knox - ovidio y tiberio - 2004

8/14/2019 KNOX - Ovidio y Tiberio - 2004

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The Poet and the Second Prince: Ovid in the Age of Tiberius

Author(s): Peter E. KnoxSource: Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 49 (2004), pp. 1-20Published by: University of Michigan Press for the American Academy in RomeStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4238815

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THE POET AND THE SECOND PRINCE:OVID IN THE AGE OF TIBERIUSPeter E. Knox, University f Colorado

Ovid's oetryhas ongbeen readwithin hepoliticaland iteraryontextsof theAugustan ra,for obviousand sound reasons.'Thisapproach xtendsalso to interpretationf the exilepoetry, othin critical ssessments nd n attempts o unravel he relationship f theArsAmatoriato the circumstancesf Ovid'srelegation.2 hroughouthis strandof scholarshiphererunsanimplicitassumptionhat n A.D. 8 Augustuswasmuchthesamemanwhoshared hecompany fVirgilandHoraceand that the conditions or poetrywere muchthe sameas theyhadbeen forTibullusand Propertius.n thisregard iterary cholarshavebeen slow to absorbchangesn ourunderstandingf thetransitiono thenewerathatformally eganwith the accession f Tiberiusin A.D. 14. The reignof Tiberiuss not knownas an era of great iterature: sF.R. D. Goodyearonceput it, "Tiberiusmostdirectlynfluenced iterature y inhibitingt."3Ancienthistorians ftheperiod ookno noteofwhathappenedo poetryat thistime,but the fateofhistoriographyndoratory uringhe decades f Tiberius'sule s chronicledngrim ermsnthepagesofTacitus,Dio,andSuetonius. uetonius rovides characteristicallyensationalescriptionfliterary epressionunderTiberiusTib.61.3):

Every rime ecame capitalne,even he utterancef a few careless ords.A poetwaschargednthegroundshathe hadwritten tragedynwhich epresentedgamemnonnabad ight; historian asalsochargedecauset wasallegedhathe haddescribedrutusandCassiuss "theastof theRomans."oth hese uthors ere xecuted ithout elay ndtheirworks,houghheyhadoncebeenpubliclyead eforeAugustusndaccordedeneralpraise, eredestroyed.Onepoetaloneof thegreat iguresof theearlier ra survived hedeathof Augustus:Ovid, whospentthefirst hreeyearsof Tiberius'seignashe hadspentthelast sixyearsof Augustus's-onthe shoresof the BlackSea,wherehe finallydiedin exile.The circumstancesf that exile serveEarlierversions of this paperwere delivered to audiences atthe Universitadegli Studi di Genova, Universitadi Firenze,Universita degli Studi di Roma "TorVergata,"UniversitadegliStudidi Siena,Facultadi Letteree Filosofia(in Arezzo),UniversitaCa Foscari di Venezia, and Kenyon College. Atranscript appeared in Maecenas 1 (2001) 151-181. I amgratefulto all who endured these performances and in par-ticular o thefollowingfor soundcriticismsandsage counsel,not alwaysheeded:FrancoMontanari,MarioLabate, SergioCasali,AlessandroBarchiesi,MarioGeymonat,JuliaDyson,and Clifford Weber.I am also grateful to Elaine Fanthamand an anonymous readerforMAAR, as well as to its editor,Anthony Corbeill.

1 Barchiesi1994, focusing on the Fasti, s the most challeng-ing formulation to date of the case for a subversivereadingof Ovid in the context of Augustus'sreign.The title of thispaperdeliberatelyalludes to this influentialbook, alsoavail-able in English translationas ThePoet and the Prince:OvidandAugustanDiscourse(Berkeley1997).2 Williams 1994 has been particularly influential amongliteraryassessments,esp. 154-209. Forsurveysof worksincethen, see also Williams2002a and2002b.3Goodyear 1984, 603.

MAAR49, 2004


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THEPOETAND THESECONDPRINCE 3

appear n coinagen A.D. 8-9, when, t mightbe supposed,hispositionwasallthe moresecurenthe aftermathof the suppressionof the revoltsin Pannonia.13This is also the time when, accordingto ancient accounts, Augustus began to show signs of old age and started to delegate some tasksthat he had formerlyundertaken himself.14 f we are to look for instanceswhere Tiberius's nflu-ence may be detected, it is reasonableto begin with acts of policy that are more consistent withpolicy duringhis reignthan in the earlieryearsof Augustus's.For example, one of the first acts ofTiberius as emperorwas to transferthe elections from the people to the Senate.15But changes inthe consular elections were first institutedin A.D. 5, the yearafter Tiberiuswas installedin power,acircumstance hatsuggeststhat ten years ater he only finalizedthe policy that he had set in motionearlier.16 similartest may be appliedin reviewingthe relationshipof writersto the regimeduringthis period and the applicationof the law of maiestas.

1. Orators,Historians,and RhetoriciansTacitus writes scornfully about the suppression of earlier historians in the reign of Domitian,but for him the first link in the chain of repression that stretched to Domitian was forged in thereign of Tiberiuswith the trial of the senatorialhistorian CremutiusCordus in A.D.25, famouslyrecounted in the fourth book of his Annals. The charge was novel in a prosecution under thelaw of maiestas (4.34.1): "that he had published a history in which he had praised Marcus Bru-tus and called Gaius Cassius the 'last of the Romans'."But this is only the most celebrated suchcase under Tiberius. It merits special treatment by Tacitus because it involves history, his owncalling, and it is a prime exhibit of his theme of the loss of libertas.17But there are a number ofother instances documented in our sources that show Tiberius taking action against an individualbecause of his writings.

Another victim fell in the same year 25, Votienus Montanus, a highly regardedorator fromNarbo in Gaul. He is frequentlymentioned in the Controuersiae f the Elder Seneca, who reportsthat he was known among some contemporariesas the "Ovidof orators."18 e fell foul of Tiberiusthrough some spoken or written word and was brought to trial before the Senate. Tacitusreportsthe proceedingsin some detail becausethey provoked an emotionaloutburst by the emperor (Tac.Ann. 4.42.1-3):19

13For the earliestexamples (A.D. 8-10) of Augustus'scoin-age featuringTiberius, see RIC 1.235-241. Cf. Hannestad1988, 92.14 Dio 55.34.2. Cf. the epitome of Xiph. 114.15-30, whichat this point relates that AugustusKla T6 yspai Kai T] TOVt33i4tTO3 &GOEVEa KcqVEV.15 Tac. Ann. 1.15.1: tumprimume campo comitia ad patrestranslata unt: nam ad eam diem,etsipotissimaarbitrioprin-cipis,quaedam amenstudiistribuumrebant.16 Thus Brunt 1961;cf. Syme 1958, 389-390, 756-760.17 From the abundantbibliographyon the prosecution,seeRogers 1935, 86-87; Syme 1958, 337-338; Bauman 1974,99-104; Levick 1976, 193-194. On the symbolic value of

Brutus, Cassius,andespeciallyCatoforopponents of the re-gime, see MacMullen1966, 1-45. The earliest nstanceof theemperortakingexceptionto suchpraisefor the tyrannicidesmight be the case of C. AlbuciusSilus, asearlyas 16B.C., butit is impossibleto date the incidentrecountedby Suetonius(Gramm.30), and it may have occurred when Siluswas anold man, paceKaster1992 on Suet. Gramm.30.5.18 For Votienus,see PIR15.674; RE 9A.924 "VotienusMon-tanus" (H. Papenhoff); Meyer 1842, 556-560; Bornecque1902,200-201; Schanz1935,356. MamercusScauruscalledhim the "Ovid of orators,"according to Sen. Contr.9.1-6,10.2-3.19On the proceedings againstVotienus, see Bauman1974,120-12 1;Rutledge2001, 97.


