Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso
poet · exile · Roman Empire · 43 BC–AD 17?
The most popular poet in Rome. At fifty he was banished by the emperor to Tomis, on the frontier by the Black Sea, and never came back.
Posts
c. 16 BC
They struggle, and pull my light heart opposite ways, love on this side, hate on that. But love, I think, is winning. I shall hate if I can. If not, I shall love against my will.
Luctantur pectusque leve in contraria tendunt
hac amor hac odium, sed, puto, vincit amor.
odero, si potero; si non, invitus amabo.Amores (Loves) 3.11
c. AD 9 · After his friends turned their backs when the emperor banished him
As long as you are safe, you will count many friends. If the weather turns cloudy, you will be alone.
donec eris sospes, multos numerabis amicos:
tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris.Tristia (Sorrows) 1.9
c. AD 12 · From Tomis, his place of exile
Here it is I who am the barbarian, understood by no one, and the dull Getae laugh at Latin words.
Barbarus hic ego sum, qui non intellegor ulli,
et rident stolidi uerba Latina GetaeTristia (Sorrows) 5.10
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