P.Duk.inv. 314: Agathis, Strategos and Hipparches of the Arsinoite Nome
We present here a papyrus from the holdings of the Special Collections Library at Duke University. [1] P.Duk.inv. 314 is a petition sent by Theambesis, a wine-seller from Oxyrhyncha, to a strategos and hipparches; the subscription is dated to a seventh regnal year. An unfortunate tear in the papyrus has removed the name of the addressee, but not his striking title. Only one "strategos and hipparches" is attested in Ptolemaic Egypt, in P.Petr. III 31.1, a petition dated to 199/198 and addressed to Agathis, the strategos and hipparches of the Arsinoite nome. The other texts recovered from the same cartonnage as P.Duk.inv. 314 date from the early second century, and come from the Arsinoite. [2] On the basis of the unique title and the consistent dates and provenience of the other Duke texts that were recovered with P.Duk.inv. 314, we suggest that Agathis should be restored as the addressee of P.Duk.inv. 314; the seventh regnal year of the subscription falls under Epiphanes (199/198). The last decade of the third century and the first decade of the second are only sparsely represented by strategoi in the Arsinoite. Agathis appears to have been the successor to another strategos attested in the Duke collection. [3]
The papyrus
This large, pale tan papyrus survives almost intact. A rectangular piece roughly 8 x 4 cm. has been torn from the upper left corner of the papyrus. The first half of the first line has been completely removed, and the name of the addressee with it. The first half of the second line has suffered as well, but the tear runs directly through the middle of the letters, leaving the lower halves easily visible. Two circular holes in the papyrus, roughly 3 cm. in diameter, have damaged parts of lines 21-25. The upper margin is slightly over 3.5 cm., the left just over 1.5 cm., and the bottom 2.5 cm. The right margin is fairly uniform and just short of flush with the edge of the papyrus.
Four different hands appear on the papyrus. The principal hand,
responsible for the petition itself, occupies 39 lines of text. The second
hand, Agathis' own or that of a clerk in his office, is responsible
for the dated subscription (40-43), with which Agathis forwards the text to
Chairephanes, the epistates, summoning the parties involved. The third hand,
from Agathis' office, writes the forwarding address, "to
Chairephanes" (verso 43). The fourth hand is a simple entry-docket
that originates most likely from Agathis' office (verso 44). The first
hand flows in a swift, but very tidy, dark black ink along the fibres.
The first three lines of the petition seem to have been written with
exceptional care. Little remains of the first two, but the theta
and beta of Yeamb®!io! (2)
are carefully rounded. The nus in
ƒOnnÅfrio! Throughout the body of the text the scribe is somewhat more free, but
no less careful. Connecting strokes are widely employed, so that the
text appears to depend evenly from the headline (see especially
Pol¡mvno! 8;
toè d¢ 17;
toè aétoè 20). The initial letters
of lines are written with great care: note the deltas in lines 9
(¤p¡|dvka), 10
(dia!afoè!a), and 12
(doènai), the alphas in
lines 7 (aét¯n) and 33
(ŽjiÇ). All omegas exhibit
a single hoop. Connected alphas are open at the top and almost
graceful. As a result when alpha and iota or omega
and iota are joined by a connecting stroke, the two pairs look
very similar. Betas and thetas are neatly rounded
throughout (Yeamb®!io! 2;
BromÛou 5;
dielhluyñto!
17; fyeÛretai 32;
bohyeÛa! 38). The second hand,
fast and "cursive," is in a lighter, blackish ink. The
third runs quickly in large letters; the ink is very faded. The fourth
hand is written in a neat, blockish style.
In contrast to the great skill with which the script is executed,
the prose contains several peculiarities in syntax and style. See the
notes below on Ždikoum¡nh (4),
êp‹rxontñ! ... gnÅ!ei (10-11),
tokieÝ (15),
aétòn (19),
oék ... pl®you! (22-24),
¤nexur‹!anta (34-35).
The amount of the loan is small; 1264 drachmas are probably the
monetary equivalent four or five artabas of wheat. Prices are notoriously
difficult to assess and not many survive from the early second century.
[4]
The loan of wheat is also very small; the loan would have been of one
artaba and the repayment of one and a half artabas of wheat.
[5]
Heliodoros borrows the wheat when it would be most expensive on the market.
