In Greco-Roman mythology , the Propoetides ( Ancient Greek : Προποιτίδες) are the daughters of Propoetus from the city of Amathus on the island of Cyprus .
127-419: In Roman literature, they are treated by Ovid in his Metamorphoses (book 10.238 ff.): Nevertheless, the immoral Propoetides dared to deny that Venus was the goddess. For this, because of her divine anger, they are said to have been the first to prostitute their bodies and their reputations in public, and, losing all sense of shame, they lost the power to blush, as the blood hardened in their cheeks, and only
254-479: A "poem and a mistake", but his reluctance to disclose specifics has resulted in much speculation among scholars. Ovid is most famous for the Metamorphoses , a continuous mythological narrative in fifteen books written in dactylic hexameters . He is also known for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti . His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and
381-504: A Tuticanus, whose name, Ovid complains, does not fit into meter. The final poem is addressed to an enemy whom Ovid implores to leave him alone. The last elegiac couplet is translated: "Where's the joy in stabbing your steel into my dead flesh?/ There's no place left where I can be dealt fresh wounds." One loss, which Ovid himself described, is the first five-book edition of the Amores , from which nothing has come down to us. The greatest loss
508-421: A collection of twenty-one poems in elegiac couplets. The Heroides take the form of letters addressed by famous mythological characters to their partners expressing their emotions at being separated from them, pleas for their return, and allusions to their future actions within their own mythology. The authenticity of the collection, partially or as a whole, has been questioned, although most scholars would consider
635-420: A crisis during the siege of Veii , the army urgently needed to deploy more cavalry, and "those who possessed equestrian rating but had not yet been assigned public horses" volunteered to pay for their horses out of their own pockets. By way of compensation, pay was introduced for cavalry service, as it had already been for the infantry (in 406 BC). The persons referred to in this passage were probably members of
762-494: A decision of which his father apparently disapproved. Ovid's first recitation has been dated to around 25 BC, when he was eighteen. He was part of the circle centered on the esteemed patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus , and likewise seems to have been a friend of poets in the circle of Maecenas . In Tristia 4.10.41–54, Ovid mentions friendships with Macer, Propertius , Ponticus and Bassus, and claims to have heard Horace recite. He only barely met Virgil and Tibullus ,
889-458: A defunct republican ceremony, the recognitio equitum (inspection of the equites ), in which equites paraded every five years with their horses before the consuls. At some stage during the early Principate, equites acquired the right to the title "egregius" ("distinguished gentleman"), while senators were styled " clarissimus " ("most distinguished"). Beyond equites with equus publicus , Augustus' legislation permitted any Roman citizen who
1016-472: A doctor and utilizes medical imagery. Some have interpreted this poem as the close of Ovid's didactic cycle of love poetry and the end of his erotic elegiac project. The Metamorphoses , Ovid's most ambitious and well-known work, consists of a 15-book catalogue written in dactylic hexameter about transformations in Greek and Roman mythology set within a loose mytho-historical framework. The word "metamorphoses"
1143-609: A fellow member of Messalla's circle, whose elegies he admired greatly. He married three times and had divorced twice by the time he was thirty. He had one daughter and grandchildren through her. His last wife was connected in some way to the influential gens Fabia and helped him during his exile in Tomis (now Constanța in Romania). Ovid spent the first 25 years of his literary career primarily writing poetry in elegiac meter with erotic themes. The chronology of these early works
1270-440: A further tripling of the cavalry. Yet this was probably anachronistic, as it would have resulted in a contingent of 1,800 horse, incongruously large, compared to the heavy infantry, which was probably only 6,000 strong in the late regal period. Instead, the additional 12 centuriae were probably created at a later stage, perhaps around 400 BC, but these new units were political not military, most likely designed to admit plebeians to
1397-466: A guardian to let the poet see Corinna, poem 6 is a lament for Corinna's dead parrot; poems 7 and 8 deal with Ovid's affair with Corinna's servant and her discovery of it, and 11 and 12 try to prevent Corinna from going on vacation. Poem 13 is a prayer to Isis for Corinna's illness, 14 a poem against abortion, and 19 a warning to unwary husbands. Book 3 has 15 poems. The opening piece depicts personified Tragedy and Elegy fighting over Ovid. Poem 2 describes
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#17327718723731524-464: A later addition to the corpus because they are never mentioned by Ovid and may or may not be spurious. The Heroides markedly reveal the influence of rhetorical declamation and may derive from Ovid's interest in rhetorical suasoriae , persuasive speeches, and ethopoeia , the practice of speaking in another character. They also play with generic conventions; most of the letters seem to refer to works in which these characters were significant, such as
1651-507: A lover; Ovid then digresses on the story of Vulcan's trap for Venus and Mars . The book ends with Ovid asking his "students" to spread his fame. Book 3 opens with a vindication of women's abilities and Ovid's resolution to arm women against his teaching in the first two books. Ovid gives women detailed instructions on appearance telling them to avoid too many adornments. He advises women to read elegiac poetry, learn to play games, sleep with people of different ages, flirt, and dissemble. Throughout
1778-416: A martial society. For equites , a focus of the heroic ethos was the quest for spolia opima , the stripped armour and weapons of a foe whom they had killed in single combat. There are many recorded instances. For example, Servilius Geminus Pulex , who went on to become Consul in 202 BC, was reputed to have gained spolia 23 times. The higher the rank of the opponent killed in combat, the more prestigious
1905-450: A noon tryst, introduces Corinna by name. Poems 8 and 9 deal with Corinna selling her love for gifts, while 11 and 12 describe the poet's failed attempt to arrange a meeting. Poem 14 discusses Corinna's disastrous experiment in dyeing her hair and 15 stresses the immortality of Ovid and love poets. The second book has 19 pieces; the opening poem tells of Ovid's abandonment of a Gigantomachy in favor of elegy . Poems 2 and 3 are entreaties to