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4 PETERE.KNOX

ForwhileVotienusMontanus asbeing ried orabusingheemperor, soldier alledAemiliuswho was one of the witnesses testisAemilius, militaribusiris),20ager o prove he case,perseveringlyparednodetail.Despite oudprotests,Tiberius ad o hear he nsultsowhich,inprivate, e wassubject.Greatly pset,hecried hathemustclearhisreputationmmediately,orat leastbefore he caseended.He wasonlycalmedwithdifficulty yhisfriends' ntreatiesanda chorusof flattery.

Votienus was convicted on the count of maiestas and departed into exile in the BalearicIslands,where he died four years later.21

Our sources offer a conflictingportraitof MamercusAemiliusScaurus,22 hose suicide in A.D.34 is reported by Tacitusand Dio.23Tacitusrecords a high opinion of his oratory,calling him oneof the leading public speakersof the age (Ann.3.31.5: oratorum aaetateuberrimus).24lthoughhewas associated with Sejanus,he managedto escape the purgesof A.D. 32 but subsequentlyfell foulof Macro. The indictment arose out of an assumedslight of the emperorin a tragedy,with versesthat could be interpretedas criticalof Tiberius.Dio provides more detailthanTacituson this point.The play was an "Atreus," he mannerEuripidean, and the offending verse "advisedone of thesubjectsof that monarchto endure the folly of the reigningprince."25According to Dio, Tiberiusreacted by promising to make of Scaurusan Ajax and compelling him to commit suicide.26Theformal chargefor the proceedings, however,was adultery with Livilla.On this point Dio dilates:"Theabove, however,was not the accusationthat was actuallybroughtagainsthim,but instead,hewas chargedwith having committed adulterywith Livilla; ndeed manyothers alsowere punishedon her account, some with good reason and some as the result of false accusations."27 caurus'spublished orationswere burned (Sen. Contr. 10 praef 3), presumably ogether with the offendingtragedy.The specious prosecutionon chargesof adulterywas not an isolated case, Dio asserts,andperhapsnot without significantprecedent.

Examples of such abuseandoppressioncould easilybe multiplied,28ut the point mayperhapsbe conceded that in his yearsas emperorTiberius showed himself sensitive in the extreme to anywritingthat could be interpretedas criticalof himself.The presumptionthat a reference n a workof literaturecontainedsome veiled political content, as in the case of Scaurus,or some social slight,as in the case of Votienus, might be enough to triggerreprisals.In his treatmentof intellectualsTiberius was not the man his adopted fatherAugustushad been, and there is evidence to suggest

20 It has been arguedfromthis detailthatVotienus'srealof-fense wassomeattempton hispartto interferewiththearmy,but that seems unlikely.Aemilius maywell be identifiedbyaninscriptionas atribune nthepraetorianguard(Goodyear1981 on Ann. 2.11.1), making it more likelythathe waswit-ness to Votienus'sconduct aroundthe palace.21 In A.D. 29, according to Jerome, Chron.p. 173b H.22 PIR2A 404; RE 1.583-584 "Aemiius" no. 139 (P. v. Ro-hden);Rutledge2001, 186-188.23 Tac.Ann. 6.29.4-7; Dio 58.24.3-5.24 Cf. Woodman and Martin 1996, ad loc. and Tac.Ann.6.29.3: insignisnobilitate et orandiscausis.The elderSenecahad a differentopinion of his skills (Contr.10 praef 2-3);cf. Fairweather1981, 137-138.

25 Dio 58.24.4: TrapfTnvELTOlV tppXO[t6VtVTLP tfl aVToV ..Va Till) TOVKpaTOl)TO~i3ovLtvpG. Cf.Eur.Phoen.394:

Td3 TOll) KpQTOVVTCOV cqiakia3 (tfpELV XpE6V.26 Tacitus'scomment that Scaurusanticipatedthe sentenceand voluntarilycommitted suicidebeforehand is not incon-sistentwith Dio's account.27 Dio 58.24.5: o0v [1l1VaL ETrL TOVTy KaTlYyOplln, aXX6S Tiv ALOuMXtav [IeI1OLXEVlKOs- ToXXoly&p 8 KoildXXoLSL aC)Tfv, o0 jl)v ET' dlklOCi 01 Se EK GUKOGalVTLot,EKOXd(JOlTtav.28 Consider the fateof Xeno, describedby Suet. Tib.56: Xe-nonemquendam xquisitiusermocinantem um nterrogasset,quaenam lla tam molestadialectosesset, et ille respondissetDoridem, relegauitCinariam,existimansexprobratum ibiueteremsecessum,quodDoriceRhodiiloquantur.


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thathehadexhibited his trait ongbeforehe actually ecameemperor.We turnnow to considerthe lastyearsof Augustus'suleandthepossibleantecedents f Tiberius'sehavior.

2. TheYearAugustus'sastes nliterature rewell documentednancient ources.A compositeketch romallof theseaccounts resents s withaportrait ftolerance ndsupportivendulgence,s summarizedby SuetoniusAug.89.5):

Augustusave llpossiblencouragemento the ntellectualsfhis ime.Hepolitelyndpa-tientlyttendedeadingsotonly ftheir oems ndhistoricalorks,utoftheirpeechesnddialogues;etheobjectedobeingmade he heme fanywork nlessheauthor ereknownasa serious nd eputableriter,ndwarnedhepraetorsot olethisname evulgarizedyitsconstantccurrencenprize rations.

Numerous ccountsllustrateAugustus'soleranceowardntellectuals,vento thepointof endur-ingpersonallights f thetype hatTiberius unishedwhenhebecame mperor.29heelderSenecadescribesherelationshipfAugustuswithCraton,30Greek hetoricianevoted othe Asianicyleofspeakingwhodespised nythinghatsuggestedAthensand heso-calledAttic tyle avored ytheemperor. eoften ngagednverbalparringith heprincepsithoutufferingdverse onsequences.Seneca lsoprovides everalxamples fAugustus'solerance fjibesmadeattheexpense fMarcusAgrippa,henhisdesignated eir,a degreeof tolerance hatelicitsmarvelContr. .4.12-13):"thedivineAugustus,feel,deservesdmirationince uch icensewaspermittednhisreign." orSeneca,whoprobablywrote n theyearsmmediatelyollowinghe deathof Tiberius,here s anunstatedcontrastwith hemostrecent egime. uetoniusecords hathisonly egislativeesponseo thepub-lication f libelouspamphletswasto outlaw hedisseminationf suchworksunderapseudonym.31Augustuswascertainlyapable ftaking ctionagainst ontumelious ordsoractions,32utthe fewrecordednstances o notconstitute pattern,withthreeexceptions o whichwewill shortlyurn.Andtheyoccur ate nhis reign,when he possiblenfluence fTiberiusmustbe considered.Incontrastwith hetraditionalortrait fthetolerance f Augustus, iberius'seal nprosecut-ing ndividuals hospoke lloftheemperor adto be restrainedromanearly ge.WhenAugustusrefused o be provokedby accusationsgainst certainAemiiusAelianus romCordobahathehadslandered heprinceps, iberiusweighedn, asreported ySuetonius Aug.51.2-3):29 Augustus's olerance of outspokennesswas often invokedadmiringly by later authors, e.g., Sen. Ben. 3.27: sub diuoAugustonondumhominibusuerba uaperzculosa,ammolesta;Clem.1.10.3;Suet.Aug.51;Tac.Ann. 4.24; Macrob.Sat.2.4:soleo in Augusto magis mirariquospertulitiocosquamquosprotulit.Augustus'stolerance of the insultsof Timagenes streatedalmost as a parable at Sen. Dial. 5.23.4-8.30 Sen. Contr.10.5.21-22. Cf. Blass 1865, 163; Bornecque1902, 164.31 Suet.Aug. 55: etiamsparsosde se in curia amosos libellosnec expauitet magnacuraredarguitac ne requisitisquidemauctoribus d modocensuit,cognoscendum osthac de iis quilibellosaut carmina dinfamiam uiuspiam ubalienonomine

edant. Perhaps Suetonius has in mind the case of luniusNovatus (Aug.51.1), who circulated a pamphlet under thenameof AgrippaPostumus.This kindof tolerance s attestedalso in Augustus'slater years; cf. MacMullen 1966, 5: "tothese opening roundsfiredin the battleover his reputation,at least one more Anti-Catowas added by none other thanAugustus,in extreme old age-what ripples of Republican-ism in the salonselicitedthis lastpamphletwe do not know."On Augustus'sAnti-Cato,see Suet.Aug. 85.1.32 Suet.Aug. 51.1:IuniumNouatumet CassiumPatauinumeplebe hominesalterumpecunia,alterum eui exiliopuniresatishabuit, cum ille Agrippae uuenis nomine asperrimamde seepistulam n uulgusedidisset,hicconuiuioplenoproclamassetneque uotum sibi nequeanimumdeesseconfodiendieum.


