born in 43 bc, ovid (publius ovidius naso) was sulmona's most illustrious son. not much survives there to remind you of his presence, however, apart from a corso ovidio, a 20th-century statue of him in piazza xx settembre and, just outside the town, a ruin traditionally known as ovid's villa.
known as oneof the greatest poets of classical rome, his subjects included love (ars amatoria) and mythology (metamorphoses). in ad 8 he was banished into exile at the black sea, the far edge of the roman empire, after being implicated in a scandalof adultery with julia, the granddaughter of emperor augustus.
ovid continued to write of his hardships, and died in exile in ad 17.