The Augustan Revolution
attentiontohismemorycannothavereflectedpopularperceptions.Forsince
..the new temple of Divus Iulius had occupied one pole of the cen-
tralaxisoftheForum.^35 ButOvid’sexploitationofthesymboliclandscape
ofRomeisnotyetcomplete.Inhisfinalprayerheevokes,ashedoesinthe
Fasti(,–),thecohabitationofVesta,Apollo,andAugustushimselfon
thePalatine,linkingthethreeinasinglecomplexlineofgreatconceptual
boldness—‘‘etcumCaesareatu,Phoebedomestice,Vesta’’(andyou,domes-
ticPhoebus,togetherwithCaesarianVesta,)—andlooksforwardonce
againtotheprospectivedeificationofAugustus(–).
InthelastpartoftheMetamorphosesthedelicacy,restraint,andindirect-
nesswhichVirgilhaddeployedinlinkingtheJulianhousetothelegendary
origins of Rome has vanished, to be replaced, as in theFasti,byanovert
loyalism,aswellasbyacreativeuseofthenow‘‘Julian’’topographyofthe
centreof Rome.Whatremainedforthepoemsofexilewasanintensifica-
tionoftheseelements,arepeatedevocationofchangesofpower,boththose
whichmighthappenandthosewhichalreadyhad;andsomethingnew,in
theEpistulae ex Pontoatleast:arepresentationoftherelationshipofAugus-
tus,andthenof Tiberius,tothesuccessiveholdersoftheconsulate,tothe
Senate,andtotheRomanpeople.
OvidinTomoi
AstohowOvidcametobeexiled,thischapterhasnosuggestiontoofferto
addtothescoresalreadycanvassed.Itisimportantinsteadtostresshishigh
socialposition,asanequestrianwhomighthavechosenasenatorialcareer,
andwhohadpersonalconnectionstothefamilyofMessallaCorvinus.Mes-
sallahaddiedin..,andOvidhadwrittentheeulogy(elogium)delivered
athisfuneral(ExP.,,),justashehadcomposedtheweddinghymn(epi-
thalamium)forthemarriageofFabiusMaximus,consulof..(,,).
Thenotionsof ‘‘patronus’’and‘‘cliens’’giveaquitedistortedimpressionof
suchrelationships,andofthesocialstandingofalocaldignitaryandRoman
equestrian like Ovidius Naso. Such a person,whether hewrote poetryor
not,wasamemberofthepoliticalclass,aman(necessarily)ofindependent
wealth,andofhigh,butnotthehighest,rank.
ItwillhavebeenofrealpracticalimportancethatOvid,thoughordered
toliveinTomoi,hadbeen,asheexplicitlysays,merelyexiled(relegatus),and
hadnotbeensubjecttocondemnation.Whateverstagethedevelopingrules
. SeeP.White,‘‘JuliusCaesarinAugustanRome,’’Phoenix():.