Ovid and the Domus Augusta father’sburdenwithcelestialmind;/andjustasIshallonedaybe
sanctifiedwithperpetualaltars,/soshallIuliaAugustabecomea
newdeity.Heretoothereinsofempire(imperii frena)maketheirappearance;and,here
too,arealprominenceisgivetoLivia,appearingintheFastiwithhernew
name‘‘Augusta,’’whileinEx PontosheisagainassociatedwithVestaandthe
mothers.Onceagain,inbothpassages,stressislaidonthe(artificial)conti-
nuityoftheimperialhouse.Heretoo,Ovid’sperceptionswerespecifically
promptedfromRome,andfromtheinmostcirclesofthe‘‘Augustanaristoc-
racy.’’NorbanusFlaccus’publicdedicationintheCircusFlaminiusofstatues
of DivusAugustusandtheDomusAugusta(seetextton.)wasmatched
bythefactthatCottaMessallinus,beforeAugustus’death,hadsentOvida
set of silver statuettes of Augustus,Tiberius, and Livia, intended—orcer-
tainlydeployedbyOvid—asobjectsofworship(Ex P.,,–).Butnow,
in the same poem addressed to Pomponius Graecinus about his consulate,
OvidproclaimsthatintheshrineofCaesar(sacrum Caesaris)inhishousenot
onlyLiviaandTiberiusbutGermanicusandDrusushavetheirplace,allduly
receivinghisdailyworship(,,–):
necpietasignotameaest:videthospitaterra
innostrasacrumCaesarisessedomo.
stantpariternatusquepiusconiunxquesacerdos,
numinaiamfactononlevioradeo.
neudesitparsulladomus,statuterquenepotum,
hicaviaelateriproximus,illepatris.
hisegodototienscumtureprecantiaverba,
Eooquotienssurgitaborbedies.
Norismypietyunknown:thelandthatsheltersmesees/thatinmy
homethereisashrineofCaesar./Byhimstandpioussonand
priestesswife,/noslighterpowersnowhehasbecomeagod./ No
partofthehouseismissing,eachofthegrandsonsstandsthere,/one
byhisgrandmother’sside,theotherbyhisfather./Tothemtimeand
againIofferincenseandwordsofprayer,/asoftenasthedayrises
fromtheeast.RomeSeenfromTomoi:TheInsider’sViewfromOutside
Ovid’sexile,howeverunfortunateforhim,offersstillunexploitedresources
forus.For,ontheonehand,hewasthecloseassociateofprominentsena-