The Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder will host a lecture titled, "Letters from the Wild, Wild East: A Roman Poet聮s Life on the Frontier" on Thursday, Nov. 16, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel on campus.
The talk is free and open to the public.
Peter Knox, CU professor and chair of the department of classics, will discuss the Roman poet Ovid聮s exile in the year A.D. 8 on the shores of the Black Sea in the city of Tomi, which Greek settlers founded in the sixth century B. C.
The discussion will explore what it was like to be living on the "frontier," and Knox will provide an overview of life in the Roman "limes," or border areas, using contemporary voices and testimony from the time through the letters of Roman soldiers.
Following Knox聮s presentation, CU-Boulder historians Phil DeLoria and Patricia Limerick will comment on the similarities and differences between the American West and this case study from the ancient world. DeLoria and Limerick are both experts on the American West.
For more information, call the Center of the American West at (303) 492-4879 or visit the center聮s Web site .