Ovid died in 17 CE in Tomis, aged about 58. A Roman poet of the Augustan age, Publius Ovidius Naso came from Sulmo, east of Rome, and became famous for elegiac poems of love such as the Amores and the Ars Amatoria. His masterpiece, the Metamorphoses, is a long hexameter poem retelling Greek and Roman myths of transformation, and it became a major source of stories for later European art and literature. In 8 CE the emperor Augustus banished him to Tomis on the Black Sea, in present-day Romania, for reasons Ovid described only as a poem and a mistake. He wrote the Tristia and Letters from the Black Sea in exile and never saw Rome again.
Before and after
- 17 November 9 CEBirth of Vespasian
- 10 CEBirth of Linus
- 31 August 12 CEBirth of Caligula
- 19 August 14 CEDeath of Augustus
- 17 CEDeath of Ovid
- c. 20 CEBirth of Mark the Evangelist
- c. 20 CEConstruction of the Roman Theatre of Orange
- from 30 CE to 375 CEKushan Empire
- from c. 30 CE to 325 CEEarly Christianity
More in Art, literature & culture
- from c. 776 BCE to 500 CEAncient Olympic Games
- c. 520 BCECarving of the Behistun inscription
- c. 430s BCEHerodotus writes the Histories
- 2nd century BCEVenus de Milo
- c. 4 BCENativity of Jesus
- 325 CEFirst Council of Nicaea
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century.