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Asiae . . . imago, ‘mirror of Asia in her pride.’ So Augustus is addressed, Trist. v. II. 49, “o decus, o patriae per te florentis imago, o vir non ipso quem regis orbe minor”. For the extension of Priam's dominion cf. Virg. Aen.II. 557, Cic. de Div.i. XL. § 89, Juv.x. 266.The reference is of course only to the western part of Asia Minor, which was all that the Romans understood by the term. Of the Roman province thus named Cicero says (pro leg Manil. § 14): Asia vero tam opima est ac fertilis, ut et ubertate agrorum et multitudine earum rerum quae exportantur, facile omnibus terris antecellat. But perhaps the reference of florentis is rather to the barbaric magnificence characteristic of Asiatic monarchs. For this use of the word cf. Virg. Aen.VII. 804, and Munro on Lucr.iv. 450.
Charles Simmons. Metamorphoseon XIII. xiv. The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books XIII. and XIV. Edited, with introduction, analysis, and notes by Charles Simmons. New York. Macmillan. 1899.
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