2032-511: A piece on the Rape of the Sabine women , Pasiphaë , and Ariadne . Book 2 invokes Apollo and begins with a telling of the story of Icarus . Ovid advises men to avoid giving too many gifts, keep up their appearance, hide affairs, compliment their lovers, and ingratiate themselves with slaves to stay on their lover's good side. The care of Venus for procreation is described as is Apollo's aid in keeping
2159-405: A poem against criticism (9), and a dream of Cupid (3). Book 4, the final work of Ovid, in 16 poems talks to friends and describes his life as an exile further. Poems 10 and 13 describe Winter and Spring at Tomis, poem 14 is halfhearted praise for Tomis, 7 describes its geography and climate, and 4 and 9 are congratulations on friends for their consulships and requests for help. Poem 12 is addressed to
2286-472: A series of supports and refutations in the short space of five years. Among the supporting reasons Brown presents are: Ovid's exile is only mentioned by his own work, except in "dubious" passages by Pliny the Elder and Statius , but no other author until the 4th century; that the author of Heroides was able to separate the poetic "I" of his own and real life; and that information on the geography of Tomis
2413-639: A small change turned them into hard flints. The story of Venus and her vengeance on the Propoetides for failing to worship her properly is a common theme in a number of stories and poems written about the goddess. According to Ovid, after seeing the Propoetides prostituting themselves, Pygmalion determined that he was "not interested in women". This drove him to create a woman of his own in statue form, with whom he then fell in love. According to Herodotus , ancient tradition in Cyprus "compels every woman of
2540-431: A small minority of the citizenry. (The lowest class, the proletarii , rated at under 400 drachmae , had just one vote, despite being the most numerous). As a result, the wealthiest echelon could ensure that the elected magistrates were always their own members. In turn, this ensured that the senate was dominated by the wealthy classes, as its membership was composed almost entirely of current and former magistrates. In
2667-405: A teacher of love. Ovid describes the places one can go to find a lover, like the theater, a triumph, which he thoroughly describes, or arena – and ways to get the girl to take notice, including seducing her covertly at a banquet. Choosing the right time is significant, as is getting into her associates' confidence. Ovid emphasizes care of the body for the lover. Mythological digressions include
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#17327718723732794-406: A theory that is little considered among scholars of Latin civilization today: that Ovid was never exiled from Rome and that all of his exile works are the result of his fertile imagination. This theory was supported and rejected in the 1930s, especially by Dutch authors. In 1985, a research paper by Fitton Brown advanced new arguments in support of Hartman's theory. Brown's article was followed by
2921-541: A transformation during this period, from the light, unarmoured horsemen of the early period to the Greek-style armoured cuirassiers described by Polybius. As a result of the demands of the Samnite hostilities, a normal consular army was doubled in size to two legions, making four legions raised annually overall. Roman cavalry in the field thus increased to approximately 1,200 horses. This now represented only 25% of
3048-464: A visit to the races, 3 and 8 focus on Corinna's interest in other men, 10 is a complaint to Ceres because of her festival that requires abstinence, 13 is a poem on a festival of Juno , and 9 a lament for Tibullus . In poem 11 Ovid decides not to love Corinna any longer and regrets the poems he has written about her. The final poem is Ovid's farewell to the erotic muse. Critics have seen the poems as highly self-conscious and extremely playful specimens of
3175-454: Is Ovid's only tragedy, Medea , from which only a few lines are preserved. Quintilian admired the work a great deal and considered it a prime example of Ovid's poetic talent. Lactantius quotes from a lost translation by Ovid of Aratus ' Phaenomena , although the poem's ascription to Ovid is insecure because it is never mentioned in Ovid's other works. A line from a work entitled Epigrammata
3302-459: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso ( Latin: [ˈpuːbliʊs ɔˈwɪdiʊs ˈnaːso(ː)] ; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( / ˈ ɒ v ɪ d / OV -id ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus . He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace , with whom he is often ranked as one of
3429-400: Is a didactic elegiac poem in three books that sets out to teach the arts of seduction and love. The first book addresses men and teaches them how to seduce women, the second, also to men, teaches how to keep a lover. The third addresses women and teaches seduction techniques. The first book opens with an invocation to Venus, in which Ovid establishes himself as a praeceptor amoris (1.17) –
3556-463: Is also from this period that every Roman army that took the field was regularly accompanied by at least as many troops supplied by the socii (Rome's Italian military confederates, often referred to as "Latin allies"). Each legion would be matched by a confederate ala (literally: "wing"), a formation that contained roughly the same number of infantry as a legion, but three times the number of horses (900). Legionary cavalry also probably underwent
3683-734: Is cited by Priscian . Even though it is unlikely, if the last six books of the Fasti ever existed, they constitute a great loss. Ovid also mentions some occasional poetry ( Epithalamium , dirge, even a rendering in Getic ) which does not survive. Also lost is the final portion of the Medicamina . Equestrian (Roman) The equites ( / ˈ ɛ k w ɪ t iː z / ; lit. ' horse ' or ' cavalrymen ' , though sometimes referred to as " knights " in English) constituted
3810-542: Is correct, it implies that the cavalry was exclusively patrician (and therefore hereditary) in the regal period. (However, Cornell considers the evidence tenuous). It is widely accepted that the Roman monarchy was overthrown by a patrician coup, probably provoked by the Tarquin dynasty 's populist policies in favour of the plebeian class. Alfoldi suggests that the coup was carried out by the celeres themselves. According to
3937-549: Is going to use his abilities to hurt his enemy. He cites Callimachus' Ibis as his inspiration and calls all the gods to make his curse effective. Ovid uses mythical exempla to condemn his enemy in the afterlife, cites evil prodigies that attended his birth, and then in the next 300 lines wishes that the torments of mythological characters befall his enemy. The poem ends with a prayer that the gods make his curse effective. The Tristia consist of five books of elegiac poetry composed by Ovid in exile in Tomis. Book 1 contains 11 poems;
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4064-567: Is not secure, but scholars have established tentative dates. His earliest extant work is thought to be the Heroides , letters of mythological heroines to their absent lovers, which may have been published in 19 BC, although the date is uncertain as it depends on a notice in Am. 2.18.19–26 that seems to describe the collection as an early published work. The authenticity of some of these poems has been challenged, but this first edition probably contained
