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Augustus heir to his viliole estate, he was not able, Onaccount of wealiness, to put his signature to the wili; a fallure, Whicli it is probable that he would have taliencare to obviate, had his dea th been premeditated. Hewas interred, at his own destre, near the tomb of
Ovid was born of an Equestrian family, at Sulmo, alown of the Peligni, on the aist of Marcii, in the Con- suis hip of Hirtius and Pansa. His fallierintεnded hi in for the bar: and after passing
through the usual coui se of instruction at Rome, he was sent to Athens, the emporium os learia ingueto complete his education. On his return to Rome, inobedience to the dessire of his fallidi , he en tered iapon theosfices of public life in the Forum, and declai med with great applause. But this was the esse et os paternat authori ty, not of choice: for, froni his earliest years, hedisCovered an extro me attachment to poetry; and no oner was his fallier dead, than, renouncing the bar, hudevoted himself entiret y to the culti vation of that Diacina ting ari, his propensi ty to which was invincible. His productions, ali Mitten ei ther in heroic or pentameterverse, are nUmel OUS, and on various subjedrs. It wili besse scient to mention them briesu. The Meroides consis of twenty-one Epi siles, ait whicli,
tiqui ty, to their lius bantis or lovers : such as Penelope to Jlysses, Dido to AEneas, Sappho to Phaon, dec. aeseComposition 8 are nervotis, animaled and elegant: theydiscover a high degree of poetic enthusiasin, but btend-ud wi h that lascivio is turn of thought, Whicli pel-
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The clegies on subjecis os love, particularly the Ars anui, or Ars Amatoria, though not ali uniform in ve sification, possest the sanae generat character, of warnithos passion, and luscious description, with the Episiles no
only the fit si 11κ now re main. The design of them wasto doliver an account of the Roman sestivals in overymonili of the year, with a description of the rites and
Ceremontes, as weli as the sacrifices on those occasions.
It is to be regretted, that, on a subject so interesting to curiosity, this valvabie work should not have been transmitted entire, for the information os succeeding times :but in the part whicli remains, me a re furnished with a beautii ut description of the ceremonial transactions in the Roman Calendar, frona the fit st of January to the end of June. The versification, as in ali the compositions of this author, is east and harmoni OUS. The most popular production of this poet is his Metamorphoses, not lesse e Xtraordinary for the nature of thesul edi, than for the admirabie art with whicli the wholeis conducted. The work is founded upon the traditions and theogony of the ancients, whicli consisted os variotis delached fabies. Those Ovid has not only in happi lyarranged, that they forna a coherent series of narratives, One vising out of another; but he describes the disserent changes with such an impossing plausibili ty, as to givea natural appearance to the most incredibie fictions.
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This ingenious product ion, hoWever persest it may appear, we are told by himself, had not received his last corrections when he was ordered into banishment. In the nis, the author imitates a poem of the samen a me, written by Callimachus. It is an invective against sonte person who publicly traduced his character at Rome, aster his banishment. A strong sensibility, indignation, and implacabie resentinent, are conspicuouathrough the whole. The Tri za were composed in his exile, in whicli, iliough his vivacity for ok him, he still retained a genius proli fic in versification. In these poems, as weli as in many episties to different persons, he bewails his unhappystuation, and deprecates in the strongest ternas the inexorabie displealare of Augustus. Severat other prodii Rions written by Ovid are no tost, and amongst them a tragedy called Medea, of whicli Quintilian expresses a high opinion. Ovidii Medea vide- Iur mihi Uiendere quantum vir ille prissiare potueris, ingenio suo temperare quam indulgere maluis et. Lib. X. C. I. It is a peculiarity in the productions of this author, that, on whatever he employs his pen, he eκhausis thesu est; not with any prolixity that fatigues the attention,
but by a quick succession os ne N ideas, equalty brilli antand apposite, osten eXpressed in antitheses. Vo id os obscenity in eXpression, but lascivio us in sentiment, he maybe laid rather to stimulate immorally the natural pactions, than to corrupi the imagination. No poet is more guide lin versification by the nature of his subjecto than Ovid. in common narrative, his ideas are expressed with almost
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colloquial simplicity ; but when his sancy glows with sentiment, or is anima ted by objects of grandeur, his style is proportionably elevated, and he rises to a pitch; of sublimity. No poliat in ancient history has excited such varietyps conjectures as the banishment of Ovid ; and after allthe efforis of different writers to elucidate the subject, thecause of this extraordinary transaction rem alias hitherio involved in obscuri ty. It may theres ore not be improper, in this place, to examine the foundation of the severat conjed iures which have been formed, and is they appearto be ulteri y inadmiss1ble, to attempt a solution of the question upon principies more Conformabie to probabili ty, and colantenanced by historical evidelice. The ostensibie reason assigned by Augustus for banishing Ovid, was his corrupting the Roman youth by lasiaci violis publications: hut it is evident, frona vario us passages in the poei's productions after this period, that theremas, bessides, s me secret reason, which would not admit
Perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmCI G error.
