ABSTRACT
According to Servius auctus, the commentator Hebrus (or Hebrius) quoted line 64 as nec myrtus vincet Veneris nec laurea Phoebi.2 The variant Veneris has only occasionally drawn comments from editors, and mostly of the disparaging kind.3 Rosanna Rocca in her treatment of the commentator in an EV article (s.v. Ebro vol. II [1985] 159f.) thinks that this variant has every appearance of being a corruption introduced from line 62. I agree, however, with Gebauer.4 On the whole, the objections raised against Veneris are without real substance in my view. If we choose simply to acknowledge Veneris as an ancient variant,5 its excellence becomes manifest.
