In the year 8 AD, Ovid is exiled to Tomis on the Black Sea by Emperor Augustus for unknown reasons, to the edge of the civilized world, in a desolate area where no one speaks Latin, and he will not leave until his death in 17 AD. He begins to write desperate letters – which we would today call "open letters" – and sends them to Rome for publication. They are carefully crafted poetically, the style is polished, and they have only one aim: to win public opinion in Rome in his favor; unsuccessfully, as we know. Nevertheless, the letters are moving documents of early exile literature. They were read throughout the Middle Ages and have shaped the modern consciousness of Europe. The new introduction by Munich classical philologist Niklas Holzberg and the new, particularly detailed notes on the countless verses.