e Getas!
materiam quaeris? laudes de Caesare dixi.'

For his popularity with the natives cf. _Pont._ iv. 14, 53,

'Solus adhuc ego sum vestris immunis in oris,
exceptis si qui munera legis habent.
Tempora sacrata mea sunt velata corona,
publicus invito quam favor imposuit';

also _Pont._ iv. 9, 101.

Ovid's death took place in A.D. 18: Jerome yr. Abr. 2033, 'Ovidius
poeta in exilio diem obiit et iuxta oppidum Tomos sepelitur.' He was
thrice married; _Tr._ iv. 10, 69,

'Paene mihi puero nec digna nec utilis uxor
est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fuit;
illi successit quamvis sine crimine coniunx,
non tamen in nostro firma futura toro;
ultima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos,
sustinuit coniunx exulis esse viri.'

His third wife belonged to the _gens Fabia_. Cf. _Pont._ i. 2, 138 (to
Fabius Maximus),

'Ille ego, de vestra cui data nupta domo est.'

The _filia_ mentioned _Tr._ iv. 10, 75, may have been either a
daughter or step-daughter of Ovid's. Some think that she is the
Perilla of _Tr._ iii. 7.

Ovid's social position was of the highest, as may be inferred from his
relations with the palace. He was intimate with Messalla, the patron
of Tibullus, and wrote an elegy on him (now lost). Cf. _Pont._ i. 7,
27 (to Messalinus),

'Nec tuus est genitor nos infitiatus amicos,
hortator studii causaque faxque mei:
cui nos et lacrimas, supremum in funere munus,
et dedimus medio scripta canenda foro.'

Among the friends to whom the _Epp. ex Ponto_ are written may be
mentioned Albinovanus, Carus, Rufus, Severus, Fabius Maximus Cotta,
Tuticanus, the younger Macer, all poets; and other literary men of
distinction, _e.g._ Graecinus, Atticus, Brutus, Sex. Pompeius, Gallio.
For his intimacy with the learned Hyginus cf. Sueton. _Gramm._ 20,
'fuit familiarissimus Ovidio poetae.'

He was old enough to have seen Virgil, and hear Aemilius Macer and
Horace recite; with Propertius, Tibullus, Ponticus, and Bassus he was
on terms of close intimacy (_Am._ iii. 9 is a lament for Tibullus),
_Tr._ iv. 10, 41-52,

'Temporis illius colui fovique poetas,
quotque aderant vates, rebar adesse deos.
Saepe suas volucres legit mihi grandior aevo,
quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.
Saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes,
iure sodalicii qui mihi iunctus erat.
Ponticus heroo, Bassus quoque clarus iambis
dulcia convictus membra fuere mei.
Detinu