Probably Ovid saw the emperor’s granddaughter Julia commit adultery and did not tell. He was tried in closed proceedings by the emperor himself, which indicates that the charge was something Augustus wanted to keep secret. This period of time is when disaster struck in the form of Ovid’s banishment. This work, in turn, was followed by a third book as sequel, and the Remedies for Love for those who want to get over being rejected.īetween the years 2 and 8 C.E., he wrote his major works: fifteen books of Metamorphoses, six books of Fasti (on stories associated with the Roman calendar), and six double Heroides.(letters and their responses). This work was followed by fifteen Heroides, fictional letters from mythical heroines to their absent lovers, then two books of a lover’s instruction manual titled The Art of Love. Ovid’s promise never to write verse again, however, could be scanned as a verse of dactylic hexameter! His first work was five books of Amores in circa 18 B.C.E., later reduced to a three-book edition. This step was obviously not welcomed by his father, who, according to an anecdote, had given young Ovid a beating when he wrote poetry as a boy. Although financially independent enough to enter the senate, he joined the circle of poets around Messalla Corvinus and wrote elegies. After holding a minor post as a public official, he turned to writing poetry fulltime. His family belonged to the local aristocracy, which meant they held the status of knights (equites) at Rome, and he was sent to Rome itself for his education.

in Sulmo in the mountains southeast of Rome.

Ovid naso