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When Tiberiusmentioned he matter n a letter,with more violent expostulations gainstAelianus,Augustuswroteback:"MydearTiberius, oumustnot givewayto emotion n thismatter, r take t too much o heart f anyone peaksllof me; et us be satisfiedf no onecandoill to us."And yet, the first treason proceedings instituted againstan individual because of his writing oc-curredin the reign of Augustus. The case involved the historicalworks of Titus Labienus.33 romthe samefamilyas a prominentsupporterof Pompey in the Civil War with Caesar,34 abienus wasknown as an outstandingorator,but his sharptongue earnedhim alsoa reputationand a nickname.As the elder Seneca (Sen. Contr. 10 praef. 5) remarks,playing on rabies "madness,""his freedomof speech (libertas)was so great that it passed the bounds of freedom, and because he savagedallsocial ranksand everyone alike, he was called 'Rabienus'."How was Labienus's extreme libertasmanifested?"5Given his family connections, one suspectsthe expression of republicansentiments,and indeed, Seneca reportsone sententia from a declamation in which he calls Marcus Cato "themost brilliantvictim of the storm of the civilwar."Cato, he avers, "could have lived by the favor ofCaesar-if he had been willingto live by anyone's avor."36 ugustusonce famouslyalludedto Livyas an adherentof Pompey,but in the reignof Tiberius,praiseof Caesar'sopponents was treasonous.Labienus'shistories almost did not survivehim. According to Seneca, they were the first literaryworks ordered burned by the state. "Itwas," as Seneca notes, "an unheard of novelty (resnouaet inusitata)that punishment should be exacted from literature."37 his disgraceled Labienus totake his own life-probably to preemptexecution or exile-and to make a last defiantgesture,byhavinghimself walled up in the tombs of his ancestors.38 he book-burningfailed in its objective:thirty yearslater the emperor Gaius Caligula,in a show of magnanimity,ordered that Labienus'swork, which had survived in secret, be restored to the public. This attempt at suppression hadfailed and would have been futile in anycase. As one contemporaryobserver,CassiusSeverus,nofriend of Labienus, noted at the time of this book-burning, "I ought to be burnt alive now-for Ihave those books by heart."39

CassiusSeverus,40who claimed to have memorized the seditious histories of Labienus,is thesecond of the three intellectuals to suffer punishment in the last decade of Augustus's rule. Ofhumble extraction (Tac.Ann. 4.21.3: sordidaeoriginis), CassiusSeverus rose to become one of theleading oratorsof his day.Quintilianrankshim with MessallaCorvinusand AsiniusPoflioas among33 PIR2L 19; RE 12:1.270-271 "Labienus"no. 8 (W.Kroll);Meyer 1842, 528-531; Schanz 1935, 344-345; Syme 1939,486; Raaflauband Samons 1990, 439-441; Fantham 1996,124-125.34 On Labienus's amilyconnectionsto Pompey andthe loyal-ties of his relation, perhaps his father, he formermarshalofCaesar,cf. Syme 1938.35 In his declamations,apparently,Labienus did not hesitateto takeunpopular positions. In declaiming on the imaginarycaseof aman who crippledchildrenwho hadbeen exposed,forcing them to be beggars and demanding a fee from them,Labienus took the side of the accused and turned it into anopportunity to attack the unpunished vices of the upperclasses;cf. Sen. Contr.10.4.17-18.36 Suet. Contr.10.3.5:M. Cato,quo uiro nihil speciosius iuilis

tempestasabstulit, potuit beneficioCaesarisuiuere,si ulliusuoluisset,and cf. 10 praef 5, where he refers to Labienus'spersistencein Pompeianos piritus.37 Sen. Contr. 10 praef 5. On the proceedings,see Hennig1973.38 Sen. Contr.10praef 7.39 Sen.Contr. 10praef 8:CassiSeueri,hominisLabieno nui-sissimi, belle dictaresferebaturllo temporequolibriLabieniex senatus consulto urebantur:nunc me, inquit, uiuum urioportet,qui illos edidici.40PIR2C522; RE3.1744-1749 "Cassius" o. 89 (J.Brzoska);Meyer 1842, 545-551; Bornecque 1902, 157-158; Schanz1935, 345-347; Fantham1996, 126-127.


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the outstandingpeakers f theAugustan eriod,4"nd heelderSeneca rovides livelyappreciationinthe preface o bookthreeof hisControuersiae.42hisreport ySeneca s of thehighestnterest,orCassiuswas udged, t eastbysome, o representdecisivehift nthe direction f Roman ratory.43In the Dialogus f Tacitus speaker haracterizes assius sthe firstrepresentativef the modernstyle.Thespeakers MarcusAper,himselfan adherent f thisstyle,andhis testimonials fulsome.Cassius, e asserts,awthatthetimeshadchanged ndthatnew conditions emanded differentapproach.44ore hanone sourcealso comments n hiswit andacerbity.45assiusdisdainedhepractice f declamations aformof exercise, referringhe roughandtumbleof thecourts,wherehiswasnot themanneralculatedo make riendsnhighplaces.Hisoutspokenness ouldeventuallybringhim ntoconflictwith heregime.Ourreporters Seneca, elatingn hisSuasoriaeowvariousorators ealtwithadvice o Ciceroon whether e shouldbeg Antonyor his ife(Suas. .11):

Varius eminus ividedike his sicdiuisit):Ishould dviseou, fyouhad o choose owbetweeneath ndbeggingardon,o dieratherhan eg."Andhe ncludedll hepointsmadeby heother eclaimers,dding, owever,third:eexhortedim oflee.Brutus, assius,ndSextus ompeyad led.Andhe added nepigramarticularlydmiredy Cassius everus:"Why owe oseheart? herepublicoohas tstriumvirs."Inthe reignof Tiberius, raiseof Brutus ndCassiuswas reported y Tacitus s the leadcharge nthe bill ofindictment gainstCremutius ordus, lthough therallegations ere hrown n, includ-ingabuseof the Senateandthe Romanpeopleand ackof respect orTiberius ndAugustus.Oftheproximate auseof Cassius's rosecution e haveno direct vidence,46ut itseemsclearthathe walkedavery ine ineinhisrelationswiththe imperialamily.He hadprosecuted closefriendof Augustus, utting he emperor n theawkward ositionof having o figureout a waytohelphisfriendwithout ppearingo circumventhe aws.47lutarchecords notherardonic emark41 Quint. Inst. 10.1.117: multa si cum iudicio legatur dabitimitatione digna CassiusSeuerus,qui si ceteris uirtutibuscolorem et grauitatem orationis adiecisset,ponendus interpraecipuosforet. amet ingeniiplurimum st in eo etacerbitasmiraet urbanitas et sermot, sedcplustomachoquamconsiliodedit:praetereaut amarisales, itafrequenteramaritudo psaridiculaest. Cf. Inst. 12.10.11.42 Contr.3 praef. 2: oratioeius eratualens,culta,uigentibusplena sententiis.nemominuspassusestaliquid n actione suaotiosi esse: nullaparserat, quaenon sua uirtutestaret, nihilin quoauditor ine damnoaliudageret;omnia ntenta,aliquidpetentia.nemo magis in suapotestate habuitaudientiumaf-fectus.uerumest, quoddeillo dixit Gallionoster: cumdiceret,rerumpotiebatur;adeo omnes imperata aciebant:cum illeuoluerat, irascebantur,.nemo nonillo dicentetimebat,ne desineret.43 See Winterbottom 1964, 90-92 and Heldmann 1982,163-198 on the role played by CassiusSeverus in changingthe directionof Romanoratory.Cassiuswas not a delatorperse, although Quintilian notes quaedam accusandiuoluptas(Inst.11.1.57).44 Tac.Dial. 19.1-2: uidit namque,utpauloantedicebam, umcondicione emporum tdiuersitate uriumformam uoqueac

