The literature of exile engages with the reality of displacement in the ancient world that has particular contemporary resonance at present. People could be involuntarily exiled from their cities for political or legal reasons, but could also leave voluntarily to escape conditions they felt were intolerable. Roman literature has a number of strong tropes that are used to explore what it is like to be an exile, either by force or by choice, and the idea of exile is used to explore many ways of feeling alienated from the state. This subject has been the object of plenty of scholarly attention, but the current political climate makes this issue particularly resonant at present, as do debates around classics, diversity, whiteness and race.