It appe ars fro in another passage in the fame work, that this inviolabie arcanum was something whicli Ovid hadseen, and, as he insinuates, through his own ignorance and missa he.
Cur aliquid Vidi R cur conscia lumina feci P- . Cur imprudenti cognita culpa mihi es 8 Ibid. εω εω ΘωInscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, pleritor: Peccatumque oculos es fabreisse meum. DE TRIs T. III. 5.
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CAESAR AUGUSTUS. 23 IIt seems there re to be a fact sussciently est ablislied, iliat Ovid had seen fomething of a very indecent nature,in whicli Augustus was concertaed. What this was, is the question . Some authors, Conceiving it to have beenos a Lind extrem ely atrocious, have gone so far as tosuppose, that it must have been an acto os criminalilybetween Augustus and his own daughter Julia, who, not-withstanding the strict attention pa id to her education byher Ather, hecame a Woman of the most infamous Cha racter; suspected os incontinence during her marriagemith Agrippa, but open ly profligate after her union withher nexi humand Tiberius. This supposition, however, resis enti rely upon conjecture, and is not only discredited by iis own improbabili ty, but by a yet more forcible argument. It is certa in that Julia was at this time in banishment for her scandalous lisse. She was about the sanae age with Tiberius, who was now forty-seven, and theybad not cohabited for many years. We know not eXadilythe year in whicli Augustus sent her into eXile, but wemay conclude with confiden ce, that it happened soon afterher separation froni Tiberius ; whose own interesst withthe emperor, as weli as that of his mollier Livia, could not fati of being exerted, is any suci, application was neces ary, towariis removing frona the capital a woman, vvlao by the notoriety of her prostitution reflected di iagrace tipon ali with whom sie was connected, ei ther hy blood or alliance. But no application frona Tiberius orliis mollier could be necessary, whcn we are as ured that Augustus even presented to the Senate a narrative respecting the in mous bellavi our of his data gliter, whichwas re ad by the Quaestor. He was so much assa amed ofher profligacy, that he for a long time declined ali com- pany, and had thoughts of putting her to death. She wasbanistaed to an istand on the coast os Campania for sive
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years; at the expiration of whicli period, she was removed to the continent, and the severity of her troatmenta litile mitiga ted ; but though frequent applications were made in her bellais by the people, Augustus never couldbe prevalled upon to permit her return. Other writers have conjectured, that, instead os Juli the daughter of Augustus, the person seen with him by Ovid may have been Julia his grand-daughter, Who in- heriled the victous disposition of her mollier, and was Onstat account likewise banisaed by Augustus. The epochos this lady's banishment it is impositble to ascertain ; and
there re no argument can be drawn stom that inurce toinvalidate the present conjecture. But Augustus had shewn the fame solicitude for her being trained up iri virtuous habiis, as he had done in respect of her mollier, though in both cases unusccesssully; and this considera tion, joined to the enormity of the supposed crime, and the great sensibility whicli Augustus had disco ered withregard to the infamy of his davgliter, stems sufficient toeXonerate his memory from so odious a Charge. Besides,
is it possibi: that he could have sent her into banistiment for the infamy of her prostitution, while supon the supposition of incest) she was in isti est of so important a secret, as that he himself had been more criminat withher than any other man in the empire t Some writers, giving a Wider scope to conjecture, have supposed the transaction to be of a nature stili more detestabie, and have even dragged Mec sonas the minister intoa participation of the crime. Fortunately, however, forthe reputation of this illustrious patron os polite learia ing,aβ weli as for that of the em peror, this crude conjecturermay bo refuted upon the eviderace of chron ology. The
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commencement of Ovid's exile happened in the ninibyear of the Christi an sera, and the death of Mecaenas, eight years besere that period. Between this and other calculations, we find a dis rence of three or four years; but allowing the ulmost latitude os variation, there intervened, froin the death of Μecaenas to the banishment of Ovid, a period os eleven years; an observation whicli fulty invalidates the conjecture abovementioned. Ηaving now refuted, as it is presumed, me opinions of different commentators on this subject, We shali proceedio offer a new conjecture, which seems to have a greater
Suetonius informs iis, that Augustus, in the lalter partos his life, contracted a victous inclination sor the enjoyment of yoting Virgins, who were procured sor him from ali paris, not only with the connivarice, but by the clandestine management of his consori Livia. It has rheres ore probably been with one of those victims that he was discovered by Ovid. Augustus had for many years affected a decency of bellavio ur, and he would there renatui atly be not a litile discopcerted at the unsea nable intrusion of the poet. That Ovid kne in not of Augustus 's being in the place, is beyond ali do tibi: and
Augustus's conscious esse of this circumstance, togetherwith the character of Ovid, would suggest an un favorabie suspicion of the motive which had brought the lalter thither. Abstracting frona the immorality of the em peror'sown Conduet, the incident might be regat ded as ludicrous, and certainly was more sit to excite the mam e than the indignation of the em peror. But the pui posse of Ovid's visit appe ars, from his own acknowledgement, to have
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Non equidem totam possum defendere culpam Sedparlem nostri criminis error habet. DE TR 1sΤ. LIB. III. ELEG. S.
