=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at Hor _Epod_ VI 15-16 'an si quis _atro_ dente me petiuerit, / inultus ut flebo puer'; Lindsay Watson _ad loc_ (in an unpublished University of Toronto dissertation) cites Hor _Ep_ I xix 30 'nec socerum quaerit quem uersibus oblinat _atris_' for the same meaning.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 chreon / 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.= Andre 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).