speciemorationisesse mutandam.Even a conservativecriticlike Vipstanus Messalla, who speaks later in the Dialogus(26.4-5), concedes the importance of Cassius, even as herejects his styleof speakingas too boisterous and caustic.45 An instance:once he visited the school of a celebrateddeclaimer,Cestius,who had the nerve to rate himselfaboveCicero, whom Cassius much admired.This is how Cassiushimself recounts the incident, according to Sen. Contr. 3praef 16:meminimeintrare cholam iuscum recitaturusssetin Milonem;Cestiusex consuetudine ua miratusdicebat: siThraexessem, Fusiusessem;sipantomimus essem,Bathyllusessem; si equus,Melissio.' non continuibilem et exclamaui:'si cloacaesses, maximaesses.' risusomniumingens;scholas-tici intuerime, quis essem qui tam crassasceruiceshaberem.Other samplesof Cassius'ssardonic wit: Sen. Contr.2.4.11,4 praef 11, 9.3.14, 10 praef 8, 10.5.20, Suas. 6.11; Quint.Inst. 6.3.78.46 For discussion, see Rogers 1935, 79-80; Bauman 1967,259-260; 1974, 27-31; Syme 1986, 409-412; RaaflaubandSamons 1990, 441.47Suet.Aug.56.3:cumAsprenas oniusartius i iunctus ausamueneficiiaccusanteCassioSeuerodiceret,consuluitsenatum,quidofficii uiputaret; unctari nimse, nesisuperesset, ripere


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8 PETERE.KNOX

aimedatasenatorwho flatteredTiberius.8When he blowfell,thechargeagainstCassiusSeveruswas unspecified landerdirectedatprominentmenand women.Tacitus eports heprosecutionas a precedent or the resumptionf treason rialsunderTiberius ndassigns he responsibilityoAugustusAnn.1.72.2-3):"The irstwhoemployedhis aw oinvestigaterittenibelwasAugustus,provokedby the licentiousnessf CassiusSeverus,whichhe employedn defamingminentmenandwomen nfrivolouswritings."t is worthconsideringhepossibilityhatTacitus id nothaveaccess o the fullstory n assigning esponsibilityor this turnof events o Augustus.49lsewherehe showshimselfll informed bout he eventsofAugustus'sastyears,and nanycase, fTiberiusexerted nfluence n Augustus,twouldhave eft ittle mprint ntherecord.Cassiuswasconvictedandrelegatedo the islandof Crete.But hiscasedid not end there.Whatevert was thatCassiusdidto attract he angerof theemperor, e didnot stop.Intheyear24, Tacitus elates,he caseofCassiusSeverus gaincamebefore he SenateandTiberius, owemperor Ann.4.21.3):

TheSenate extconsideredhecaseof theexiledCassius everus. viciousmanof humbleorigin ut aneffectivepeaker,e hadearnedrom heSenate, yhisunrestrainedggres-siveness,sworn erdict f banishmentoCrete. here, ycontinuinghesame ractices,ebroughtpon imselfomany nmities,ewon opofold, hat ewasdeprivedfhisproperty,prohibitedrom ireandwater, ndgrew ldon therock f Seriphus.On the islandof SeriphusCassiusdiednineyearsater.Tiberius's ctionagainst im n24,wemaysuspect,was notmerelyanactof pietas oward he deifiedAugustus r a routinecontinuationfhis predecessor's olicy. t reflected he angerof an offendedmonarch,whoseunruly ubjecthadnot learnedhis lesson he first ime.At this point, a questionsuperveneson the date of Cassius's riginalprosecution.Otherpointsof chronologyhingeon this,forthe trialof Cassiusprovidesa terminus nte for theear-lier caseof Labienus.Manyscholarshave settled on A.D. 12.50 n that year,we learnfrom Dio,even thoughthe aging Augustusbeganto delegatemany dutiesto his youngerrelatives,51econtinuednonetheless o superintendhe moralclimateof the empireandordereda roundupofauthorsof libelouswritings.52here s anobviousattractionn synchronizinghe trialof Cassiusfor defamation f membersof the nobilitywith this actionto suppressdefamatory amphlets,butnothingcompelsus to accept t. Especially ince t flies n the face of the direct estimony fSaint erome,whoregistershe deathof CassiusnA.D. 32, the twenty-fifth earof his exile, as hetells us.53 f Jerome is right, the original prosecution fell in the year8. As Syme notes,54 erome islegibus eum, indeesset, estituerecpraedamnaremicumexistimaretur;t consentientibusniuersisedit n subselliisperaliquot oras, erumacitus t ne laudationeuidemudi-cialidata.On thisaffair, f. Froment 879,126-128.48 "Suchrankness illbe thedeathof thisman,"Cassiusquipped Plut.Mor.60D: tvTfl TOUTOV l TrcappfloLa TOVavOpuirrovTroKTEVEL).49 Koestermann955,80-81 pleads nmitigationhatthisactionwas akenbyAugustusotonhisownaccount utonbehalf f slanderedmembers f thearistocracynd hereforediffers romTiberius'seactions.50 E.g.,PIR2C 522;Koestermann955,80;Goodyear 981on Tac.Ann.1.72.3;Crook1996,110-111

51 For example, when he wrote a letter commending Ger-manicus to the Senate, it was read out not by Augustushimself, who could no longer projecthis voice sufficiently,but by Germanicus (Dio 56.26.2).

Dio 56.27.1: o0 IEVTOL KOL TatXxc flTTOI Tl TrapaTOVTO 8L6KEL, aXXaKaILTOL L1TrEvOLSl[tlapXLav aITrpaLETrETpE&E, Kal ia06v OTl ILPCa OTTO (4) 4pEL TLVCOVUtVyypdl4lOLTO,(fTfltLV GVTWVEITOlUaTO, Kal EKELVd TE,TO [L1V(V Tf roXEL EVpE9EvTa Tp0S T7V dyopaP6pv TO 8

Tc TpO; T6V EKacTaXOOL OpXOVTWV,KaTE4IXEAE, Kal TOVGIVveEVTWV UTO EKOXWJETLVag.

53 Jerome,Chron.p. 176 H.54 Syme 1986, 411.


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THE POETANDTHESECONDPRINCE 9

not an unimpeachable itness,but his evidence houldnot be discardedightly.55f we accept hatdate,otherconsequencesollow.The prosecution ndsuicideofLabienuswillthenhaveoccurredin thatyearorshortlybefore.The suppression f literatures documentedn the year8, a yearofsome consequencenthe historyof Romanpoetry.

