Why did Ovid study rhetoric in Rome?

Ovid’s father sent him to Rome to study rhetoric because he intended for his son to pursue an official public career. In ancient Rome, rhetoric was considered the crown of education and was essential for those seeking to enter public life, such as serving in the law courts or the forum.1234

Although Ovid was recognized as having the potential to become a skilled orator, he ultimately neglected his rhetorical studies to focus on writing poetry. Despite this shift in focus, the training he received in rhetoric—particularly exercises in character drawing known as ethopoiea—significantly influenced his later literary works, including his dramatic monologues in the Heroides and the narrative style of the Metamorphoses.125