Repayment seems to have been scheduled for after the harvest, when wheat The rational basis for the awkward sum of 1264 is not immediately
evident. In the first place we do not know whether the loan is
toko!, that is with the interest
included in the capital sum, or whether the interest was to be paid in
addition to the capital sum. In this period the interest rate was 24% per
annum.
[7]
We know neither the original sum of the loan nor the portion of the 1264
drachmas that stood as interest or penalty. We also cannot be certain
that the loan was contracted on the first of Tybi. We can only guess at
the evidently vague circumstances of this transaction, which would have
made sense to all parties involved. It is important to note that in spite
of the small size of the transaction, the document shows Theambesis'
second and determined effort to recover her money and grain.
The title "strategos and hipparches" is attested only in
P.Duk.inv. 314 and P.Petr. III 31. Ptolemaic strategoi carry
only a limited set of additional titles. The strategia is not associated
with aulic titles in any formalized way until the second quarter of the
second century.
[8]
The only other title with which the post is regularly combined is
also non-military: õ ¤pÜ tÇn pro!ñdvn.
In the Arsinoite nome these are limited to a very few specific cases,
the earliest of which appears more than fifty years after Agathis' tenure.
[9]
The combination of the titles ßpp‹rxh!
¤p' ŽndrÇn and prò! t°i
!trathgÛai, always in that
order, has been noted previously.
[10]
The instances of the combination of the two titles are confined to a
single man, Ammonios, and to roughly the same period, ca. 118. If, in
fact, the titles "strategos" and
"prò! t°i !trathgÛai"
are interchangeable in the Thinite, whence come all the examples of the
combined titles, the posts certainly are not equivalent in the
Arsinoite.
[11]
There are only perhaps three close parallels from the Arsinoite.
P.Tebt. III.1 700.66-67 mentions a
EébÛou t`[oè prò! t°i !trathgÛai]
tetagm¡nou. The text is dated to 125/124, the year for which
Philinos is attested as strategos (P.Tebt. III.1 700.18-19,
97).
[12]
An Aristomachos is called tetagm¡no! prò!
t°i !trathgÛai in 225 (P.Gurob 2.7). In P.Tebt.
III.1 815 Fr. 10.5-7 (223/222) a petitioner refers to a complaint that he
has formally lodged with ƒA`f`y`o`[n]®`tvi
tÇi !trathgÇi kaÜ Z®nvni tÇi prò! tÇ`i [!]u`n`t‹gm`a`t`i` tetagm¡nvi
. Perhaps the reading of Zenon's title should be corrected to
tÇi prò! t°`i [!]trathgÛai tetagm¡nvi.
The Another, roughly contemporary Agathis is mentioned in P.Frankf.
6.2. F. Uebel argued that this Agathis, having charge of the
Herakleopolite or Oxyrhynchite nomes, not the Arsinoite, is not the same
as the Agathis as in P.Petr. III 31.
[17]
W. Clarysse and E. Lanciers have followed Uebel.
[18]
The following pieces of evidence may be added to their arguments.
P.Hib. I 33 is an apographê of sheep from
Rhoimeôtes, a Thracian in the troop of Aetos. The text is dated
with reasonable certainty to the second year of Euergetes' reign, 245.
It is probable that this Aetos is the same Aetos who commands a group of
Thracians in P.Frankf. 5.2, 10, 18. P.Frankf. 5 is likewise
an apographêof sheep, but it contains also a declaration
eÞ! tŒ lik‹. The mention of tsalt-tax
suggests that the seventh year, by which the document is dated, falls
before the late 220s, after which attestations of the salt-tax are very
rare.
[19] Given the solid identification of the Duke Agathis with the Agathis
in P.Petr. III 31, and the dissociation of both from the Agathis
in P.Frankf. 6, P.Duk.inv. 314 must be dated to the seventh year
of Epiphanes' reign (199/198), during which we know that Agathis held the
position of strategos of the Arsinoite (P.Petr. III 31).
[21]
His predecessor Aetos occupied the post in the third year of Epiphanes'
reign, 203/202.
[22]
His successor Ptolemaios began his long tenure of the strategia by the
thirteenth year of Epiphanes' reign, 193/192 (P.Athen. 8).
