=29. MARTE FORENSI.= Similar metaphor for the lawcourts at _Fast_ IV 188 'et fora _Marte suo_ litigiosa uacent', _Tr_ III xii 17-18 'ludis / cedunt uerbosi garrula _bella_ fori' and _Tr_ IV x 17-18 'frater ... fortia uerbosi natus ad _arma_ fori'. According to Ovid real wounds were suffered in the forum at Tomis: 'adde quod iniustum rigido ius dicitur ense, / dantur et in medio uulnera saepe foro' (_Tr_ V x 43-44). =30. POSSE TVO PERAGI VIX PVTET ORE REOS.= Similar language at _Tr_ I i 23-24 'protinus admonitus repetet mea crimina lector, / _et peragar populi publicus ore reus_'. _Peragere_ refers to the prosecution of a defendant carried to its end, but does not imply success for the prosecutor: see Pliny _Ep_ III ix 30 and Ulpian _Dig_ XLVIII v 2 1 'non alias ad mulierem possit peruenire, nisi reum peregerit [_sc_ adulterii]; peregisse autem non alias quis uidetur, _nisi et condemnauerit_'. =31. QVAMVIS PVGNARE VIDENTVR= _BMFH_. Given the dependent _pugnare_, it seems hardly possible to read the VIDETVR given by the other manuscripts. The same problem arises at _Met_ VIII 463-64 '_pugnant_ materque sororque, / et diuersa trahunt unum duo nomina pectus', where the manuscripts divide between _pugnant_ and _pugnat_; for an unambiguous parallel, see _Her_ XIX 173 'nunc, male res iunctae, calor et reuerentia _pugnant_'. Heinsius further suggested deleting _est_ from the preceding _scilicet eiusdem est_ 'cum tribus libris', but the change in number does not seem unduly harsh. =32. SVPPLICIBVS FACILEM.= See on iv 30 _faciles in tua uota_, and compare _Am_ II iii 5-6 (to his girl's eunuch) 'mollis in obsequium _facilisque rogantibus_ esses, / si tuus in quauis praetepuisset amor' and _Her_ XVI 197-98 'da modo te _facilem_, nec dedignare maritum ... Phrygem'. Ovid is here indirectly referring to his own situation: compare _EP_ III iii 107-8 'at tua _supplicibus_ domus est adsueta _iuuandis_, / _in quorum numero me precor esse uelis_'. =33. LEGIS VINDICTA.= 'The exacting of punishment on behalf of the law'. The law has been broken, and therefore demands retribution; Brutus acts on its behalf. For the sense of the genitive compare Val Max I 1 ext 3: (Dionysius of Syracuse committed many acts of sacrilege, but punishment was visited on him after his death in the form of his son's ignominious career) 'lento enim gradu ad _uindictam sui_ diuina procedit ira tarditatemque supplicii grauitate pensat'. =33. LEGIS ... SEVERAE.= _Seuerae_ here serves as a standard epithet and has no such special force as at _EP_ III iii 57-58 'uetiti ... _lege seuera_ / credor adulterii composuisse notas'. =34. VERBA VELVT TAETRVM SINGVLA VIRVS HABENT.= The same image at _EP_ III iii 105-6 'ergo alii noceant miseris optentque timeri, / _tinctaque mordaci spicula felle gerant_'.