3. TiberiusndPoetryA surveyof the poetry hat canbe attributedo the yearsof Tiberius'seign s asdepressing s itis brief:no greatnames n the roll call, ittle to suggest hat atergenerations f readersurgentlyreserved portionof their ibrarieso the Tiberian oets.56Whatwas the emperor'sole, f any,nthis stateof affairs? owhatextentdid his own taste nliteraturenfluence hepoetsof thisperiodor deter hem rom heirart?Tiberius'snterestnliterarycholarships amplydocumentednoursources.57or Tiberius, s foranyothermemberof the Roman lite,rhetoric ormed he basisofhiseducation.His masternthe Latin ideof the disciplinewasnone other hanMessallaCorvinus,closeassociate f Augustus nd notedpatronof poets.58 hisapprenticeshippenedthe door tomanypossibilities,pparentlyot taken,notonly noratory. s a public peaker,Messalla ultivatedtheplainstyle,59ut hispupiltook a different ack.In the ancient ourcesTiberiuss representedas notoriously bscureand wordy.60 is vocabularyas been characterizedy ancientobserversand moderncommentators s archaizing.61he effectwas such that somecontemporariesoteda distinctdifference etweenhisprepared rations,whichweresomewhat ffectedandpedantic,andhisextempore peeches.62It is possible hatthistendency oward he obscureand pedanticwas reinforced y his ex-perienceof Greekrhetoricn Rhodes. t wasthere, n20 B.C., thathe stoppedon his return romArmenia,where t washis mission o placeTigranesn the throne.On the outwardourney e hadbeen attendedby a company f literarymen,whose nterestspresumablyeflected is own.In an

" Cf., in support of 8, Cramer1945, 173n. 70, 177;Bauman1974, 29-31; Syme 1978, 213-214; Kienast 1982, 121; Gil1985, 139-140.56 Citroni 1993, 390-391: "Ci6 che piu immediatamenteimpressiona nel panorama offerto dalla letteraturaromanadel periodo postaugusteo e la mancanza, dopo Ovidio eLivio, e fino all'etadi Seneca, di grandi personalita di scrit-tori, quasi 'eccezionale fiorituradelperiodo augusteoavesseesaurito per qualche tempo la capacita produttiva dellacultura letteraria." Citroni 1993, 383-391 is an excellentdiscussion of the changed circumstancesof literature n thelast years of Augustus and the importanceof the year8 asa turning point.57 It is not surprising o learn from Velleius (2.94.2) thatTi-beriuswas optimisstudiismaximoque ngenio nstructissimus,and his literary nterests are alsoattestedby Suetonius (Tib.70.1-3): artes liberales .. studiosissimecoluit;cf. Fantham1996, 140-141.58 Suet. Tib. 70.1: in oratione Latina secutus est CoruinumMessallamquemsenem adulescensobseruarat.On Messalla's

career,see PIR1V 90; Syme 1986, 200-226.59On Messalla as a public speaker,see Schanz 1935, 23-24;Malcovati 1976, 529-531; Heldmann 1982, 157-161. Levick1976, 17 notes the contrastbetween the styles of Messallaand Tiberius.60 Tacitusso characterizeshis speeches on a number of occa-sions, e.g., Ann. 1.11.2, 1.33.4, 3.51.2, 13.3.2;cf. Goodyear1981 on 2.38.1, Lindsay 1995on Suet. Tib.70.1. ByJuvenal'stime (10.71: uerbosaet grandisepistula) wordiness was thehallmarkof Tiberius'sstyle.61 Suet. Aug. 86.2: nec Tiberloparcitet exoletas interdumet reconditas uoces aucupanti. Dio 57.17.1-2 recounts anepisode in which Tiberius anguished over his apparentlyunintendedcoinageof a new word in an edict of A.D.17; cf.Miller 1968.62 Suet. Tib.70.1:sedadfectationet morositate imiaobscura-batstilum, ut aliquantoex temporequama curapraestantiorhaberetur.


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10 PETERE.KNOX

earlier enerationCatullus ndCinnahadaccompaniedMemmius o Bithynia.Butthemembersof Tiberius'sompany id not achievequite hat evelof distinction.They ncludeda certain uliusFlorus, of whom we know only that he held a post as a scribe and that he wrote some satires;Titius,for whom Horace predicts fame as an authorof Pindaric odes but of whom we never hear again;and the otherwise unknown Celsus.63From Horace'svivid portraitof this cohort, there is little tosuggest that Tiberius had alreadyformed his somewhat idiosyncratictaste in poetry known fromlatersources.Perhaps something beganto develop on the return ourney.On hiswaybackto Romefrom Armenia,Tiberius stopped for the first time at Rhodes (Suet. Tib.11.1). There he studied withTheodorus of Gadara,who may also have tutored him as a boy in Rome.64We know from othersources that Tiberius admiredTheodorus, the rival of Apollodorus of Pergamum,Augustus'sownteacher.65n the disputes between adherentsof these two rhetoricians,Tiberiustook the side ofTheodorus.66 rom thispoint maydatethe formationof Tiberius'smaturestyle,underthe influenceof Theodorus, as it divergedfrom the Atticismof Messalla.A taste for the obscure is also reflectedin his choice of favorite poets.67Suetoniusreportsthat he composed "Greek verses in the mannerof his favorites,Euphorion, Rhianus,andParthenius,whose busts he placed in the public librariesamong those of the classics-thus prompting several scholars to publish rival commentaries onthese poets and dedicate them to him."68Although these poets had enjoyed a vogue in the 40s and30s B.C., there is little to suggest that theirpopularity endured into the firstcenturyA.D. Tiberius'stastes mayhave seemed even a bit old-fashionedto contemporaries.

Tiberius cultivated the companyof men of letters throughout his life and, like many membersof his class and most notably like his stepfather,the emperor Augustus, dabbled a bit in poetryhimself.Tiberiuscomposed versein both Latin andGreek,but the only title attested s a lyric poemin Latin on the death of his nephew Lucius Caesar,which Suetonius calls a conquestiode morte L.Caesaris.69Later n life, Tacitus nformsus,when Tiberiuswent into seclusion on the island of Capri,he took with him only one senator,who was also a legalscholar,and one illustriousequestrian,withthe rest of the company composed of men of letters.70But unlike Augustus, it cannot be said thatTiberiushad a flair for identifying the greatest talents. It might be argued that as a literarypatronTiberius was simplyless fortunate thanAugustus. We know little of the works that were dedicated63 Horace provides the names in Epist. 1.3. For Florus, cf.PIR21316, RE 10.589 "Julius"no. 237 (A. Stein); forTitius,cf. PIR' T 195; for Albinovanus Celsus, also the addresseeof Epist. 1.8, cf. PIR2A 478, RE 1.1314 "Albinovanus"no.4 (P.v.Rohden).64Quint. Inst.3.1.17 datesTiberius's tudieswithTheodorusto the period of retirement(cum n eaminsulamsecessisset),but this cannotbe right:cf. Lindsay 1995 on Suet. Tib.57.1.According to Suetonius,Tiberius had been a pupil of The-odorus as a boy,presumably n Rome.65 On Theodorus, seeRE5A.1847-1859 "Theodoros"no. 39(W Stegemann),Kennedy 1972,340-342. The elder Senecarefers to Tiberius as ipse Theodoreus Suas.3.7).66 Some aspects of these disagreements can be recoveredfrom Quintilianand the so-calledAnonymous Seguerianus(Rhet.Gr. 1.427).67 Cf. Bowersock1965,133-134; Williams1978, 139; Good-

year1984, 606.68 Suet. Tib. 70.2:fecit et Graecapoemata imitatusEupho-rionem et Rhianum et Parthenium,quibus poetis admodumdelectatusscriptaomnium et imaginespublicis bibliothecisinter ueteres et praecipuos auctores dedicauit: et ob hocpleriqueeruditorum ertatimad eum multade his ediderunt.No traceof these commentariessurvives,but we know of acommentaryby Apollonides on the Silloiof Timonof Phlius(Diog. Laert.9.109).69 Suet.Tib.70.1 composuit t carmenyricum uiusest titulus"conquestiode morte L. Caesaris."On Tiberius'sother at-tested writings, including an autobiography,see Cichorius1922, 388-390.70 Tac.Ann. 4.58.1:profectioartocomitatu uit: unussenatorconsulatu unctus, CocceiusNerua, cui legumperitia; equesRomanuspraeterSeianumxinlustribusCurtiusAtticus;eteriliberalibus tudiispraediti,erme Graeci,quorum ermonibusleuaretur.


