At _Fast_ I 531-34 Ovid uses the same metaphor, as here, of Tiberius' accession to power: (Carmenta is prophesying Rome's future) 'et penes Augustos patriae tutela manebit: / hanc fas _imperii frena_ tenere domum. / inde nepos natusque dei [Tiberius was the adopted son of Augustus, and therefore the grandson of Julius Caesar], licet ipse _recuset_, / pondera caelesti mente paterna feret'. In all of these passages Ovid may have had in mind _Aen_ VII 600 (of Latinus) 'saepsit se tectis _rerumque_ reliquit _habenas_'. =27-28. FRENA ... SAEPE RECVSATI ... IMPERII.= At _Tr_ V iv 15-16 Ovid had used _frena recusare_ of a horse: 'fert tamen, ut debet, casus patienter amaros, / more nec indomiti _frena recusat_ equi'. This perhaps influenced his choice of words here. =27. COACTVS= _excerpta Scaligeri_ ROGATVS _codd_. Ovid is referring to the second meeting of the Senate after the death of Augustus (the first meeting had been devoted to funeral arrangements); at this meeting there had been some confusion over Tiberius' intentions. _Rogatus_ is awkward to construe, since Tiberius must already have been asked to accept power: otherwise he could not have refused the offer. The difficulty of _rogatus_ is clearly shown by the description of the scene in Tacitus: 'et ille [_sc_ Tiberius] uarie disserebat de magnitudine imperii sua modestia. solam diui Augusti mentem tantae molis capacem: se in partem curarum ab illo uocatum experiendo didicisse quam arduum, quam subiectum fortunae regendi cuncta onus, proinde in ciuitate tot inlustribus uiris subnixa non ad unum omnia deferrent: plures facilius munia rei publicae sociatis laboribus executuros ... senatu ad infimas obtestationes procumbente, dixit forte Tiberius se ut non toti rei publicae parem, ita quaecumque pars sibi mandaretur eius tutelam suscepturum ... fessus ... clamore omnium, expostulatione singulorum flexit paulatim, non ut fateretur suscipi a se imperium, sed ut negare et _rogari_ desineret' (_Ann_ I 11-13). Scaliger's conjecture is supported by (and is probably based on) the corresponding description at Suetonius _Tib_ 24 'principatum ... diu ... recusauit ... tandem quasi _coactus_ et querens miseram et onerosam iniungi sibi seruitutem, recepit imperium'. Professor A. Dalzell notes, however, that Suetonius' description is an imperfect parallel, since _coactus_ is there modified by _quasi_; he suggests to me that _rogatus_ could be accepted, if it is taken closely with _recusati_--Tiberius finally accepted what he had many times been offered and had many times refused. =29. VESTAM.= Ovid similarly equates Livia with Venus and Juno at _EP_ III i 117-18 'quae Veneris formam, mores Iunonis habendo / sola est caelesti digna reperta toro', and implicitly equates her with Juno at _Fast_ I 650 'sola toro magni digna reperta Iouis'. These appear to be instances of metaphor rather than true equations; but PW XIII,1 913-14 cites inscriptions indicating a cult of Livia-as-Juno.