4191-545: Is of Greek origin and means "transformations". Appropriately, the characters in this work undergo many different transformations. Within an extent of nearly 12,000 verses, almost 250 different myths are mentioned. Each myth is set outdoors where the mortals are often vulnerable to external influences. The poem stands in the tradition of mythological and etiological catalogue poetry such as Hesiod 's Catalogue of Women , Callimachus ' Aetia , Nicander 's Heteroeumena , and Parthenius ' Metamorphoses . The first book describes
4318-596: The Aeneid in the case of Dido and Catullus 64 for Ariadne, and transfer characters from the genres of epic and tragedy to the elegiac genre of the Heroides . The letters have been admired for their deep psychological portrayals of mythical characters, their rhetoric, and their unique attitude to the classical tradition of mythology. They also contribute significantly to conversations on how gender and identity were constructed in Augustan Rome. A popular quote from
4445-488: The praefecti praetorio (commanders of the Praetorian Guard) who also acted as the emperor's chiefs of military staff. There were normally two of these, but at times irregular appointments resulted in just a single incumbent or even three at the same time. Equestrians also provided the praefecti classis (admirals commanding) of the two main imperial fleets at Misenum in the bay of Naples and at Ravenna on
4572-502: The praefectus urbi (prefect of the city of Rome), who controlled the cohortes urbanae (public order battalions), the only fully armed force in the city apart from the Praetorian Guard. Nevertheless, a wide range of senior administrative and military posts were created and reserved for equestrians by Augustus, though most ranked below the senatorial posts. In the imperial administration, equestrian posts included that of
4699-500: The Ars Amatoria , and is primarily addressed to men. The poem criticizes suicide as a means for escaping love and, invoking Apollo, goes on to tell lovers not to procrastinate and be lazy in dealing with love. Lovers are taught to avoid their partners, not perform magic, see their lover unprepared, take other lovers, and never be jealous. Old letters should be burned and the lover's family avoided. The poem throughout presents Ovid as
4826-550: The Metamorphoses , scholars have focused on Ovid's organization of his vast body of material. The ways that stories are linked by geography, themes, or contrasts creates interesting effects and constantly forces the reader to evaluate the connections. Ovid also varies his tone and material from different literary genres; G. B. Conte has called the poem "a sort of gallery of these various literary genres". In this spirit, Ovid engages creatively with his predecessors, alluding to
4953-458: The Metamorphoses , the Fasti was to be a long poem and emulated etiological poetry by writers like Callimachus and, more recently, Propertius and his fourth book. The poem goes through the Roman calendar, explaining the origins and customs of important Roman festivals, digressing on mythical stories, and giving astronomical and agricultural information appropriate to the season. The poem was probably dedicated to Augustus initially, but perhaps
5080-479: The Middle Ages , and greatly influenced Western art and literature . The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology today. Ovid wrote more about his own life than most other Roman poets. Information about his biography is drawn primarily from his poetry, especially Tristia 4.10, which gives a lengthy autobiographical account of his life. Other sources include Seneca
5207-504: The Roman magistrates , the executive officers of the state: consuls, praetors , aediles and quaestors . In the assembly, the citizen body was divided into 193 centuriae , or voting constituencies. Of these, 18 were allocated to equites (including patricians) and a further 80 to the first class of commoners, securing an absolute majority of the votes (98 out of 193) for the wealthiest echelon of society, although it constituted only
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5334-657: The Samnite League led to the transformation of the Roman army from the Greek-style hoplite phalanx that it was in the early period, to the Italian-style manipular army described by Polybius. It is believed that the Romans copied the manipular structure from their enemies the Samnites, learning through hard experience its greater flexibility and effectiveness in the mountainous terrain of central Italy. It
5461-530: The Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the normal annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 centuriae . These new recruits came from the first class of commoners in the Centuriate Assembly organisation, and were not granted the same privileges. By the time of
5588-487: The Second Punic War (218–202 BC), all the members of the first class of commoners were required to serve as cavalrymen. The presence of equites in the Roman cavalry diminished steadily in the period 200–88 BC as only equites could serve as the army's senior officers; as the number of legions proliferated fewer were available for ordinary cavalry service. After c. 88 BC, equites were no longer drafted into
5715-476: The battle of the centaurs , and Iphigeneia . The thirteenth book discusses the contest over Achilles' arms , and Polyphemus . The fourteenth moves to Italy, describing the journey of Aeneas , Pomona and Vertumnus , and Romulus and Hersilia . The final book opens with a philosophical lecture by Pythagoras and the deification of Caesar . The end of the poem praises Augustus and expresses Ovid's belief that his poem has earned him immortality. In analyzing
5842-487: The carmen , or song, which was one cause of his banishment. The Ars Amatoria was followed by the Remedia Amoris in the same year. This corpus of elegiac, erotic poetry earned Ovid a place among the chief Roman elegists Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius, of whom he saw himself as the fourth member. By AD 8, Ovid had completed Metamorphoses , a hexameter epic poem in 15 books, which comprehensively catalogs
5969-430: The praefecti (commanders) of the imperial army's auxiliary regiments and five of the six tribuni militum (senior staff officers) in each legion. The standard equestrian officer progression was known as the " tres militiae " ("three services"): praefectus of a cohors (auxiliary infantry regiment), followed by tribunus militum in a legion, and finally praefectus of an ala (auxiliary cavalry regiment). From
6096-585: The princeps senatus (Leader of the Senate), a position reserved for patricians. In addition, patricians monopolized certain priesthoods and continued to enjoy enormous prestige. The period following the end of the Latin War (340–338 BC) and of the Samnite Wars (343–290) saw the transformation of the Roman Republic from a powerful but beleaguered city-state into the hegemonic power of