[23]
We do not know the precise limits of the three terms. But since Ptolemaios'
tenure lasted at least through 170 (BGU. III 1012) and perhaps as
late as 168/167, after which Demonax held the strategia (P.Erasm.
I 3), it may be wise not to extend Ptolemaios' career any earlier. It
is possible, therefore, that Agathis held the post of strategos until
194/193. The evidence, however, does not provide proof of these dates,
nor does it permit us to rule out the possibility of another, yet
unattested, strategos for the years between Agathis and Ptolemaios.
Special Collections
Library at Duke University,
"Duke Papyrus Archive,"
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/records/314.html>, 1997.
TEXT TRANSLATION
To Chairephanes. Send to us the accused. Year 7, Thoth 22.
Verso:
NOTES 2.
The form of the name Theambesis occurs elsewhere in the papyri only in
another text from the Duke collection: P.Duk.inv. 316, a letter in extremely
poor condition from the same Theambesis (there Thaembesis) to Arridaios the
epistates of Oxyrhyncha; see DPA
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/records/314.html>.1997.
Thabesis is attested in P.Oxy. VI 918.12, 22, 24 (II AD). For
Taambesis see P.Mich.. II 123.12.30 (45-47 AD). For
Taemb°! (genitive
Taemb¡ou!) see P.Hib.
I 106.6 (246/245), I 107.6 (244/243), SB. XII 10783.7 (ca. 246);
for genitive TaembeÛouw see
P.Tebt. III.2 834 fr. 3.68 (III/II); for dative
TambeÝti see CPR I
181.3 (II AD). Ambesis occurs in P.Tebt. I 90.2.5 (I), BGU.
IV 1061.12 (14), and more commonly in the Roman period: P.Congr.
XV 14.42 (41-48/9 AD), P.Corn. 21.99 (25 AD), P.Corn.
22.107 (I AD), 23 fr.A 2.34 (I AD), P.Mil.Congr. XVII p. 68/78
recto 2.8, verso 4.2 (30/31 AD), P.Princ. I 8.5.23 (27-32 AD),
I 10.2.7 (34 AD) I 10.6.2, 4 (34 AD), I 13.17.14 (ca. 35 AD), P.Turner
32.14 (ca. 201-211 AD), SB. I 5124.4.95 (193 AD).
3-4.
The nominative in -i! for
feminine occupational epithets is much more common with compounds of
-pvli!. Only one other
(-)kaphlÛ! is attested:
P.Fay. 12.23 (ca. 103). On the genitive in
-io! with
-pvli! see Sosin, (n. 3)
146 note to 6-7; H. -J. Drexhage, "Die Komposita mit
-pÅlh! und
-pr‹th! im hellenistischen
Ägypten," MBAH 10 (1991) 1-17.
4.
Note the departure from the more standard formula,
"Ždikoèmai . . . ."
Theambesis begins with the participle
Ždikoum¡nh instead of the more
usual finite verb. The introduction with a participle is uncommon in the
Ptolemaic period and later, but not unparalleled: P.Erasm. 3.7 (166),
P.Mert. I 5.3 (149-135), P.Oxy. XVII 2133.6 (III AD),
PSI. IV 399.2 (244/243) P.Tebt. III.2 952.4 (ca. 155),
P.Tor.Choach. 4.3 (111), 5A 6 (110), 5B 7 (110), SB. XVI
12305.6 (II), XVIII 13256.2 (268-246/230-221), O.Bodl. I 371.3 (?).
On the formulaic Ždikoèmai see
A. Di Bitonto, "Frammenti di petizioni del periodo tolemaico,"
Aegyptus 56 (1976) 109-143, esp. 116.
4-16.
The syntax is choppy. The genitive absolute
êp‹rxontñ! moi aétoè ¤n gnÅ!ei
(10-11) is awkward. êp‹rxontÛ . .
. aétÒ would follow more smoothly, in agreement with
aétÒ (12). The sense, however,
is perfectly clear.
11.
