I. To Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius, consul ordinarius in AD 14, is the most illustrious of Ovid's correspondents in the Ex Ponto; patron of Valerius Maximus, he was related to Pompey the Great (Sen Ben IV 30 2) and to Augustus (Dio LVI 29 5). For discussions of his career, see Syme HO 156-62, Pauly-Wissowa XXI,2 2265 61, and Dessau PIR P 450. He is the recipient of four poems in the fourth book, but is nowhere mentioned in the first three books of the Ex Ponto. Since Pompeius helped Ovid during his journey to exile (v 31-38), their relationship must have been of long standing; clearly Pompeius had indicated to Ovid his preference not to be mentioned in his verse, even after it had become clear to most of Ovid's friends that being named by him would carry no penalty. In EP III vi, Ovid exhorts a timid friend to allow him to name him; there is no indication, however, that the poem was addressed to Pompeius.
Ovid seems to have been best served in exile by those of his friends who were of no particular eminence. In Tr III iv 3-8 & 43-44 he complains not only of the treatment he has received from Augustus, but also of the lack of assistance from those of his friends most in a position to help. Once Sextus Pompeius had indicated he was willing to be named publicly, Ovid could not ignore the influence that a man of such position could bring to bear; hence the number of poems addressed to him in the fourth book.
Ovid starts the poem with an elaborate assertion of his past and present desire to mention Pompeius in his verse (1-22), and then briefly recounts the services Pompeius has rendered to him, and will continue to render (23-26). The reason he is confident that Pompeius will continue to assist him is that Pompeius' past assistance has been such that he is now, in effect, Pompeius' creation, and brings glory to him in the way that great works of art do for their creators (27-36).
1. DEDVCTVM. 'Composed'. Deducere is often used in reference to the drawing of fibres from the wool on the distaff and the shaping of the thread (Catullus LXIV 311-14). From this meaning derive the two senses the word can have when referring to poetry, 'composed' and 'finely spun, delicate'. The first sense is seen here and at Tr I i 39, EP I v 13, and at Tr V i 71 'ipse nec emendo, sed ut hic deducta legantur', and the second at Ecl VI 4-5 'pastorem, Tityre, pinguis / pascere oportet ouis, deductum dicere carmen', where deductum ... carmen represents the Μοῦσαν ... λεπταλέην of Callimachus Aetia I 24; Servius comments on the metaphor from spinning. It has been suggested that Met I 4 'ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen' shows this meaning as well; see Kenney Ouidius Prooemians 51-52.
Hor Ep II i 225 'tenui deducta poemata filo' stands somewhere between the two senses.
2. DEBITOR ... VITAE. See v 33-36 (Ovid's letter speaking to Pompeius) 'te sibi, cum fugeret, memori solet ore referre / barbariae tutas exhibuisse uias, / sanguine Bistonium quod non tepefecerit ensem, / effectum cura pectoris esse tui'. The passage suggests that Pompeius supplied Ovid with a bodyguard for his journey overland from Tempyra to Tomis, either in an official capacity—Dessau suggests (PIR P 450) that Pompeius might have been proconsul of Macedonia—or, more probably, from his Macedonian estates, for which Dessau and Syme (HO 157) cite xv 15.
3. QVI. Williams' CVI is possibly correct; the line would then refer to the titulus of the poem in a published text.
3. SEV NON PROHIBES. 'If you do not try to prevent'. The context makes it clear that Pompeius will not in fact prevent Ovid from mentioning Pompeius in his poem. This conative sense is much more commonly found with the imperfect than with the present; the only way it can be dispensed with in this passage is if cui is read and, as Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests, prohibes taken to refer to the later inclusion of the poem in a published collection.
4. ACCEDET MERITIS. Pompeius' even allowing Ovid to name him would count as a favour. Nowhere in the poem does Ovid specify why Pompeius might prefer not to be named.