Epistulae ex Ponto

[1] It is a collection of letters describing Ovid's exile in Tomis (modern-day Constanța) written in elegiac couplets and addressed to his wife and friends.

Ovid's hopes rested largely on the genial character of Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of the emperor Tiberius, who is addressed or mentioned in several places.

[7] Augustus and Livia feature heavily in the collection, as they do in Tristia, as absolute authorities over Ovid's hopes of his recalling to Rome or change of location for his relegation.

Ovid acknowledges the Empress Livia as a potential ally to return home, describing her like a vestal virgin – pudicarum Vesta matrum[8] 'Vesta of chaste matrons'.

[10] The collection ends on a sombre note, with a letter addressed to an unnamed enemy, accused of attempting to harm an already ruined Ovid.