Relevant Rome

  Here is a snapshot of the great poet Ovid, who devoted his life to the art of poetry. Many of his works were preserved and are a rich addition to the corpus of surviving Roman literature. Publius Ovidius Naso, better known simply as Ovid, was born in Sulmo in 43 BC. Coincidentally, this was the year Octavian rose to singular power and was then known as Augustus. Since Ovid came from a wealthy family, he was educated in the traditional fashion. Even from a young age, his gift with words was very apparent. After concluding his education with a tour of Greek lands, he returned to Rome. He held some minor judicial offices, but soon left the world of politics to dedicate his life to the pursuit of poetry.  He wrote the Amores, some love poetry. He later wrote a second edition which was divided into three parts: Heroides, Ars Amatoria, and Remedia Amoris. This collection is thought to have been completed around AD 2. From AD 1 and onward, Ovid’s focus was mainly on the Metamorphoses , a

Book 12, the final book of Virgil’s Aeneid is a fitting ending to the ongoing battle between Aeneas and Turnus. Though the ending is heavy, it is also filled with hope. The book begins with Turnus speaking to King Latinus. Latinus is ready to cease fighting, but Turnus is angry that Latinus would even suggest surrender. He insists that the fighting continue. Turnus still believes he can defeat Aeneas. Then the queen gets involved. She loves Turnus and doesn’t want him to be harmed. She, too, begs him to cease fighting. This upsets Lavinia, which makes Turnus even more angry and eager for war with Aeneas. Turnus decides the best way to end the conflict quickly is to face Aeneas in one-on-one combat. He sends a messenger to Aeneas and prepares himself to fight. Aeneas also prepares to fight. At dawn, the two prepare to face each other in the fields outside the city. The Rutulians and Trojans position themselves to watch the fight. Meanwhile, Juno is watching all of this play out, a

  Book 11 takes us one step closer to the final battle between Turnus and Aeneas. Full of speeches and action sequences, it makes a great addition to the work as a whole. Book 11 begins with scenes of mourning. Many men were lost on both sides during the battle detailed in Book 10. Aeneas gives a moving speech over the body of Pallas and prepares him to be transported back to his father, Evander. Following this emotional send-off, envoys from Latium arrive. They are there to request a truce in order to properly bury their fallen men. Aeneas agrees to the truce, and tells them he would like the truce to last forever if only Turnus would allow it. Some of the groups from Latium agree and we get a glimpse into their dissatisfaction with Turnus, particularly from a man named Drances. After the truce is negotiated, the narrative cuts to Evander, who, upon receiving Pallas’ body, laments terribly and gives a great speech about his misery at outliving his own son. Following this very moving s