6223-497: The spolia , and none more so than spolia duci hostium detracta , spoils taken from an enemy leader himself. Many equites attempted to gain such an honour, but very few succeeded for the reason that enemy leaders were always surrounded by large numbers of elite bodyguards. One successful attempt, but with a tragic twist, was that of the decurion Titus Manlius Torquatus in 340 BC during the Latin War. Despite strict orders from
6350-455: The " polybian " army of the mid-republic (338 – 88 BC), equites held the exclusive right to serve as senior officers of the army. These were the six tribuni militum in each legion who were elected by the comitia at the start of each campaigning season and took turns to command the legion in pairs; the praefecti sociorum , commanders of the Italian confederate alae , who were appointed by
6477-401: The 12 new centuriae who were entitled to public horses, but temporarily waived that privilege. Mommsen, however, argues that the passage refers to members of the first class of commoners being admitted to cavalry service in 403 BC for the first time as an emergency measure. If so, this group may be the original so-called equites equo privato , a rank that is attested throughout the history of
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#17327718723736604-652: The Elder and Quintilian . Ovid was born in the Paelignian town of Sulmo (modern-day Sulmona , in the province of L'Aquila , Abruzzo), in an Apennine valley east of Rome , to an important equestrian family, the gens Ovidia , on 20 March 43 BC – a significant year in Roman politics. Along with his brother, who excelled at oratory, Ovid was educated in rhetoric in Rome under the teachers Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro . His father wanted him to study rhetoric so that he might practice law. According to Seneca
6731-485: The Elder, Ovid tended to the emotional, not the argumentative pole of rhetoric. Following the death of his brother at 20 years of age, Ovid renounced law and travelled to Athens , Asia Minor , and Sicily . He held minor public posts, as one of the tresviri capitales , as a member of the Centumviral court and as one of the decemviri litibus iudicandis , but resigned to pursue poetry probably around 29–25 BC,
6858-512: The Fraccaro interpretation, when the Roman monarchy was replaced with two annually elected praetores (later called "consuls"), the royal army was divided equally between them for campaigning purposes, which, if true, explains why Polybius later said that a legion's cavalry contingent was 300 strong. The 12 additional centuriae ascribed by Livy to Servius Tullius were, in reality, probably formed around 400 BC. In 403 BC, according to Livy, in
6985-464: The Heroides anticipates Machiavelli's "the end justifies the means". Ovid had written "Exitus acta probat" – the result justifies the means. The Amores is a collection in three books of love poetry in elegiac meter, following the conventions of the elegiac genre developed by Tibullus and Propertius . Elegy originates with Propertius and Tibullus, but Ovid is an innovator in the genre. Ovid changes
7112-530: The Italian Adriatic coast. The command of Rome's fire brigade and minor constabulary, the vigiles , was likewise reserved for equites . Not all equites followed the conventional career-path. Those equestrians who specialised in a legal or administrative career, providing judges ( iudices ) in Rome's law courts and state secretaries in the imperial government, were granted dispensation from military service by Emperor Hadrian (r. AD 117–138). At
7239-586: The Italian peninsula. This was accompanied by profound changes in its constitution and army . Internally, the critical development was the emergence of the Senate as the all-powerful organ of state. By 280 BC, the Senate had assumed total control of state taxation, expenditure, declarations of war, treaties, raising of legions, establishing colonies and religious affairs, in other words, of virtually all political power. From an ad hoc group of advisors appointed by
7366-451: The Order of Knights. Apparently, equites were originally provided with a sum of money by the state to purchase a horse for military service and for its fodder. This was known as an equus publicus . Theodor Mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the patricians ( patricii ), the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary. Apart from
7493-473: The Younger ), but in practice this was much more difficult than elevation from commoner to equestrian rank. To join the upper order, not only was the candidate required to meet the minimum property requirement of 250,000 denarii , but also had to be elected a member of the Senate. There were two routes for this, both controlled by the emperor: In public service, equites equo publico had their own version of
7620-503: The army's total cavalry contingent, the rest being supplied by the Italian confederates. A legion's modest cavalry share of 7% of its 4,500 total strength was thus increased to 12% in a confederate army, comparable with (or higher than) any other forces in Italy except the Gauls and also similar to those in Greek armies such as Pyrrhus's. Despite an ostensibly democratic constitution based on
7747-419: The book, Ovid playfully interjects, criticizing himself for undoing all his didactic work to men and mythologically digresses on the story of Procris and Cephalus . The book ends with his wish that women will follow his advice and spread his fame saying Naso magister erat, "Ovid was our teacher". (Ovid was known as "Naso" to his contemporaries. ) This elegiac poem proposes a cure for the love Ovid teaches in
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#17327718723737874-497: The character of a unified city-state (as opposed to a number of separate hilltop settlements) until c. 625 BC. Roman tradition relates that the Order of Knights was founded by Romulus, who supposedly established a cavalry regiment of 300 men called the Celeres ("Swift Squadron") to act as his personal escort, with each of the three Roman "tribes" (actually voting constituencies) supplying 100 horses. This cavalry regiment
8001-424: The chief financial officers (also called procuratores Augusti ) of the imperial provinces, and the deputy financial officers of senatorial provinces. At Rome, equestrians filled numerous senior administrative posts such as the emperor's secretaries of state (from the time of Claudius, e.g. correspondence and treasury) and the praefecti annonae (director of grain supplies). In the military, equestrians provided
8128-484: The common people of the provinces, as unscrupulous publicani often sought to maximise their profit by demanding a much higher rates of tax than originally set by the government. The provincial governors whose duty it was to curb illegal demands were often bribed into acquiescence by the publicani . The system also led to political conflict between equites publicani and the majority of their fellow- equites , especially senators, who as large landowners wanted to minimise
