid is fond of using negative participles of this type.

=11-12. NAM TIBI QVAE CONIVNX, EADEM MIHI FILIA PAENE EST, / ET QVAE TE GENERVM, ME VOCAT ILLA VIRVM.= The same type of circumlocution at _Her_ III 45-48 (Briseis to Achilles) "diruta Marte tuo Lyrnesia moenia uidi; ... uidi ... tres cecidisse _quibus_ [_Bentley_: tribus _codd_] _quae mihi, mater erat_'.

=11. EADEM MIHI FILIA PAENE EST.= This is presumably Perilla, the recipient of _Tr_ III vii, whom Ovid there speaks of in terms appropriate to a stepfather.

=13-14. EI MIHI, SI LECTIS VVLTVM TV VERSIBVS ISTIS / DVCIS, ET ADFINEM TE PVDET ESSE MEVM.= A similar lament at _EP_ II ii 5-6 '_ei mihi, si lecto uultus_ tibi nomine non est / qui fuit, et dubitas cetera perlegere!'; both passages are followed by defences of Ovid's character.

For _uultum ... ducis_ see at i 5 _trahis uultus_ (p 149).

=15. NIHIL= _BCMFHLT_ NIL _I_. Copyists were more prone to alter _nil_ to _nihil_ than the inverse; but in 1919 Housman demonstrated that _nihil_ was Ovid's invariable form for the latter half of the first foot by pointing out that in all of the twenty-odd passages where the manuscripts offer _nihil_ or _nil_ at that position the following word invariably begins with a vowel (_Collected Papers_ 1000-1003). There would be no reason for such an avoidance of consonants if Ovid had allowed _nil_ in this position; he must therefore have used _nihil_ alone.

=16. FORTVNAM, QVAE MIHI CAECA FVIT.= The image of Fortune being blind to a single individual seems very strange. Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests that _caeca_ could mean 'unforeseeing', and by _fortunam_ Ovid could be referring to his own previous circumstances; alternatively, _caeca_ might be a corruption induced by the familiar image of the blind goddess, replacing an original SAEVA (Riese) or LAEVA, for which compare Silius III 93-94 'si promissum uertat _Fortuna_ fauorem, / _laeuaque sit coeptis_'.

=17-18. SEV GENVS EXCVTIAS, EQVITES AB ORIGINE PRIMA / VSQVE PER INNVMEROS INVENIEMVR AVOS.= A similar claim at _Tr_ IV x 7-8 'usque a proauis uetus ordinis heres, / non modo fortunae munere factus eques'.

The status of _eques_ was not hereditary except in the case of a senator's son. The Paeligni did not receive the citizenship until after the Social War; to be born to equestrian status, and to assume that he could have had a senatorial career (_Tr_ IV x 35), Ovid must have belonged to one of the dominant families of the region.

=17. EXCVTIAS.= 'Examine'. Ovid plays on the primary meaning of the word, 'shake out', at _Am_ I viii 45-46 'has quoque quae frontis rugas in uertice portant [_Burman_: quas ... portas _codd_] / _excute_; de rugis crimina multa cadent'. The transferred meaning had lost any sense of metaphor by Ovid's time, however; see especially _Tr_ II 224 '_excutiasque_ oculis otia nostra ['the product of my leisure hours'--Wheeler] tuis'.

=19-20. SIVE VELIS QVI SINT MORES INQVIRERE NOSTRI, / ERROREM MISERO DETRAHE, LABE CARENT.= A similar claim of no fault beyond his _error_ at _EP_ II ii 15-16 'est mea culpa grauis, sed quae me perdere solum / ausa sit, et _nullum maius adorta nefas_'.

=20. ERROREM ... DETRAHE.= At _Met_ II 38-39 the same phrase with a different meaning: (Phaethon to his father) 'pignora da, genitor, per quae tu uera propago / credar, et hunc animis _errorem_ ['doubt']

_detrahe_ nostris*.

=20. LABE CARENT.= The same sense of _labes_ at _Tr_ I ix 43 'uitae _labe carentis_' and Prop IV xi 41-42 'neque ulla _labe_ mea nostros erubuisse focos'; compare as well the phrase _sine labe_ at _Tr_ II 110 (_domus_), _Tr_ IV viii 33 (_decem lustris ... peractis_), _EP_ I ii 143 (_praeteriti anni_), _EP_ II vii 49 (_uita prior_), _Her_ XVII 14 (_tenor uitae_), and _Her_ XVII 69 (_fama_).

=22. QVOS COLIS ... DEOS.= A similar definition of the imperial family at _EP_ II ii 123 '_quos colis ad superos_ haec fer mandata sacerdos'.

=23. DI TIBI SVNT CAESAR IVVENIS.= _BCFM2ul_ read SINT; but the indicative seems to be required by the preceding 'quos _colis_ ... deos' and the following '_tua numina_ placa' and 'hac certe nulla est notior _ara_ tibi'.

=23. CAESAR IVVENIS.= Germanicus; he would have acquired the cognomen _Caesar_ on his adoption by Tiberius in AD 4. _Iuuenis_ probably refers to Germanicus' title of _princeps iuuentutis_, which _EP_ II v 41-42 indicates he must have held: 'te _iuuenum princeps_, cui dat Germania nomen, / participem studii Caesar habere solet'. Germanicus' holding of the title is not elsewhere attested.

At _Ann_ IV 31 5, Tacitus identifies Suillius as 'quaestorem quondam Germanici'; at _Ann_ XIII 42 4, he represents Suillius as saying of himself and Seneca 'se quaestorem Germanici, illum domus eius adulterum fuisse'. His service under Germanicus was clearly a principal fact of his life.