For the designation ¤n gnÅ!ei,
for someone who is an acquaintance, see P.Col. IV 74.9 (248):
tÇi Žde]lfÇi ¤n gnÅ! 14.
e (¦tou!): the subscription is
dated to Thoth 22 of the seventh year. Heliodoros failed to pay for the
second time at the end of Pharmouthi, year 5, nearly eighteen months
earlier. It is safe, therefore, to conjecture that Theambesis' first
petition to Agathis was sent in the fifth year (201/200) or the sixth
(200/199), and that Agathis' tenure of the strategia may have run for at
least three years, through the fifth, sixth an seventh years of Epiphanes'
reign, 201/200-199/198.
15.
The verb tokÛzv does not occur
without prefix elsewhere in the papyri. A prefixed form occurs only once:
¤jetñki!en, BGU. VI
1246.24 (III), governing no direct object. The noun
tñko! gives rise only to the
causal tokÛzv. The form here,
tokieÝ, is the future indicative
active of tokÛzv, but improperly
used. TokÛzv always means
"to lend X at interest," not "to pay interest on X."
The meaning here, however, is transparent: to pay back the capital and the
accrued interest.
19.
A gaunakes is a valuable, heavy and somewhat uncommon garment. The
voiced and unvoiced initial letter is in free exchange. Gaunakes:
P.Cair.Zen. IV 59539 B 4 (ca. 258), P.Cair.Zen. IV 59598.1
(III), P.Lond. VII 2141.3, 55 (III), P.Zen.Pestm. 51.28 (257);
kaunakes: P.Cair.Zen. I 59048.3 (257?), P.Hib. I
121.11 (251-249), PSI. VI 605.1 (III), PSI. VI 678.10 (III),
P.Mich.. XVIII 778.24 (193/192-). The reiteration of the subject,
aétòn, is awkward. The reading
is somewhat difficult, but no other reading seems to satisfy the space and
the visible traces of ink. Perhaps the redundancy is due in part to the
clause's similarity in placement and form to that of line 12:
doènaÛ me aétÇi.
22-24.
As with the genitive absolute in 10-11, the genitive absolute,
oé]k ŽjÛou [önto]! toè pro`[gegra]m`m¡nou
[pl®]you!, is awkward. Grammar would prefer accusatives, in
agreement with the elliptical direct object of
komieÝtai. In both cases the
genitive absolute seems to be used paratactically as if to lend greater
circumstantial emphasis to the clause.
31.
With the shift to the plural,
¤poi®santo, Theambesis seems to imply collusion between
Chairephanes and Heliodoros, as if the former tacitly disregarded the
strategos' initial orders--of course it is also possible that Agathis never
acted on Theambesis' first petition.
32.
The gaunakesis not in a state of physical decay. The principal
plus the interest accruing on the loan is exceeding the market value of
the gaunakes; thus the garment is "going to waste" by
remaining on deposit (keÛmeno!).
We have some idea what the value of a gaunakeswas in the mid-third
century. P.Cair.Zen. III 59319 (249) is an account, one of whose
entries reads (2, 7): kaun‹kai
b p`o`(rfuroÝ?) mn(aÝ) 30
(draxmŒ!) 37 1/2. The garments apparently weigh an impressive 15
minas each, and are worth 18 3/4 drachmas of silver each. Another
roughly contemporary gaunakesis registered in a private account,
P.Hib. I 121.11 (251/250) as purchased for 4 drachmas of silver.
The difference between the two prices is too wide to allow any calculation
of the rate at which the interest is exceeding the worth of the
gaunakes. P.Mich.. XVIII 778.24 (193/192-) seems to give a
contemporary reference to the approximate worth of a kaunakes,
which would be very close to the amount of the loan:
ka `nak`hn (draxmŒ!) ƒAs
, 1200 drachmas. In addition to the reading, however, the context and
significance of this line is not clear. Still, it seems safe to assume
that the value of the gaunakes, if it ever equalled the amount of
the loan, would quickly have failed to keep pace with the accruing interest.
34.
The rhetoric of a second petition is closely paralleled in BGU.