8255-487: The consuls (one of whom was his own father) not to engage the enemy, Manlius could not resist accepting a personal challenge from the commander of the Tusculan cavalry, which his squadron encountered while on reconnaissance. There ensued a fiercely contested joust with the opposing squadrons as spectators. Manlius won, spearing his adversary after the latter was thrown by his horse. But when the triumphant young man presented
8382-487: The consuls, the Senate had become a permanent body of around 300 life peers who, as largely former Roman magistrates , boasted enormous experience and influence. At the same time, the political unification of the Latin nation, under Roman rule after 338 BC, gave Rome a populous regional base from which to launch its wars of aggression against its neighbours. The gruelling contest for Italian hegemony that Rome fought against
8509-464: The consuls; and the three decurions that led each squadron ( turma ) of legionary cavalry (a total of 30 decurions per legion). As their name implies, equites were liable to cavalry service in the legion of the mid-republic. They originally provided a legion's entire cavalry contingent, although from an early stage (probably from c. 400 and not later than c. 300 BC), when equestrian numbers had become insufficient, large numbers of young men from
8636-567: The death of the emperor prompted Ovid to change the dedication to honor Germanicus . Ovid uses direct inquiry of gods and scholarly research to talk about the calendar and regularly calls himself a vates , a seer. He also seems to emphasize unsavory, popular traditions of the festivals, imbuing the poem with a popular, plebeian flavor, which some have interpreted as subversive to the Augustan moral legislation. While this poem has always been invaluable to students of Roman religion and culture for
8763-476: The elegiac Tristia , a series of poems expressing the poet's despair in exile and advocating his return to Rome, are dated to AD 9–12. The Ibis , an elegiac curse poem attacking an unnamed adversary, may also be dated to this period. The Epistulae ex Ponto , a series of letters to friends in Rome asking them to effect his return, are thought to be his last compositions, with the first three books published in AD 13 and
8890-618: The elegiac genre. About a hundred elegiac lines survive from this poem on beauty treatments for women's faces, which seems to parody serious didactic poetry. The poem says that women should concern themselves first with manners and then prescribes several compounds for facial treatments before breaking off. The style is not unlike the shorter Hellenistic didactic works of Nicander and Aratus . Si quis in hoc artem populo non novit amandi, hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet. The Ars Amatoria
9017-466: The emperor for forgiveness. Book 3 in 14 poems focuses on Ovid's life in Tomis. The opening poem describes his book's arrival in Rome to find Ovid's works banned. Poems 10, 12, and 13 focus on the seasons spent in Tomis, 9 on the origins of the place, and 2, 3, and 11 his emotional distress and longing for home. The final poem is again an apology for his work. The fourth book has ten poems addressed mostly to friends. Poem 1 expresses his love of poetry and
9144-471: The first 14 poems of the collection. The first five-book collection of the Amores , a series of erotic poems addressed to a lover, Corinna, is thought to have been published in 16–15 BC; the surviving version, redacted to three books according to an epigram prefixed to the first book, is thought to have been published c. 8 –3 BC. Between the publications of the two editions of the Amores can be dated
9271-428: The first class of commoners were regularly volunteering for the service, which was considered more glamorous than the infantry. The cavalry role of equites dwindled after the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), as the number of equestrians became insufficient to provide the senior officers of the army and general cavalrymen as well. Equites became exclusively an officer-class, with the first class of commoners providing
9398-501: The first piece is an address by Ovid to his book about how it should act when it arrives in Rome. Poem 3 describes his final night in Rome, poems 2 and 10 Ovid's voyage to Tomis, 8 the betrayal of a friend, and 5 and 6 the loyalty of his friends and wife. In the final poem Ovid apologizes for the quality and tone of his book, a sentiment echoed throughout the collection. Book 2 consists of one long poem in which Ovid defends himself and his poetry, uses precedents to justify his work, and begs
9525-413: The first semester of the year, with each book dedicated to a different month of the Roman calendar (January to June). The project seems unprecedented in Roman literature. It seems that Ovid planned to cover the whole year, but was unable to finish because of his exile, although he did revise sections of the work at Tomis, and he claims at Trist. 2.549–52 that his work was interrupted after six books. Like
9652-507: The formation of the world, the ages of man , the flood , the story of Daphne 's rape by Apollo and Io 's by Jupiter. The second book opens with Phaethon and continues describing the love of Jupiter with Callisto and Europa . The third book focuses on the mythology of Thebes with the stories of Cadmus , Actaeon , and Pentheus . The fourth book focuses on three pairs of lovers: Pyramus and Thisbe , Salmacis and Hermaphroditus , and Perseus and Andromeda . The fifth book focuses on
9779-548: The founder of the Principate, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD) and his successors until 312. Senators' sons and further descendants technically retained equestrian rank unless and until they won a seat in the Senate. But Talbert argues that Augustus established the existing senatorial elite as a separate and superior order (ordo senatorius) to the equites for the first time. The evidence for this includes: A family's senatorial status depended not only on continuing to match
9906-640: The fourth book between AD 14 and 16. The exile poetry is particularly emotive and personal. In the Epistulae he claims friendship with the natives of Tomis (in the Tristia they are frightening barbarians) and to have written a poem in their language ( Ex Ponto , 4.13.19–20). Yet he pined for Rome – and for his third wife, addressing many poems to her. Some are also to the Emperor Augustus, yet others are to himself, to friends in Rome, and sometimes to
10033-475: The full spectrum of classical poetry. Ovid's use of Alexandrian epic, or elegiac couplets, shows his fusion of erotic and psychological style with traditional forms of epic. A concept drawn from the Metamorphoses is the idea of the white lie or pious fraud : "pia mendacia fraude". Six books in elegiacs survive of this second ambitious poem that Ovid was working on when he was exiled. The six books cover