=25-26. ANTISTITIS ... PRECES.= Here _antistes_ is virtually equivalent to _cultor_, as at _Tr_ III xiv 1 '_Cultor et antistes_ doctorum sancte uirorum'; compare as well _Met_ XIII 632-33 'Anius, quo ... _antistite_ Phoebus / rite _colebatur_'.

=27-28. QVAMLIBET EXIGVA SI NOS EA IVVERIT AVRA, / OBRVTA DE MEDIIS CVMBA RESVRGET AQVIS.= Ovid here mixes two nautical metaphors: if a ship is overwhelmed by high seas, a favouring breeze will not be of great assistance.

=28. OBRVTA DE MEDIIS CVMBA RESVRGET AQVIS.= Similar wording at [Sen]

_Oct_ 345-48 '[cumba ...] _obruta_ ... ruit in pelagus rursumque salo / pressa _resurgit_'.

=29. TVNC EGO TVRA FERAM RAPIDIS SOLLEMNIA FLAMMIS.= Perhaps a verbal reminiscence of _Aen_ IX 625-26 'Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis. / ipse tibi ad tua templa _feram sollemnia_ dona'.

=29. TVRA ... SOLLEMNIA.= The phrase does not occur elsewhere in Ovid; but compare the passage from _Aen_ IX quoted above, as well as the conjunction of words at _Tr_ III xiii 16 'micaque _sollemni turis_ in igne sonet'.

=29. RAPIDIS= is here used as a standard epithet; its full force ('destructive') at _Met_ II 122-23 'tum pater ora sui sacro medicamine nati / contigit et _rapidae_ fecit patientia _flammae_', _Met_ XII 274-75 'correpti _rapida_, ueluti seges arida, _flamma_ / arserunt crines', and _EP_ III iii 60 (to Amor) 'sic numquam _rapido_ lampades _igne_ uacent'.

=31-32. NEC TIBI DE PARIO STATVAM, GERMANICE, TEMPLVM / MARMORE.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the reference to Virgil _G_ III 13-16 'et uiridi in campo _templum de marmore_ ponam ... in medio mihi Caesar erit templumque tenebit'; _Parii lapides_ are mentioned at III 34. Here Ovid makes the temple literal, and conducts his _recusatio_ in the terms used by love-poets.

=32. CARPSIT OPES ... MEAS.= 'Has destroyed my wealth'. This is not strictly true, since Ovid at v 38 says that Pompeius give him gifts (Ovid's letter speaking) 'ne proprias attenuaret opes'.

The same use of _carpere_ at ix 121-22 'fortuna est impar animo, talique libenter / exiguas _carpo_ munere pauper opes' and _Am_ I viii 91 'et soror et mater, nutrix quoque _carpat_ amantem'.

=34. NASO SVIS OPIBVS, CARMINE, GRATVS ERIT.= Compare _Am_ II xvii 27 'sunt mihi pro magno felicia carmina censu' and _Am_ I iii entire.

=37. QVAM POTVIT ... MAXIMA.= For the idiom compare Cic _Fam_ XIII vi 5 '_quam maximas_ ... gratias agat' and _ND_ II 129 'gallinae ['hens']

... cubilia sibi nidosque construunt eosque _quam possunt mollissime_ substernunt'.

=37. GRATVS ABVNDE EST.= Apparently the only instance in classical poetry of _abunde_ modifying an adjective. The prose authors cited by the lexica are Sallust, Livy, Valerius Maximus, Curtius, the elder Pliny, and Quintilian. _Abunde_ elsewhere in Ovid only at _Met_ XV 759 'humano generi, superi, fauistis abunde!' and _Tr_ I vii 31 'laudatus abunde'.

=38. FINEM PIETAS CONTIGIT ILLA SVVM.= 'That act of piety has reached its objective', that is, has made the giver _gratus_.

=39-42.= For the sentiment compare _EP_ III iv 81-82 'haec [_sc_ laudanda uoluntas] facit ut ueniat pauper quoque gratus ad aras, / et placeat caeso non minus agna boue'.

=41-42. GRAMINE PASTA FALISCO / VICTIMA TARPEIOS INFICIT ICTA FOCOS.= Compare iv 29-32 'templaque Tarpeiae primum tibi sedis adiri ... colla boues niueos certae praebere securi, / quos aluit campis _herba Falisca_ suis'.

=42. INFICIT.= 'Stain'. _Inficere_ in the context of a sacrifice also at _Met_ XV 134-35 '[uictima ...] percussa ... sanguine cultros / inficit'

and Hor _Carm_ III xiii 6.

=44. PRINCIPIBVS ... VIRIS.= A fixed colloquial idiom: _OLD princeps1_ 5 cites Plautus _Amphitruo_ 204 'delegit _uiros_ primorum _principes_' and Hor _Ep_ I xvii 35 '_principibus_ placuisse _uiris_ non ultima laus est'. There was a parallel expression _principes feminae_: see Pliny _NH_ VIII 119 and Tac _Ann_ XIII 42 (Suillius compares himself to Seneca) 'an grauius aestimandum sponte litigatoris praemium honestae operae adsequi quam corrumpere cubicula principum feminarum?'.

=45. CARMINA VESTRARVM PERAGVNT PRAECONIA LAVDVM.= _Praeconia_ in a similar context at _Tr_ II 65 'inuenies uestri _praeconia_ nominis illic [in the _Metamorphoses_]'; used with _peragere_ at _Tr_ V i 9 'ut cecidi, subiti _perago praeconia_ casus'.