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THEPOETAND THE SECONDPRINCE 11

to himas emperor, therthan the poemsby ManiiusandGermanicus, nd ValeriusMaximus'sninebooksofMemorable eedsandSayings.7"Onthepositive ide of theledger, hebest thatcanbe said s thatourevidence uggestshat,whileemperor, iberius ttractedndpromoted rathercolorless lassof writingon themesdetachedromcontemporaryoncerns.n suchcompany,wemightask,whatwould havebeen his opinionof the worksof Virgil,Horace,Propertius, ot tomentionOvid?Atthevery east, here s someevidence o suggest hatTiberiuswas unmovedbygreat iteraturend, nturn,did notinspireany.Wemay hen urn othe more nteresting uestionof whetherTiberiuswasmerelyunluckyn the writersof his ageor whetherby personalityndpolicyhe deterred hegreaterights.

Suetonius ssures sthatTiberius"evenwhenconfrontedwith nsultsandmalevolent umorsandscandalous oemsdirectedat himselfand his familyremainedteadfastly atientandoftenrepeated hat n a freestate hetongueshouldbe free aswell as themind."72 utthis straightfor-wardappraisal f Tiberius'soleranceof dissent s contradictedlsewheren thebiography ndthroughouthe recordof first-centuryomanhistoriography.73Intheyear 1the affair fClutorius riscus74llustratedoth he extremeensitivitiesfTiberiusto literary ctivity ndthe degree o whichhisattitudesnfluenced hebehavior f thosewhosur-roundedhim.Priscushad achieved omecelebritywith apoem thathe composed n thedeathofGermanicusn 19,forwhichhe wasrewarded ithacashgiftby Tiberius. woyearsaterapparentlyhehadhoped o cash nagainonthis success.When heemperor'sonDrusus ell ll, Priscusmadereadya new compositionn theexpectation f evengreaterewards.Unfortunately,riscushad hebad udgmento rehearse is piece o an audience fnoblewomenn thehouseofPubliusPetronius.Thisperformanceaspremature,orDrususdidnot die andPriscus'sndiscretion asreportedothe Senate.He was soontried,apparently ithout heemperor'snowledge r involvement. heoverenthusiasticenate dopted hemotionoftheconsul-elect ndvoted he deathpenalty. acitusreports hespeechof MarcusLepidus consuln A.D. 6),who alonespoke n opposition o thesen-tence.75This appeal for moderation did not availand Priscus was executed, elicitinga mild rebukefrom he absent mperor,venwhilehecommendedhepietyof thosewho actedquickly o avengethisslightagainst isperson.Forthefuture heSenate esolved hat ts verdictswere o be deferredfor tendaysbefore heirenactment,o give theemperor nopportunityo set themaside f he sochose.Butthis case sparticularlylluminatingecause t shows heSenateattemptingo anticipateTiberius'sesponse o Priscus'srime,a crimenvolving carmen ndanerror.76Therecord ontains everal therentriesnwhichTiberius eactso poetry hatheconsidered71 On Tiberius'sliterarypatronage, see Levick 1976, 230;Williams1978, 298-299.72 Suet. Tib. 28: aduersusconuiciamalosquerumoreset fa-mosade se ac suis carmina irmusac patienssubinde iactabatin ciuitate libera linguam mentemque liberas esse debere.On Tiberius's moderatioat the beginning of his reign, seeGoodyear 1972 on Tac.Ann. 1.8.4; Levick 1976, 195; andcf. Dio 57.9.2, 57.19.1.73 Cf., e.g., Suet. Tib.66; Dio 57.23.1-3.74 Cf. Tac. Ann. 3.49-51; Dio 57.20.3-4; RE 4.1.118-119"Clutorius"no. 1 (A. Stein);PIR2 C 1199, Demougin 1992,209 (no. 237). He is perhaps one of the poets mentioned atOvid, Pont. 4.16.10: Priscusuterque.

75 Tac. Ann. 3.50: uita Clutorii in integroest, qui neque se-ruatusn periculum eipublicaeneque nterfectusn exemplumibit. studia illi, ut plena uaecordiae, ta inania et fluxa sunt;nec quicquamgraueacserium ex eo metuas, qui suorum pseflagitiorumproditornon uirorumanimis, sed muliercularumadrepit. edat amenurbeet bonisamissisaquaet igniarceatur,quodperinde enseoac si legemaiestatiseneretur.Ovid refersto his own offense in termsthatforeshadow this reference oClutorius'suaecordia: f. Ovid, Trist.2.15: tantameo comesest insania morbo,Pont. 2.3.46 et mea non minimum culpafuroris habet. See Woodman and Martin 1996, ad loc. forthe question of whether Clutorius's case came under thelaw of maiestas.76 As Shotter 1969 argues, the Senate'sreactionwas entirelyconsistent with the legalclimateestablishedbyTiberius,and


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THE POETAND THE SECONDPRINCE 13

whichAugustusoveredupamore erious ffense.Suetoniusmentions ulia's usband,L. AemiliusPaullus, n a list of thosewhoconspired gainstAugustus,86ndwhileothersources nformus thatPaulluswas punishedor treason, he yearofhis condemnations disputed.Mostrecently cholarshavebeen inclined o set it in the sameyearasJulia'sdemise.87 n either nterpretationfJulia'scrime-adulteryor politicalntrigue-the temptation asproved rresistibleo connect hatscandalwith theothersignaleventof theyear romourpointofview, he exile of Ovid,thegreatestivingpoetof theday,andthe removal f his ArsAmatoriarom hepublic ibrariesn Rome.88 ut thatmaybe only a distortion f historical erspective.Whenwe consider he fates of LabienusandCassius, he year8 beginsto look pivotal orintellectuals, nd here sconsiderableircumstantialvidence o point o the nfluence f Tiberiusin theirdemise.89 o ancientauthority rovidesus with an explanationor the punishment fOvid. His ownpoetry, omposedn exile atTomi, s ouronlydirect estimony bout he chargesbroughtagainsthimbytheemperor.The secondbook of his Tristia onsistsof a singleelegyad-dressed o Augustusn his own defense.Therehe famously efers o his dual offense,carmen terror,"apoemand amistake"Trist. .207-210).Thepoem s certainlyhe ArsAmatoria,s Ovidmakes lear nnumerouseferencesnthiscollection nd tssuccessor,he fourbooksofEpistulaeex Ponto.90 hemoremysteriousomponent f thecharge,and thereforehe more rresistibleoscholars,s the blunder,he error. nto thisvacuumof informationenerations f scholarshavechargedwith amyriad f fancifulhypotheses:91omplicityn aconspiracy ithAgrippaPostumusagainstAugustus,nvolvementntheplot byL.AemiliusPaullus, idingandabettingheempressLivia n herpoisoning chemes,adulterywithJulia,adulterywith Livia,adulterywithAugustus,and othersevenmoreoutlandish.Many cholarshavesuggestedhat Ovid s beingdisingenuousin alludingo anerror, ndhisonlyrealcrimewas iterary. hatmaybe closer o thetruth;but theargumentanbe refined.Ovidrepeatedlynsists hathe hadnot committed nycrimeactionablena courtoflaw,as hespellsoutinsomedetailna remarkableoemaddressed,niquelynthe annals f Latiniterature,to aforeignking,Cotysof Thrace Pont.2.9.71-76):

necquicquam,uod egeuetor ommittere,eci,est amen isgrauioroxa atenda ihi.neueroges,quaesit:stultam onscripsimus rtem:innocuas obishaecuetatessemanus.ecquidpraetereaeccarim, uaerere oli,ut lateat olaculpa ub Artemea.

