The Last Poems of Ovid | Page 6

ix 57 ff.
Graecinus must have been an old associate of Ovid, since he has the
rare distinction of being mentioned by name in a poem written by Ovid
before his exile (_Am_ II x 1).
Two of Ovid's correspondents were orators. Gallio, the addressee of the
eleventh poem, is frequently quoted by the elder Seneca. He was a
senator; both Tacitus and Dio give accounts of how he fell into
disfavour with Tiberius for proposing that ex-members of the
Praetorian guard be granted the privilege of using the theatre seats
reserved for members of the equestrian order (_Ann_ VI 3; LVIII 18 4).
Brutus, the recipient of the sixth poem and dedicatee of the first three
books of the _Ex Ponto_, is not mentioned by other writers, but it
appears from vi 29-38 that he had a considerable reputation as a
forensic orator, although some allowance must be made for possible
exaggeration in Ovid's description of his close friend. The poem
contains six lines on the death of Fabius Maximus, to whom Ovid had
addressed _EP_ I ii and III iii; perhaps he and Brutus had been
associates.
Five epistles are addressed to Ovid's fellow poets. Cornelius Severus,
the recipient of the second poem, was one of the most famous epic
poets of the day; he is mentioned by Quintilian (X i 89), and the elder
Seneca preserves his lines on the death of Cicero (_Suas_ VI 26),
Albinovanus Pedo, the recipient of the tenth epistle, was known as a
writer of hexameter verse and of epigram. He served in Germanicus'
campaign of AD 15 (Tac _Ann_ I 60 2), and the elder Seneca preserves
a fragment of his poem on Germanicus' campaigns (_Suas_ I 15). It
might be argued that in addressing him Ovid is once again trying to win
Germanicus' favour. But in view of his intimacy with Ovid (mentioned
at Sen _Cont_ II 2 12), Albinovanus seems a natural choice to receive
one of Ovid's letters. Tuticanus, the recipient of the twelfth and
fourteenth poems and author of a _Phaeacid_ based on Homer
(mentioned at xii 27 and again in the catalogue of poets at xvi 29), is
known only through the _Ex Ponto_; the same is true of Carus, author

of a poem on Hercules and, as already mentioned, tutor of the sons of
Germanicus.
Vestalis, the recipient of the seventh poem, is in a class separate from
the other recipients of Ovid's verse epistles. As _primipilaris_ of the
legion stationed in the vicinity, he would of course have been without
influence at Rome, but as (apparently) the prefect of the region around
Tomis, he presumably had some control over Ovid's circumstances.
The traitorous friend to whom the third poem is addressed was a real
person, for Ovid is quite explicit when speaking of their past together
and of the friend's perfidy towards him; the same cannot be said of the
_inuidus_ to whom is addressed the concluding poem of the book, a
defence of Ovid's reputation as a poet.
Cotta Maximus, the younger son of Tibullus' patron Messalla, is
prominently mentioned at xvi 41-44 as an unpublished poet of
outstanding excellence. He is the recipient of six letters in the earlier
books of the _Ex Ponto_. Syme finds it significant that there is no
poem in _EP_ IV addressed to Cotta: 'Ovid ... was now concentrating
his efforts elsewhere: Germanicus, the friends of Germanicus, Sextus
Pompeius ... The tardy tribute may perhaps be interpreted as a veiled
reproach' (_HO_ 128). But arguments from silence are dangerous; and
Ovid's mention of Cotta seems flattering enough.
It is perhaps safer to postulate a change in Ovid's feelings towards his
wife. She is never mentioned in _EP_ IV, although she had been the
recipient of some eight earlier letters from exile (_Tr_ I vi, III iii, IV iii,
V ii, xi, xiv, _EP_ I iv, III i; _Tr_ V v was written in honour of her
birthday). At _EP_ III vii 11-12 Ovid indicates that his wife's efforts on
his behalf had not matched his hopes:
nec grauis uxori dicar, quae scilicet in me
quam proba tam timida est
experiensque parum.
The fact that Ovid chose not to address any verse epistle to his wife
during his final years at Tomis may well reflect a cooling in his attitude
towards her.

Differences between _Ex Ponto_ IV and the earlier poetry from exile
The criticism most often made of Ovid's poems from exile is that they
are repetitive and therefore monotonous. _EP_ III ix 1-4 shows that the
same criticism was made while Ovid was still alive:
Quod sit in his eadem sententia, Brute, libellis,
carmina nescio quem
carpere nostra refers:
nil nisi me terra fruar ut propiore rogare,
et
quam sim denso cinctus ab hoste loqui.
Ovid does not attempt to deny the