10160-445: The governorship ( praefectus Augusti ) of the province of Egypt , which was considered the most prestigious of all the posts open to equites , often the culmination of a long and distinguished career serving the state. In addition, equites were appointed to the governorship ( procurator Augusti ) of some smaller provinces and sub-provinces e.g. Judaea , whose governor was subordinate to the governor of Syria . Equestrians were also
10287-435: The higher wealth qualification, but on their leading member holding a seat in the Senate. Failing either condition, the family would revert to ordinary knightly status. Although sons of sitting senators frequently won seats in the Senate, this was by no means guaranteed, as candidates often outnumbered the 20 seats available each year, leading to intense competition. As regards the equestrian order, Augustus apparently abolished
10414-432: The historical Sappho to Phaon , seems spurious (although referred to in Am. 2.18) because of its length, its lack of integration in the mythological theme, and its absence from Medieval manuscripts. The final letters (16–21) are paired compositions comprising a letter to a lover and a reply. Paris and Helen , Hero and Leander , and Acontius and Cydippe are the addressees of the paired letters. These are considered
10541-422: The imperial government. There was a clear division between jobs reserved for senators (the most senior) and those reserved for non-senatorial equites . But the career structure of both groups was broadly similar: a period of junior administrative posts in Rome or Roman Italy , followed by a period (normally a decade) of military service as a senior army officer, followed by senior administrative or military posts in
10668-510: The land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite and have intercourse with some stranger at least once in her life." Cyprus was famous for this forced sacred prostitution in the ancient world; this fame informed Ovid's tale of the Propoetides. Historian Stephanie Budin contends that this type of prostitution was a myth, and did not actually occur in Cyprus or anywhere else in the Near East and Mediterranean. This article relating to Greek mythology
10795-459: The late Republican era, the collection of most taxes was contracted out to private individuals or companies by competitive tender, with the contract for each province awarded to the publicanus who bid the highest advance to the state treasury on the estimated tax-take of the province. The publicanus would then attempt to recoup his advance, with the right to retain any surplus collected as his profit. This system frequently resulted in extortion from
10922-443: The later republican period, Roman senators and their offspring became an unofficial elite within the equestrian order. Under Augustus , the senatorial elite was given formal status (as the ordo senatorius ) with a higher wealth threshold (250,000 denarii , or the pay of 1,100 legionaries) and superior rank and privileges to ordinary equites . During the Principate, equites filled the senior administrative and military posts of
11049-412: The leader of his elegies from the poet, to Amor (Love or Cupid). This switch in focus from the triumphs of the poet, to the triumphs of love over people is the first of its kind for this genre of poetry. This Ovidian innovation can be summarized as the use of love as a metaphor for poetry. The books describe the many aspects of love and focus on the poet's relationship with a mistress called Corinna. Within
11176-465: The legionary cavalry, although they remained technically liable to such service throughout the Principate era (to 284 AD). They continued to supply the senior officers of the army throughout the Principate. With the exception of the purely hereditary patricians, the equites were originally defined by a property threshold. The rank was passed from father to son, although members of the order who at
11303-486: The legionary cavalry. From the earliest times and throughout the Republican period, Roman equites subscribed, in their role as Roman cavalrymen, to an ethos of personal heroism and glory. This was motivated by the desire to justify their privileged status to the lower classes that provided the infantry ranks, to enhance the renown of their family name, and to augment their chances of subsequent political advancement in
11430-535: The letters mentioned specifically in Ovid's description of the work at Am. 2.18.19–26 as safe from objection. The collection comprises a new type of generic composition without parallel in earlier literature. The first fourteen letters are thought to comprise the first published collection and are written by the heroines Penelope , Phyllis , Briseis , Phaedra , Oenone , Hypsipyle , Dido , Hermione , Deianeira , Ariadne , Canace , Medea , Laodamia , and Hypermnestra to their absent male lovers. Letter 15, from
11557-487: The metamorphoses in Greek and Roman mythology, from the emergence of the cosmos to the apotheosis of Julius Caesar . The stories follow each other in the telling of human beings transformed to new bodies: trees, rocks, animals, flowers, constellations , etc. Simultaneously, he worked on the Fasti , a six-book poem in elegiac couplets on the theme of the calendar of Roman festivals and astronomy. The composition of this poem
11684-422: The order. Imperial equites were thus divided into two tiers: a few thousand mainly Italian equites equo publico , members of the order eligible to hold the public offices reserved for the equites ; and a much larger group of wealthy Italians and provincials (estimated at 25,000 in the 2nd century) of equestrian status but outside the order. Equestrians could in turn be elevated to senatorial rank (e.g., Pliny
11811-457: The poem as a mere justification for something more personal. In exile, Ovid wrote two poetry collections, Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto , which illustrated his sadness and desolation. Being far from Rome, he had no access to libraries, and thus might have been forced to abandon his Fasti , a poem about the Roman calendar, of which only the first six books exist – January through June. He learned Sarmatian and Getic . The five books of
11938-461: The poems themselves, expressing loneliness and hope of recall from banishment or exile. The obscure causes of Ovid's exile have given rise to much speculation by scholars. The medieval texts that mention the exile offer no credible explanations: their statements seem incorrect interpretations drawn from the works of Ovid. Ovid himself wrote many references to his offense, giving obscure or contradictory clues. In 1923, scholar J. J. Hartman proposed
12065-459: The population's birth rate, were fresh in the Roman mind. Ovid's writing in the Ars Amatoria concerned the serious crime of adultery . He may have been banished for these works, which appeared subversive to the emperor's moral legislation. However, in view of the long time that elapsed between the publication of this work (1 BC) and the exile (AD 8), some authors suggest that Augustus used
12192-613: The premiere of his tragedy Medea , which was admired in antiquity but is no longer extant. Ovid's next poem, the Medicamina Faciei (a fragmentary work on women's beauty treatments), preceded the Ars Amatoria (the Art of Love ), a parody of didactic poetry and a three-book manual about seduction and intrigue, which has been dated to AD 2 (Books 1–2 would go back to 1 BC ). Ovid may identify this work in his exile poetry as