I havedonenothing hatI amforbiddenbylaw.YetI must confessa faultmoregrave hanthis.Do not ask what t is: I havecomposeda foolish Art'.This s whatpreventsmy hands86 Suet. Aug. 19.1.87 Syme 1978,209: "Husband andwife are linkedby a com-mon fate.The dateis clear, he year8, but not the nature andextent of their guilt." Cf. Birch 1981, 453.88 The most recent and persuasive articulation of thishypothesis is to be found in Goold 1983. See also White2002, 16-25.89 Cf.Goodyear 972,97n. 1:"Why epressioneganwhenit did is not certain. One possible reason is that dynastic

rivalry and domestic scandal caused acute embarrassmentto Augustus. Another is the influence of Tiberius."Others,e.g., Fantham1985,244-245, cling to themythof Tiberius'srepublican tendencies and imagine that he opposed therepression n Augustus's ast years.90 E.g., Pont. 2.9.73 stultam conscripsimusArtem. Otherreferences arecollected by Owen 1924, 10-12.91Thibault1964 catalogues he theoriesof 114scholarssince1437 about the nature of Ovid's "real"offense.


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14 PETERE. KNOX

frombeing clean.HaveI committed nyfurther in? Don'tinquire, o thatmyoffensemayhide beneathmyArsalone.

No crime, at least in the eyes of the law as Ovid knew it. Elsewhere he characterizes he offense asan act of simplicitas Trist.1.5.42) or stultitia (Trist.3.6.35). He calls himself aninnocent bystanderand compareshimselfto Actaeon,who accidentallycaught sightof Diana at the bath (Trist. .105).92Everyonein Rome seemingly knew of Ovid's transgression(Trist.4.10.99), and yet Ovid says thatit is too difficult to talk about it (Pont. 1.6.21) because the subject touches Augustus personally(Trist.2.209) and causes him pain (Trist.2.123: laesi Caesaris ra).9 Ovid's testimonyis not alwaysconsistent, but it forms a necessarystarting point for any hypothesis. Ovid himself clearlyprefersto focus attention on the Ars Amatoria, the other half of the indictment, even while affirming hesignificanceof his error:"indeed, I cannot defend my offense entirely,but part of it consists inerror" (Trist.3.5.51-52: non equidemtotampossum defendereculpam, sedpartemnostricriminiserrorhabet).

The many acts of oppression by Tiberius against writers during his reign suggest a context inwhich Ovid's disaster might figurewithout imagining some intrigue worthy of a Roman tabloid.Would the emperor's granddaughterhave needed, or wanted, the involvement of a 51-year-oldpoet to prosecute an illicit affair with a Romannoble? Would she or her husband have involvedthis same poet in a plot to overthrowthe state? What could Ovid have done to assist such a plot?A more plausible context for the indictment of Ovid's poem and his blunder is suggested by thestubborn outspokenness of Titus Labienus and Cornelius Severus.Perhaps a tactless remark orgesture that provoked the rulerto intemperateaction. But which ruler? Ovid makes it clear thatthe judgment was delivered by Augustus,but subsequentevents suggest the possibilitythat it wasthe growing influenceof his adopted son and heir Tiberius that led to these acts of repressioninAugustus's ateryears.

No otherAugustan poet hews so closely to the official ine in mattersof the successionas Ovid.In the Ars, Ovid advisesyoung men to take advantageof the opportunities affordedby a militarytriumphto meet women and uses the occasion to insert an encomium on Gaius Caesar's xpeditionto the East. Ovid'sexhortationto Gaius clearlyreflectshis "official"position as the future emperor(Ars1.191-194):94

auspiciis nnisque atris,puer,armamouebiset uincesannisauspiciisque atris.tale rudimentumantosub nominedebes,nunc uuenum rinceps, einde uture enum.92 It would be a mistake to takethisstatementtoo literally,asWilliams1994,174 warns:"Abasicmisconception,however,is to assumethat because Ovid writescuraliquid uidi (103),he literally means that the accidental witnessing of somecompromising scene was the cause of his downfall."Ovidillustrateshis own fate by comparing t to Actaeon's, whichhe represents n the Metamorphoses s an arbitrary xerciseof power by Diana. In the two other passages where Ovidlaments having seen something (Trist.3.5.49, 3.6.27), he isalso alludingto the Metamorphoses.93 The epithet laesi might allude to prosecution under thelaw of maiestas,but the association should not be pushed.Contemporary references to the law preferred forms of

minuoin referencesto the crime, and laedo is moresparselyattestedin this context;cf. TLL8.1:156.70 s.v. maiestas (H.Dietzfelbinger). Cf. also Trist. 1.5.84 (laesi ira dei), 3.6.23(numinis laesi ira),4.10.98 (laesiprincipis ra).94 White 1993, 198-199 aptly comparesILS 137.4-7, a con-temporary dedication to Gaius and Lucius by a centurion:nam quom te, Caesar,temp[us] exposcet deum / caeloquerepetessed[em, qua] mundumreges, sint hei tua queisortete[rrae]huicimperent regantquenosfelicibu[s] voteissueis.Cf. Galasso1995, 17 on thepossibility hat Ovid was perhapstoo faithful aninterpreterof Augustan deology.Millar1993paintsacompellingportraitof Ovid'sexilepoetryas theworkof a rejected oyalist.


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THEPOETANDTHE SECONDPRINCE 15

You will makewar with the authority nd the experience f yourfather,boy, and with theexperience ndauthority f your ather ouwill conquer.Bearing o greataname uchshouldbe yourearliest xploit,a princenow of youth,butin the futureof old men.The reception f these ines will have dependednot only on the audiencebut also on the timingof theirdelivery.Augustus ouldhardlyhave akenoffenseon areadingnA.D.2, oreven n8,butTiberius?95The year 12 findsOvid still promoting heAugustan arty ine.In thatyear,on October23,Tiberiuselebrated isPannonianriumph, hich s commemoratedyOvid ntheopening oemofhis secondbookof EpistulaexPonto.96 rompraise f TiberiusOvidpasseso Germanicus'sccom-plishmentsn the campaign 2.1.49-52)andprediction f a future riumphorhim(2.1.57-64):97

te quoqueuictoremTarpeiascanderenarceslaeta oronatis oma idebitquis,maturosqueater ati pectabitonoresgaudia ercipiens,uaededit pse uis.iamnunchaec me, uuenumelloqueogaquemaxime,icta ibiuaticinanteota.huncquoquearminibuseferamortasseriumphum,sufficietostrisi modouitamalis.

WithdelightRome hall eeyoutooascendingheTarpeianitadelwithgarlandedteeds,andyour ather, she viewshisson's atehonors,willfeel thejoy hathe hasgiven o his own.Evennow, reatestf ouryouthn warandpeace,markhesewords fprophesyromme.PerhapsI shall elatehat riumphlsonsong,fonlymy ifeproves qualomymisfortunes.Ovid introduces his predictionon solidprecedent.Tibullus, or example,concludesan elegy(2.5)with a prophesy f a triumph or Messalinus,he son of his patronMessalla.98n whatwasthisconfidentpredictionor Germanicus ased?Germanicus ameback o Rome romGermanyin 12to assume he consularasces;his return o the Rhine rontiern 13 would surelyhavebeenprojectedwell before he event.99y predicting triumph,Ovidwas on safedynastic round,andhisflattery f Germanicus ouldsurelyhavereadwellin Romewhen the first hreebooksof theEpistulaex Pontoappeared.100ere,asintheArs,Ovid showshimselfa faithful nterpreterf theAugustanuccession.No oneintheregime ouldhave akenoffenseduring he reignof Augustus,except,that s,his actual uccessor.10'9 On the precarious relationship between Tiberius andGaius, see Syme 1939, 427-430; Levick 1976, 44-46; Bow-ersock 1984. In this atmosphere of distrust,Tiberius'sdirgeon Lucius might even have been an attemptto curry favorwith Augustus andGaius,not unlike that of the unfortunateClutorius Priscus.96 On the date of composition, see Syme 1978, 40-42.97 For the careerof Germanicus, see PIR2 221; RE 10.435-464 "Iulius"no. 138 (W.Kroll);Hurlet 1997, 163-208.98 Cf. Galasso 1995, 92.99Cf. Syme 1978, 63-64.

