75. PRAEFVIT HIS ... LOCIS MODO FLACCVS. At Ann II 64-67 Tacitus reports how, following the death of Augustus, Rhescuporis attacked and imprisoned his brother Cotys (addressee of EP II ix), alleging a plot against himself; on their father's death, the kingdom of Thrace had been divided between them, Cotys receiving the better regions. Tiberius insisted that Rhescuporis release his brother and come to Rome to explain the situation; Rhescuporis then killed his brother, claiming it was a suicide. 'nec tamen Caesar placitas semel artes mutauit, sed defuncto Pandusa, quem sibi infensum Rhescuporis arguerat [scripsi: arguebat M], Pomponium Flaccum, ueterem stipendiis et arta cum rege amicitia eoque accommodatiorem ad fallendum ob id maxime Moesiae praefecit'; the previous service mentioned by Tacitus is no doubt the command Ovid is here referring to.
Flaccus succeeded in trapping Rhescuporis and bringing him to Rome; he was found guilty and sent in exile to Alexandria, where he died. Velleius Paterculus placed the episode first in his list of memorable events of Tiberius' reign (II 129); it is briefly mentioned at Suet Tib 37 4.
75. FLACCVS. 'Ab hoc Flacco uolunt quidam Valachiam ['Wallachia'] fuisse dictam olim Flacciam, quod nomen sensim corruptela sermonis transiit in Valachiam. Vide Georgii a ['von'] Reychersdorff Chorographiam Transyluaniae. pag. 33 [first published in 1595; see British Museum Gen Cat 200 383] qui addit hinc [sic] adhuc Romanum ibi sermonem durare, licet admodum corruptum. sed hae fabulae'—Burman. Clearly the existence of Rumanian was not widely known in Western Europe at the time Burman wrote.
77. MYSAS GENTES = Moesos. Strabo (VII 3 10; cited by André) claims a common origin for the Μοισοί of Europe and the Μυσοί of Asia. For the Greek form, compare Ovid's use of Getes for Geta and Sauromates for Sarmata.
78. ARCV FISOS ... GETAS. For the bow as the typical Getic weapon, see iii 52 'arcu ... Gete", EP III v 45 'Getico ... arcu' and Ibis 635 'Geticasque sagittas'.
78. ENSE. The gladius, typical weapon of the Roman legionary. For the precise equivalence of the two terms, see Quintilian X i 11. In Ovid's poetry, the proportion of instances of ensis to instances of gladius is about 90:30; in the poetry of exile, it is 21:3. For a discussion of ensis/gladius, with statistics, see Axelson 51; the only poets to admit gladius more freely than Ovid are Lucan and Juvenal.
79. TROESMIN Heinsius TROESMEN C TROESENEN B1 TROEZEN uel similia codd plerique. Troesmis, the modern Galaţi, is located on the north bank of the Danube, about 160 kilometres inland from Aegissos (Tulcea). Heinsius did not have the assistance of CIL V 6183-88 & 6195, but seems nonetheless to have conjectured that Troesmin was a possible reading ('sed legendum, Τρωισμὶς uel Τρωσμίς'). Korn was the first to place Troesmin in the text.
79. CELERI VIRTVTE. 'With a bold surprise attack'.
80. INFECITQVE FERO SANGVINE DANVVIVM. Compare the similar description of Vestalis' recapture of Aegissos: 'non negat hoc Hister, cuius tua dextera quondam / puniceam Getico sanguine fecit aquam' (vii 19-20).
80. DANVVIVM. According to Owen at Tr II 192 this, and not DANVBIVM (the reading of the manuscripts), is the spelling certified by the inscriptions. Manuscripts divide between the two spellings at Hor Carm IV xv 21 and Tac Germ I 1.