12319-624: The produce of their own landed estates but too small to conduct large-scale sea transportation. From this time onwards, senatorial families mostly invested their capital in land. All other equestrians remained free to invest their wealth, greatly increased by the growth of Rome's overseas empire after the Second Punic War, in large-scale commercial enterprises including mining and industry, as well as land. Equestrians became especially prominent in tax farming and, by 100 BC, owned virtually all tax-farming companies ( publicani ). During
12446-462: The provinces (especially the Balkan provinces) who displaced the Italian aristocrats in the top military posts, and under Diocletian (ruled 284–305) from the top civilian positions also. This effectively reduced the Italian aristocracy to an idle, but immensely wealthy, group of landowners. During the 4th century, the status of equites was debased to insignificance by excessive grants of the rank. At
12573-404: The provinces. Senators and equites formed a tiny elite of under 10,000 members who monopolised political, military and economic power in an empire of about 60 million inhabitants. During the 3rd century AD, power shifted from the Italian aristocracy to a class of equites who had earned their membership by distinguished military service, often rising from the ranks: career military officers from
12700-483: The quality of his poetry. The Epistulae ex Ponto is a collection in four books of further poetry from exile. The Epistulae are each addressed to a different friend and focus more desperately than the Tristia on securing his recall from exile. The poems mainly deal with requests for friends to speak on his behalf to members of the imperial family, discussions of writing with friends, and descriptions of life in exile. The first book has ten pieces in which Ovid describes
12827-417: The rank of equo privato , according all its members equo publico status. In addition, Augustus organised the order in a quasi-military fashion, with members enrolled into six turmae (notional cavalry squadrons). The order's governing body were the seviri ("Committee of Six"), composed of the "commanders" of the turmae . In an attempt to foster an esprit de corps amongst the equites , Augustus revived
12954-526: The reason for his exile was carmen et error – "a poem and a mistake", claiming that his crime was worse than murder, more harmful than poetry. The Emperor's grandchildren, Julia the Younger and Agrippa Postumus (the latter adopted by him), were also banished around the same time. Julia's husband, Lucius Aemilius Paullus , was put to death for a conspiracy against Augustus , a conspiracy of which Ovid potentially knew. The Julian marriage laws of 18 BC , which promoted monogamous marriage to increase
13081-401: The regular quinquennial (every five years) census no longer met the property requirement were usually removed from the order's rolls by the Roman censors. In the late republic, the property threshold stood at 50,000 denarii and was doubled to 100,000 by the emperor Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD) – roughly the equivalent to the annual salaries of 450 contemporary legionaries. In
13208-533: The republic (in contrast to equites equo publico ). However, due to a lack of evidence, the origins and definition of equo privato equites remain obscure. It is widely agreed that the 12 new centuriae were open to non-patricians. Thus, from this date if not earlier, not all equites were patricians. The patricians, as a closed hereditary caste, steadily diminished in numbers over the centuries, as families died out. Around 450 BC, there are some 50 patrician gentes (clans) recorded, whereas just 14 remained at
13335-407: The right shoulder was visible (as opposed to the broad stripe worn by senators. ) equites bore the title eques Romanus , were entitled to wear an anulus aureus (gold ring) on their left hand, and, from 67 BC, enjoyed privileged seats at games and public functions (just behind those reserved for senators). The Senate as a body was formed of sitting senators, whose number was held at around 600 by
13462-590: The same time the ranks of senators were swollen to over 4,000 by the establishment of the Byzantine Senate (a second senate in Constantinople ) and the tripling of the membership of both senates. The senatorial order of the 4th century was thus the equivalent of the equestrian order of the Principate. According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by its first king, Romulus , in 753 BC. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Rome did not acquire
13589-652: The second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome , ranking below the senatorial class . A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques ( Latin: [ˈɛ.kʷɛs] ). During the Roman Kingdom and the first century of the Roman Republic , legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians , who were expected to provide six centuriae (hundred) of cavalry (300 horses for each consular legion). Around 400 BC, 12 more centuriae of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians ( plebeians ). Around 300 BC
13716-465: The senatorial cursus honorum , or conventional career-path, which typically combined military and administrative posts. After an initial period of a few years in local government in their home regions as administrators (local aediles or duumviri ) or as priests ( augures ), equites were required to serve as military officers for about 10 years before they would be appointed to senior administrative or military posts. Equestrians exclusively provided
13843-438: The solace it brings; while 2 describes a triumph of Tiberius. Poems 3–5 are to friends, 7 a request for correspondence, and 10 an autobiography. The final book of the Tristia with 14 poems focuses on his wife and friends. Poems 4, 5, 11, and 14 are addressed to his wife, 2 and 3 are prayers to Augustus and Bacchus , 4 and 6 are to friends, 8 to an enemy. Poem 13 asks for letters, while 1 and 12 are apologies to his readers for
13970-521: The song of the Muses , which describes the rape of Proserpina . The sixth book is a collection of stories about the rivalry between gods and mortals, beginning with Arachne and ending with Philomela . The seventh book focuses on Medea , as well as Cephalus and Procris . The eighth book focuses on Daedalus ' flight, the Calydonian boar hunt, and the contrast between pious Baucis and Philemon and
14097-499: The sovereignty of the people, the Roman Republic was in reality a classic oligarchy , in which political power was monopolised by the richest social echelon. Probably by 300 BC, the centuriate organisation of the Roman citizen body for political purposes achieved the evolved form described by Polybius and Livy. The comitia centuriata was the most powerful people's assembly, as it promulgated Roman laws and annually elected