100The publication of Pont. 1-3 belongs in the year 13; seeSyme 1978, 40-46; Galasso 1995, 13-17.101 The relationshipbetween Tiberius and Germanicus isstill being reassessedin the aftermathof the publication ofthe TabulaSiarensis and the Senatus consultum de Pisonepatre;cf. Woodman and Martin1996, 67-79 and Gonzalez1999 among a rich and growing bibliography.The questionis importantin evaluatingthe Fasti and Ovid's revisions ofit in exile, but the subjectis beyond the scope of this paper,which focuses on events up to A.D. 8. For recentdiscussion,see the essaysin Herbert-Brown2002, a volume dedicatedby the editor to TiberiusCaesar (p. x), "themost importantreader Ovid everhad."


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Immediatelyfter he blowfell, Ovidbeganaddressing ppeals o Augustus, itherdirectly rthroughntermediaries.utneitherat that imenorsubsequentoAugustus'seathdid he turn oTiberius.102nstead,whenAugustus adpassed rom he scene,he looked o Germanicus,hesonof DrususwhomTiberius adbeen obliged o adopt.ToGermanicuse rededicatedispoemonthe Roman alendar,heFasti,whichhebegan o reviseduringhis lastyearsn exile.Thesecondbookof theEpistulaex Pontoopenswith a poemcelebratinghetriumph f Tiberius,n whichGermanicuss givenprideof place.OneexplanationorwhyOvidmight gnoreTiberiusn thiswaycouldbe thathe had reason o expectnohelp fromhim.103How to account or the repressive ctivity f the year8 andhowmightTiberius e connectedto it?104 vidwas exiledat the end of the yearandbeganhis journey o Tomi n December Trist.1.11.5).Tiberiushad returned o Rome,as was hishabit;105lthough he exact timingcannotbefixed, t is highly ikely hathe wastherewhenOvid'shearing ook place.106nthatyear, oo,Mes-sallaCorvinus ied at arespectableld age.Messalla ad notonlytutoredTiberiusn oratory; ewasapatronof poets andOvidwas connected o his circle.Although is influencewithAugustuswanedas theyearswenton,itmightwellhavebeenenough o shelterOvidfromaction,especiallyas longas he kepthis nose clean.But he didn't,and TiberiusmpelledAugustus o actagainstthe poetof the ArsAmatoria tabout he same ime as the booksof LabienuswerebeingburnedandCassiusSeveruswas shippedoff to Crete.Whatwasit that Tiberius bjected o in theArs?Not thenaughtyparts, n all likelihood.107or the factthat t couldbe readasanexhortationoadultery. fterall, n20 he allowed he returnromexile ofJulia's over,Silanus, ssertinghathehad neverreallybeen exiledin the firstplace. Tacitus ouldnot have failedto note the irony fOvid had diedin exileforplayinga part n the sameaffair.108 vid'smisfortune,whichwas of noaccountnthe historical ecord,held no interestorTacitusnthis context. t is unfortunatehata102 See Helzle 2003, 249-350 on the sparseness of refer-ences to Tiberius by name in Ovid'spoetry.In this context,however, some account should probably be taken of themetrical ntractabilityof the name in hexameters and elegy,except in the vocative.103 The suggestion that Tiberius, not Augustus, was themoving force in Ovid'srelegationhas,of course, been madebefore, most notably by Owen 1924, 31-34, who assumesan overtlypolitical offense;cf. Thibault 1964, 83-85. Morerecent discussion along these lines can be found in Green1982, who arguesfor Ovid's involvementin a "Juliancoupagainst Augustus (and, afortiori, Tiberius)."104 Raaflaub and Samons 1990, 445-446 point out thateven on the most negative accounting of the last years ofAugustus, the toll of victims-"Severus, two plebeians,andOvid"-hardly matches the vehemence of Syme's rhetoricabout an era of censorshipand repression.Against this back-ground,they arguepersuasively"that he exile of Ovid was asingularevent, and one of little importto ancientobserversoftheperiod; t gained significance nmodern times asevidenceof Augustus' attempt to control Romanauthors."105Dio55.27.5: a TE -y&pT6V TroXtUOv ICta&6LKEL,KtI EST1V Tr6XLV, r6mTE rtPdYXOL,O1UVEXW5 GE4OlTa.106 Dio is our source for the fact that Tiberiusreturned to

RomeIIETOTOVXEL[LUVaVC) KIVPTO;XoVX1TrKLOSSalFcio; XaIVL0o lTaTEvGav (56.1.1), but this must mean"after he onset of winter,"not "after he winter," or at thattime Tiberiuswas already ravelingbackto the frontfor thefinal,decisive campaign n Illyricum.The usage is paralleledby expressions such as [lEO'qpfpav "afterdaybreak" Plat.Phaedr.251e, Hdt. 2.150.4).107 Nor is it likely thatthey would havebotheredAugustus,who himself dabbledin off-colorverse,a specimenof whichis preserved in Mart. 11.20; see the fragments and testimo-nia assembled by Malcovati 1969, 1-5. What did Tiberiusthinkof Ovid's poetry? Cf.Syme 1986, 402: "The clueleadstowards the literary astesof his successor.An exact studentof Roman ritualandreligiousproprieties,Ti.Caesarmaynothave condoned a superficialand frivolous performance ikethe Fasti. But the Metamorphoses arried recondite erudi-tion about legendaryhistory,while the Ars Amatoria,bold,clever, and subversive,might prove congenial to a scepticalintelligence,a sardonicsense of humour."108Tac.Ann. 3.24. Tacitus's"omission" s often noted, e.g.,by Syme 1958, 336. Perhaps an explanation might havebeen included in the projected work on Augustus and theevents of that time: sed aliorum exitus, simul cetera illiusaetatis memorabo,si, effectisquae intendi, plures ad curasuitamproduxero.


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large section-four folia-is missing from the manuscriptof Dio's history in the portion that treatsthe year8.109We may surmisethat if Tiberius objected to the Ars, it might well have been becauseinto it Ovid had inserteda panegyric of young Gaius Caesar,whom Augustus had preferred n thesuccession to him.110 nd what of the blunder? It could have been somethingas trivialas a recita-tion at an inopportune time.11'One thinks of Clutorius Priscus, another poet done in by a poem,a dirgeon Tiberius'sson, and an error,his performanceof the offensive workto a group of noble-women. With Tiberiusit did not take much.'12Literaryhistoriansof this period would do well toconsiderOvid'sposition as a poet still soundingthe themes that resonatedwith Augustusin a timethat belonged to Tiberius.

109 As Syme 1978, 207 observes, "thescandalof Juliacouldnot havebeenhushed up and totally orgotten.Thehistorianswhom Cassius Dio followed were still writing within fortyyearsof the event. If nothing else, the oral traditionwas stillalive."But cf. Syme1986, 214: "Whether he Greekhistorianwould haveknown or cared about the relegationof a Latinpoet is anothermatter."l1o See Bowersock 1984 on Tiberius during his years inRhodes and his difficultrelationswith Gaius in the East.

"' Perhaps Levick 1976, 336, followed by Birch 1981,453 n. 35, who speculates about the performance of an"epithalamium"or Julia and Silanus, is on the right track.Cf. Gil 1985, 140-141, who supposes a personalaffront ora carmenprobrosum.112 Cf. Wallace-Hadrill1987,227: "Ovid'sdownfallwas hisfailure to win overTiberius, not Augustus";Knox 2002.


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