For _laxate rudentes_ 'let out the sails' Heinsius cited _Aen_ III 266-67 'tum litore funem / deripere excussosque iubet _laxare_ rudentis' 'Next he commanded us to fling hawsers from moorings and uncoil and ease the sheets' (Jackson Knight), _Aen_ VIII 707-8 'uentis ... uela dare et _laxos_ iamiamque immittere funis', Cic _Diu_ I 127, Lucan V 426-27 'pariter soluere rates, totosque rudentes / _laxauere_ sinus', and Lucan IX 1004. =74. E STYGIIS ... AQVIS.= Similar phrasing at _Met_ X 697 'Stygia ... unda, _Met_ XI 500 'Stygia ... unda', _Aen_ VI 374 'Stygias ... aquas', _Aen_ XII 91 'Stygia ... unda', and _Cons Liu_ 410 'Stygia ... aqua'. Ovid often uses the phrasing of his exile: see _Tr_ I ii 65-66 'mittere me _Stygias_ si iam uoluisset in _undas_ / Caesar, in hoc uestro non eguisset ope', _Tr_ IV v 22, _EP_ I viii 27 'careo uobis, _Stygias_ detrusus in _oras_', and _EP_ II iii 44 'a _Stygia_ quantum mors [_codd_: sors _Heinsius_] mea distat aqua?'. For Ovid's exile as the equivalent of death, see at vi 49 _qui me doluistis ademptum_ (p 243). =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 [Greek: Moisoi] of Europe and the [Greek: Mysoi] of Asia. For the Greek form, compare Ovid's use of _Getes_ for _Geta_ and _Sauromates_ for _Sarmata_.