The poem begins with a pun on the meaning of Carus' name (1-2). This opening will in itself demonstrate to Carus who his correspondent is (3-6). Carus can himself be recognized through his style (7-12). Ovid does not claim that his poetry is excellent, only that it is individual; if his poetry is poor, it is because he is almost a Getic poet now (13-18). He has written a poem in Getic, which was well received (19-22). It was a description of the apotheosis of Augustus and a laudation of the members of the imperial family (23-32). When he finished reciting the poem, he was applauded; one person even suggested that his piety merited a recall (33-38). But it is now the sixth year of his exile, and poems will not assist him, since in the past they have done him harm. Carus should use his influence to secure Ovid's recall (39-50). Certain elements of the poem, such as the flattering references to Carus' poetry and the request for his help, are commonplaces of the poetry of exile; the list of the members of the imperial family is similarly paralleled in Ovid's other poems (see at 25-32 [p 400]). Ovid nowhere else explicitly describes any of his Getic poems. =1. MEMORANDE= _BMFHILT_ NVMERANDE _C_. For _memorande_ compare _Tr_ I v 1 'O mihi post nullos umquam _memorande_ sodales'. _Numerande_ is in itself acceptable enough: see ix 35 'hic ego praesentes inter _numerarer_ amicos'. =2. QVI QVOD ES, ID= _BCFI_ QVI QVOD ID ES _MH_ QVIQVE QVOD ES _LT_. For the use of _id_, Ehwald (_KB_ 47) cited _Fast_ II 23-24 'quaeque capit lictor domibus purgamina uersis ['swept out'] / torrida cum mica farra, uocantur _idem_ [_sc_ februa]', Hor _Sat_ II iii 139-41 (of Orestes) 'non Pyladen ferro uiolare aususue sororem / Electram, tantum male dicit utrique uocando / hanc Furiam, hunc _aliud_', Sen _Ben_ I 3 10 'id quemque uocari iubent', and Tac _Germ_ 6 'definitur et numerus: centeni ex singulis pagis sunt, _id_que ipsum inter suos uocantur' ['they are called "The Hundred"']'. _Quique quod es_ is, however, an attractive reading: compare _Tr_ I v 1-2 'O mihi post nullos umquam memorande sodales, / _et cui_ praecipue sors mea uisa sua est'. _Quique quod_ is obviously prone to haplography; on the other hand, it could be a rewriting of _qui quod id es_, which is itself presumably a simple corruption through interchange of _qui quod es id_. I therefore print _qui quod es id_, although with some hesitation. =2. VERE.= 'Justly'. For the same adverb used once again of names "properly" applied, see _Tr_ V x 13-14 'quem tenet Euxini mendax cognomine litus, / et Scythici _uere_ terra _sinistra_ freti'.