XI. [FAST. VI. 587-610.] Tullia, daughter of Servius Tullius, having effected by crime her marriage with Lucius Tarquinius, induced him to dethrone and put to death her father. When the bloody deed was done, she drove in her chariot to the palace. The charioteer stopped in horror on seeing the aged king's corpse on the road, but she bade him drive on. Hence the name of the Wicked Street. Tullia coniugio, sceleris mercede, peracto His solita est dictis extimulare virum : 'Quid iuvat esse pares, te nostrae caede sororis, Meque tui fratris, si pia vita placet ? Vivere debuerant et vir meus et tua coniunx, 5 Et caput et regnum facio dotale parentis. Regia res scelus est! Socero cape regna necato, 10 Talibus instinctus solio privatus in alto Sederat: attonitum volgus ad arma ruit. Hinc cruor, hinc caedes, infirmaque vincitur aetas: Sceptra gener socero rapta Superbus habet. 15 Ipse sub Esquiliis, ubi erat sua regia, caesus Vadis, an expectas pretium pietatis amarum? 20 XII. [TRIST. I. 3. 47-74.] Ovid describes his last night in Rome, which he was ordered to leave before morning for a distant country. His reluctance to go, repeated excuses for delay, and sorrowful farewells. lamque morae spatium nox praecipitata negabat, 6 A! quotiens aliquo dixi properante Quid urges ? A! quotiens certam me sum mentitus habere 5 10 Denique Quid propero? Scythia est, quo mittimur,' inquam 'Roma relinquenda est: utraque iusta mora est. Uxor in aeternum vivo mihi viva negatur, Dum licet, amplectar. Numquam fortasse licebit Dividor haud aliter, quam si mea membra relinquam, 15 20 25 XIII. [TRIST. I. 7. 1—30.] The poet, now in banishment at Tomi, thanks a dear friend at Rome for kind remembrance, but begs him to turn from common likenesses of him to his best likeness, the newly composed books of Metamorphoses, which in the first sorrow of his departure he had burnt, but which had already been copied, and were in the hands of friends. He asks him to preserve them, apologising for their rough and unfinished state. Siquis habes nostris similes in imagine vultus, Temporibus non est apta corona meis. Nunc precor, ut vivant et non ignava legentem Nec tamen illa legi poterunt patienter ab ullo, Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud, Defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis. 5 10 15 20 25 30 XIV. [TRIST. III. 12. 1-32.] Ovid describes the approach of spring after the dreary winter at Tomi. He pictures to himself the holiday amusements going on at Rome, and contrasts his own position. Frigora iam Zephyri minuunt, annoque peracto 5 10 Quoque loco est arbor, turgescit in arbore ramus : 15 Otia nunc istic, iunctisque ex ordine ludis Lusus equis nunc est, levibus nunc luditur armis : Histrum Quaeque lacu duro non fodiuntur aquae: Nec mare concrescit glacie, nec ut ante per Stridula Sauromates plaustra bubulcus agit. Incipient aliquae tamen huc adnare carinae, Hospitaque in Ponti litore puppis erit. 20 25 30 XV. [TRIST. V. 7. 39-68.] The barbarous manners and language of the Tomitae. He is forced to talk to himself, lest he should forget his native tongue, and finds consolation in poetry alone. Detineo studiis animum falloque dolores, Quamve malis aliam quaerere coner opem ? Quid potius faciam desertis solus in oris, Sive locum specto, locus est inamabilis, et quo 5 Sive homines, vix sunt homines hoc nomine digni, Non metuunt leges, sed cedit viribus aequum, 10 15 20 Nec dubito, quin sint et in hoc non pauca libello Ne tamen Ausoniae perdam commercia linguae, Ipse loquor mecum desuetaque verba retracto, 25 Sic animum tempusque traho, meque ipse reduco Carminibus quaero miserarum oblivia rerum : .30 |