Ovid (aka Naso), a prolific Roman poet, known best for his mythological tales of transformations, the Metamorphoses and his love poetry, was familiar with the Roman poet Horace and a friend of the family of the Emperor Augustus. As a result of some scandal, perhaps involving the women of the imperial family and Ovid, which Ovid refers to as carmen et error 'a song/poet and a mistake,' Augustus banished Ovid to Tomi, near Pontus 'the Black Sea', where Ovid wrote Ibis, Tristia (in elegiac couplets), Epistulae ex Ponto, and probably Fasti 'Festival Days'. Despite his continuous efforts to be recalled, the banishment was permanent.


