Ovid and the Domus Augusta about the confiscation of the property of the condemned had reached by
..,Ovidwillhavekepthispropertyandincome.^36
Beyondthat,astotherealcircumstanceswhichattendedhiminexile,and
therealextentofactualcommunicationsbetweenhimandRome,wehave
no‘‘evidence’’externaltotheTristiaandEpistulae ex Pontothemselves.What
wehaveinsteadisthepoeticevocationofapersonaldisaster,andequallya
seriesofpoeticevocationsofappealsmadetopersonsinRomeinthehope
ofgettinghisexileended—alongwithrepresentationsofpublicevents,of
publicceremonials,oftheassumptionofofficebyconsuls,andofpersonal
relationshipsatthecentreofpower,inRomeitself.Areal‘‘history’’ofre-
lationsandcommunicationsbetweenOvidandpersonsinRomecannotbe
written.Wemaysuppose,forinstance,thatthepoemsoftheyears..to
wereindeedactuallycarriedtoRome,thoughbywhomwedonotknow;
andwerereadthere,thoughagainwedonotknowbywhom.Butallthat
thepoemspresent,asregardssuchcommunicationsis,forinstance,anantici-
patoryportrayalofthejourneyofhis‘‘book’’(liber)toRomeanditsreception
there(Tr.,);orapoemwritteninthepersonofthebookitselfasitrecords
its(prospective)touroftheForum,thePalatine,andthenearestpartofthe
CampusMartius(Tr.,).Wecannotevenbesurethatpoemswhichrepre-
sentthemselvesasdirectedtowell-placedintermediariestointercedewith
theultimateholderofpowerwereinrealitydeliveredtothosepersons.
Atthesametime,thepoemsare,withoutqualification,evidenceforthe
transmissionofnewsfromRometotheouterfringesoftheEmpire.Ovid
maymisleadhisreadersintoforgettingthatTomoi,farfrombeing‘‘Getic,’’
wasalong-establishedGreekcity,whichwillhavehadmuchthesamediplo-
maticrelationstogovernorsandemperorsasanyother;andequallyhiscon-
tinuedpersonalcontactswithRomansociety,presumablytransmittedbylet-
ters carried by messengers, may have kept him more precisely up-to-date
thanmighthavebeenexpectedofsomeonelivingontheshoreoftheBlack
Sea.Inthatsenseheprovidessimultaneouslybothan‘‘insider’s’’andapro-
vincial‘‘outsider’s’’view,orrepresentation,ofthemarchofeventsinRome.
Butinformationaboutthoseeventsdoesreachhim:abouttriumphs,about
whowillholdtheconsulship,aboutthedeathanddeificationofAugustus.
Insomewayshispoeticrecreationsofthesedistantevents,happeninginan
urban context which is intensely familiar, are actually more important for
thehistorianthanmereeyewitnessaccounts.For,firstly,theyarethework
ofanextremelywellplacedloyalist(orauthorofloyalistexpressions),whose
.Tr.,–;,,;,,–;,.