14224-519: The spoils to his father, the latter ordered his son's immediate execution for disobeying orders. "Orders of Manlius" ( Manliana imperia ) became a proverbial army term for orders that must on no account be disregarded. In 218 BC, the lex Claudia restricted the commercial activity of senators and their sons, on the grounds that it was incompatible with their status. Senators were prohibited from owning ships of greater capacity than 300 amphorae (about seven tonnes) – this being judged sufficient to carry
14351-471: The state of his health (10), his hopes, memories, and yearning for Rome (3, 6, 8), and his needs in exile (3). Book 2 contains impassioned requests to Germanicus (1 and 5) and various friends to speak on his behalf at Rome while he describes his despair and life in exile. Book 3 has nine poems in which Ovid addresses his wife (1) and various friends. It includes a telling of the story of Iphigenia in Tauris (2),
14478-412: The tax on land outside Italy ( tributum solis ), which was the main source of state revenue. This system was terminated by the first Roman emperor, Augustus (sole rule 30 BC – 14 AD), who transferred responsibility for tax collection from the publicani to provincial local authorities ( civitates peregrinae ). Although the latter also frequently employed private companies to collect their tax quotas, it
14605-539: The three canonical poets of Latin literature . The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists . Although Ovid enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, the emperor Augustus exiled him to Tomis , the capital of the newly-organised province of Moesia , on the Black Sea , where he remained for the last nine or ten years of his life. Ovid himself attributed his banishment to
14732-524: The time of Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome 48–44 BC), whose own Iulii clan was patrician. In contrast, the ranks of equites , although also hereditary (in the male line), were open to new entrants who met the property requirement and who satisfied the Roman censors that they were suitable for membership. As a consequence, patricians rapidly became only a small minority of the equestrian order. However, patricians retained political influence greatly out of proportion with their numbers. Until 172 BC, one of
14859-410: The time of Hadrian, a fourth militia was added for exceptionally gifted officers, commander of an ala milliaria (double-strength ala ). Each post was held for three to four years. Most of the top posts in the imperial administration were reserved for senators, who provided the governors of the larger provinces (except Egypt), the legati legionis (legion commanders) of all legions outside Egypt, and
14986-449: The traditional association of the aristocracy with horsemanship, the evidence for this view is the fact that, during the republic, six centuriae (voting constituencies) of equites in the comitia centuriata (electoral assembly) retained the names of the original six royal cavalry centuriae . These are very likely the " centuriae of patrician nobles" in the comitia mentioned by the lexicologist Sextus Pompeius Festus . If this view
15113-400: The two consuls elected each year had to be a patrician. In addition, patricians may have retained their original six centuriae , which gave them a third of the total voting-power of the equites , even though they constituted only a tiny minority of the order by 200 BC. Patricians also enjoyed official precedence, such as the right to speak first in senatorial debates, which were initiated by
15240-441: The various poems, several describe events in the relationship, thus presenting the reader with some vignettes and a loose narrative. Book 1 contains 15 poems. The first tells of Ovid's intention to write epic poetry, which is thwarted when Cupid steals a metrical foot from him, changing his work into love elegy. Poem 4 is didactic and describes principles that Ovid would develop in the Ars Amatoria . The fifth poem, describing
15367-427: The wealth of antiquarian material it preserves, it recently has been seen as one of Ovid's finest literary works and a unique contribution to Roman elegiac poetry. The Ibis is an elegiac poem in 644 lines, in which Ovid uses a dazzling array of mythic stories to curse and attack an enemy who is harming him in exile. At the beginning of the poem, Ovid claims that his poetry up to that point had been harmless, but now he
15494-425: The wicked Erysichthon . The ninth book focuses on Heracles and the incestuous Byblis . The tenth book focuses on stories of doomed love, such as Orpheus , who sings about Hyacinthus , as well as Pygmalion , Myrrha , and Adonis . The eleventh book compares the marriage of Peleus and Thetis with the love of Ceyx and Alcyone . The twelfth book moves from myth to history describing the exploits of Achilles ,
15621-505: Was already known by Virgil , by Herodotus and by Ovid himself in his Metamorphoses . Most scholars, however, oppose these hypotheses. One of the main arguments of these scholars is that Ovid would not let his Fasti remain unfinished, mainly because this poem meant his consecration as an imperial poet. Ovid died at Tomis in AD 17 or 18. It is thought that the Fasti , which he spent time revising, were published posthumously. The Heroides ("Heroines") or Epistulae Heroidum are
15748-430: Was assessed in an official census as meeting the property requirement of 100,000 denarii to use the title of eques and wear the narrow-striped tunic and gold ring. But such "property-qualified equites " were not apparently admitted to the ordo equester itself, but simply enjoyed equestrian status. Only those granted an equus publicus by the emperor (or who inherited the status from their fathers) were enrolled in
15875-412: Was in their own interests to curb extortion. During the imperial era, tax collectors were generally paid an agreed percentage of the amount collected. equites publicani became prominent in banking activities such as money-lending and money-changing. The official dress of equestrians was the tunica angusticlavia (narrow-striped tunic), worn underneath the toga , in such a manner that the stripe over
16002-563: Was interrupted by Ovid's exile, and it is thought that Ovid abandoned work on the piece in Tomis. It is probably in this period that the double letters (16–21) in the Heroides were composed, although there is some contention over their authorship. In AD 8, Ovid was banished to Tomis , on the Black Sea , by the exclusive intervention of the Emperor Augustus without any participation of the Senate or of any Roman judge . This event shaped all his following poetry. Ovid wrote that
16129-424: Was supposedly doubled in size to 600 men by King Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (traditional dates 616–578 BC). That the cavalry was increased to 600 during the regal era is plausible, as in the early republic the cavalry fielded remained 600-strong (two legions with 300 horses each). However, according to Livy, King Servius Tullius (traditional reign-dates 578–535 BC) established a further 12 centuriae of equites ,
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