xivat. This passion theres ore concurring with that whicli aros e seo in the interruption or dilappotniment of gratification, insta med the em peror's reseniment, and he resolve lon banishing to a distant country a man whom he COnsidereii as his rival, and whose presence, frona what hacthappened, he ne ver more Could en iure.
Augustus having determined on ther banishment of Ovid, could finit litile dissiculty in accommodating the ostensibie to the secret anil real cause of this resolution No argument to est ablisi the date os publication, cara bedrawn froin the order in whicli the various productions of Ovid are placed in the collection of his works : butreasoning frona probability, we should suppose that the Ars Amandi was written during the period of his yo ulla; and this seems to be confirmed by the solio ing passage in the second book of the Fosii
Certe ego vos habui faciles in amore minis; os ;Cum lusi numeris prima Duenta suis.
That many years mus: have elapsed since iis originalpublication, is evident from the subsequent lines in the second book of the Tristia :
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is Me jam pridem scripto peccavimus Nno.
Supplicium latitur non nova culpa novum. Carminaque edideram, cum te delicita notantem
Praeterii Ioties jure quietus eques. Ergo, quae juveni mihi non nocitura lulavi Scripta parum prudens, nunc nocuere seni q
could Augustus now punish a fauit, whicli, in his solemn capaci ty of Censor, he had so long and repeateilly over-looked λ The an wer is obvio us: in a production sopopular as me may be assured the Ars Amandi masamongst the Roman youth, it must itive pas Sed throughseverat editions in the coua se of some years ; and one of tho se coinciding with the fatal disco very, a Corded theemperor a specio us preterct for the e Xecution of his pur- posse. The severi ty exerci sed on this occasion, ho ver, when the poet was suddenly dri ven into eXile, Unaccom-
panted even by the pariner of his bed, who h ad heen his
Companion sor many years, was an adi so inconsistent with the usual moderation of Augustus, that we cannot
justly ascribe it to any other motive th9n personat resentinent; especialty as this arbitrary punishment of the author Could aras er no end of public utili ty, while theobnoxious production re mained to assedi, is it reatly everdid essentialty assedi, the morais of society. Is the sensibility of Augustus could not thences orth admit of any personat intercoui se with Ovid, or even of his livingwithin the limits of Italy, there V ould have been litile clanger frona the example, in sending into honorabie eXile, M illi every indulgence which could allevia te so distre Afula necessity, a man os respectabie rank in the state, v howas Charged ith no actuat offence against the laws, and whose genius, Mili ali iis indiscretion, did immortalhonor to his country. It may perhaps be urged, ibat,
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eonsidering the predicament in whicli Augustus sto od, hediscovered a sorbeat ance greater than might have been expected stom an absolute prince, in sparing the life of Ovid. It will readily be granted, that Ovid, in the fame
Circumstances, under any one of the four subsequentemperors, Would have expiated the incident with his hiood. Augustus, upon a lats occasion, had shown himself equalty sanguinary : for he put to deam, by the handos Varus, a poet os Parma, narata Cassius, on account
of having written sonae satirical verses against hi m. Bythat recent eXample, there re, and the power of pardon-ing, Whicli the emperor still retained, there Was lassicienthoid of the poei's secrest respecting the fatal transaction, whicli, is divulged to the worid, Augustus Would reprobate as a false and infamous libet, and punish me author accordingly. Ovid, on his pari, was sensibie, that, mouldhe dare to violate me important but tacit injunction, theimperial vengeance would reach him even on the stiores of the EuXine. It appears, however, stom a passage in the Ibas, whicli can apply to no other than Augustus, that Ovid was not sent into banishment destitute of pecuniary provision:
Di melius f quorum longe mihi maximus ille, mi nostras inopes noluit esse vias. Imic igiIur meriIas graIes, ubicumque licebit, Pro tam mansueto scriore semper agam.
What sum the emperor beslowed, for me support of abanishment which he was resolved should be perpetuat, it is impossibie to ascertain : but he had formerly been liberal to Ovid, as weli as to other poetS. Is we might haZard a conjecture, respecting the scene of the intrigue whicli occasioned ille banishment of Ovid, we stio uid placo it in *me recesi in the em peror 's