reason, connected with the
imperial family. _Tr._ ii. 207,

'Perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmen et error,
alterius facti culpa silenda mihi;
nam non sum tanti renovem ut tua vulnera, Caesar,
quem nimio plus est indoluisse semel.
Altera pars superest, qua turpi carmine factus
arguor obscaeni doctor adulterii.'

He was guilty of no crime of his own, but was banished for witnessing
the crime of another. Cf. _Tr._ iii. 5, 49,

'Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector,
peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.'

It is probable that the real reason[68] of Ovid's banishment was that
he was privy to a guilty intrigue between D. Silanus and Julia, the
grand-daughter of Augustus. Julia was banished in A.D. 9, and Tacitus
(_Ann._ iii. 24) tells us of the intrigue, for which Silanus (like
Ovid) suffered _relegatio_. His knowledge of the offence was betrayed
by friends and domestics. Cf. _Tr._ iv. 10, 101,

'Quid referam comitumque nefas famulosque nocentes?'

The date of his banishment is given _Tr._ iv. 10, 95,

'Postque meos ortus Pisaea vinctus oliva
abstulerat decies praemia victor equus,
cum maris Euxini positos ad laeva Tomitas
quaerere me laesi principis ira iubet.'

[Here an Olympiad is reckoned as five years.] His punishment was
_relegatio_, involving banishment to a fixed spot, but not
confiscation of property; _Tr._ ii. 135,

'Adde quod edictum, quamvis immite minaxque,
attamen in poenae nomine lene fuit;
quippe relegatus, non exul, dicor in illo,
privaque fortunae sunt ibi verba meae.'

In Tomi he spent the remaining years of his life, far from friends and
books; _Tr._ v. 12, 53,

'Non liber hic ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem,
verbaque significent quid mea norit, adest';

suffering from illness (_Tr._ iii. 3) and the climate, and fighting
against the barbarians; _Tr._ iv. 1, 71,

'Aspera militiae iuvenis certamina fugi,
nec nisi lusura movimus arma manu:
nunc senior gladioque latus scutoque sinistram,
canitiem galeae subicioque meam.'

On the other hand he learned the language of the people, and actually
wrote poems in it; _Tr._ v. 12, 57,

'Ipse mihi videor iam dedidicisse Latine:
nam didici Getice Sarmaticeque loqui.'

_Pont._ iv. 13, 19,

'A! pudet, et Getico scripsi sermone libellum,
structaque sunt nostris barbara verba modis,
et placui--gratare mihi--coepique poetae
inter inhumanos nomen haber