talked with Ovid in his native tongue, i.e. Latin, which was in fact akin to the GetoDacian language, and, in general, with the Thracian language, much more than are –
nowadays – Italian and Romanian.
A Latin historian from the sixth century, i.e. the Goth Iordanes, – who, in his
Getica, intentionally confused the Goths with the Getae – wrote that they “grecis
poene consimiles” (were almost equal to the Greeks) in terms of culture and
civilization (Getica, 23).
Although Ovid judged and rated the Getae and the Sarmatians only through the
agency of the customs, mores and lifestyle of his native city, i.e. Rome, the same
poet held to thank them publicly for their hospitality by the means of his verses
written in the “Getic tongue”. He had to learn it in order to communicate with the
locals, i.e. with the northern Thracian tribes, and – according to his own testimony –
he forgot his native language, and introduced words from their language even in his
poems written in Latin. “Ille ego Romanus vates, ignoscite, Musae/ Sarmatico
cogor plurima more loqui. En pudet et fateor, iam desuetudine longa / vix subeunt
ipsi verba Latina mihi. Nec dubito quin sint et in hoc non pauca libello barbara:
non hominis culpa, sed ista loci” (Tristia, V, 7, 55–60) (Wheeler 1939) (I’m the
Roman bard-pardon, ye Muses! – am forced to utter most things in Sarmatian
fashion. Lo! I am ashamed to confess it; now from long disuse Latin words with
difficulty occur even to me!).
For such verses, poet Ovid received from the Geto-Dacians a “velata corona”
(crown of laurels), imposed by the “publicus favor” (the favour of the public) of
Tomis (cf. Pont. IV, Epist. XIII); on this occasion he recited some special verses
dedicated to this unique event both from his life and from Tomitae’ lives (Dura ˘
2011).
What was Ovid’s perception of the Tomitae, among whom he wrote his work?
According to the poet, in “. . .Tomitane regionis” (the land of the Tomitae) there
was a “mixed” population made up of “Graecosque Getasque” (Wheeler 1939)
(Greeks and Getae), who, of course, had their own history, literature, poets etc.
In Ovid’s perception, the language of the Tomitae, i.e. the native Getae, had –
according to the poet’s confession – a decisive linguistic impact on his book,
“Tristia”, because it had been infested by “non paca barbara” (by not a few
barbarisms). But here is what poet Ovid tells us in his Tristia: “. . . Nec dubito
quin sint et in hoc non panca libello barbara: non hominis culpa, sed ista loci”
(Wheeler 1939) (And I doubt not there are even in this book not a few barbarisms,
not the fault of the man (of the author, n.n.), but of the place).
The poet himself confesses, explicitly, in the verses written in the Getic language, that he had adapted himself to the Tomitan environment, recte to the Getic
culture and civilization – of Thracian origin, that had been ruling in Dobrogea for
over a millennium a. Chr. n. Moreover, he read his verses in the public meetings of
the Geto-Dacians, who proved to be sensitive and receptive to his poetic message,
although their bags (which they were carrying) were full of arrows. “Haec ubi non
patria perlegi scripta Camena,/ Venit et ad digitos ultima charta meos;/ et caput et
plenas omnes movere pharetras / Et longum Getico murmur in ore fuit” (When I
read all this, written not in the language of my native Muse, and the last page felt to
4 About “Publius Ovidius Naso” ({ 17 p. Chr. n.) and His. . .
71
nowadays – Italian and Romanian.
A Latin historian from the sixth century, i.e. the Goth Iordanes, – who, in his
Getica, intentionally confused the Goths with the Getae – wrote that they “grecis
poene consimiles” (were almost equal to the Greeks) in terms of culture and
civilization (Getica, 23).
Although Ovid judged and rated the Getae and the Sarmatians only through the
agency of the customs, mores and lifestyle of his native city, i.e. Rome, the same
poet held to thank them publicly for their hospitality by the means of his verses
written in the “Getic tongue”. He had to learn it in order to communicate with the
locals, i.e. with the northern Thracian tribes, and – according to his own testimony –
he forgot his native language, and introduced words from their language even in his
poems written in Latin. “Ille ego Romanus vates, ignoscite, Musae/ Sarmatico
cogor plurima more loqui. En pudet et fateor, iam desuetudine longa / vix subeunt
ipsi verba Latina mihi. Nec dubito quin sint et in hoc non pauca libello barbara:
non hominis culpa, sed ista loci” (Tristia, V, 7, 55–60) (Wheeler 1939) (I’m the
Roman bard-pardon, ye Muses! – am forced to utter most things in Sarmatian
fashion. Lo! I am ashamed to confess it; now from long disuse Latin words with
difficulty occur even to me!).
For such verses, poet Ovid received from the Geto-Dacians a “velata corona”
(crown of laurels), imposed by the “publicus favor” (the favour of the public) of
Tomis (cf. Pont. IV, Epist. XIII); on this occasion he recited some special verses
dedicated to this unique event both from his life and from Tomitae’ lives (Dura ˘
2011).
What was Ovid’s perception of the Tomitae, among whom he wrote his work?
According to the poet, in “. . .Tomitane regionis” (the land of the Tomitae) there
was a “mixed” population made up of “Graecosque Getasque” (Wheeler 1939)
(Greeks and Getae), who, of course, had their own history, literature, poets etc.
In Ovid’s perception, the language of the Tomitae, i.e. the native Getae, had –
according to the poet’s confession – a decisive linguistic impact on his book,
“Tristia”, because it had been infested by “non paca barbara” (by not a few
barbarisms). But here is what poet Ovid tells us in his Tristia: “. . . Nec dubito
quin sint et in hoc non panca libello barbara: non hominis culpa, sed ista loci”
(Wheeler 1939) (And I doubt not there are even in this book not a few barbarisms,
not the fault of the man (of the author, n.n.), but of the place).
The poet himself confesses, explicitly, in the verses written in the Getic language, that he had adapted himself to the Tomitan environment, recte to the Getic
culture and civilization – of Thracian origin, that had been ruling in Dobrogea for
over a millennium a. Chr. n. Moreover, he read his verses in the public meetings of
the Geto-Dacians, who proved to be sensitive and receptive to his poetic message,
although their bags (which they were carrying) were full of arrows. “Haec ubi non
patria perlegi scripta Camena,/ Venit et ad digitos ultima charta meos;/ et caput et
plenas omnes movere pharetras / Et longum Getico murmur in ore fuit” (When I
read all this, written not in the language of my native Muse, and the last page felt to
4 About “Publius Ovidius Naso” ({ 17 p. Chr. n.) and His. . .
71