VIII 1856 (I). There a landlord excuses his failure to remit taxes to the
crown on the grounds that a delinquent tenant has not paid him. He notes
that Artemidoros the meridarches has been asked to secure the
payment from the tenant once already (11-14) and requests a second, more
forceful, notification (16-19):
ŽjiÇ ¤Œn faÛnhtai gr‹c[a]i t[Çi aétÇi] ƒArtemidÅrvi ¤pistref¡!teron t¯n [prjin] parŒ t°! progegramm¡nh! [sc. the tenant] !u!t®!a!ya[i eÞ!
tŒ] ¤n ¤moÜ ba!ilik‹ ("I ask you please to write to the same Artemidoros more forcefully, that he remit the payment from the aforementioned to the crown on my behalf"). The adverb ¤pi!tref¡!teron is used elsewhere by petitioners who seek redress for the second time: UPZ I 24.24 (162), 51.21 (161). If an earlier petition lay behind the request to arraign two thugs in P.Mil.Congr. XIV pg. 34.15-16 (II) the text fails to mention it; the editors note "È invece insolito l'uso dell'avverbio ¤pi!tref¡!teron."
34-35. The accusative ¤nexur‹!anta refers to Chairephanes; the sense is "I ask that you write more forcefully to Chairephanes [sc. a letter, ordering], that he, seizing the security, send him [sc. Heliodoros] to you." The implicit command in the letter governs the accusative ¤nexur‹!anta and causes the shift from the dative (33). This use of the verb ¤nexur‹zv is not paralleled in the papyri, where the only subjects of the verb are those to whom the security is owed. So, for example, the subjects of ¤nexur‹zv in P.Cair.Zen. I 59077.2 (257), P.Enteux. 38.3-4 (221), 87.3, 6 (222), P.Hib. II 197.13, 15 (ca. 250). Here the verb is used simply to describe the act of seizure, which Chairephanes or anyone else can perform. The phrase is unusual, but clear.
42. The beginning toç! ¤[g]kal- seems clear; the rest of the line is hastily scrawled and difficult to read. The plural seems to indicate that Agathis has summoned both Heliodoros and Chairephanes. See the note on ¤poi®!anto (31) above. The year sign and the year date are ligatured so that it is difficult to tell where they divide; h (eighth year) is another possible reading, but two and one half years seems too long for Theambesis to have waited.
44. The phrase eÞ! Žn‹gnv!in occurs elsewhere only at UPZ I 14.125-126, 139 (158), where it is directed to the dioiketes. See also P.Tebt. I 61, B 4-5 of 118/117: p`a`r`[epigegraf¡n]ai ƒArxÛbion tòn dioikht¯n ¤pÜ t°! ŽnagnÅ[!]e`[v!] | t°! ka[t]Œ [fæ]l`l`[on ge]vmetrÛa!.
[[FOOTNOTES]] 1All papyrological citations follow J. F. Oates et al.,
Checklist of Editions of Greek and
Latin Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets, in Duke University, Special
Collections Library, "Duke Papyrus Archive" [hereafter DPA],
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html>, 1997
[in print see idem, BASP suppl. 7 (1992)]. All dates are
BCE unless otherwise noted. We have benefited from discussions of this
text in the past with Klaus Maresch, Dieter Hagedorn, Peter van Minnen
and Zola Packman. We are grateful also to Kent Rigsby for comments and
criticisms, and to Maxwell Watman and Rachael A. Thomas.
2
The papyrus was acquired in 1984, along with ten other pieces (P.Duk.inv.
313, 315-323). For acquisition information see DPA,
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/ac-quisitions.html:gt;.
1997. Digital scans and catalogue records may be found on the DPA,
<http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus>, 1997. P.Duk.inv. 313
has been published by W. H. Willis, "Comoedia Dukiana," GRBS
32 (1991) 331-353. Willis (333) dated the Comoedia Dukiana to the late
third or early second century and rightly suspected that the other pieces
were roughly contemporary; the date of P.Duk.inv. 314 is consistent with
this date. To Willis' comments on the group we can add that P.Duk.inv. 316,
317 (both in extremely poor shape) and perhaps 318 mention Ptolemaios,
the strategos of the Arsinoite, who seems to have succeeded Agathis--earliest
attestation is at P.Athen. 8 of 193/192 (PP I 312); for the
date see L. Mooren, "Notes concernant quelques stratèges
ptolémaïques," AncSoc 1 (1970) 9-24, esp. 12. So
three, possibly four, of the eleven texts may have come from the office of
the strategos.
3
J. D. Sosin, "P.Duk.inv. 677: Aetos, from Arsinoite Strategos to
Eponymous Priest," ZPE 116 (1997) 141-146.
4
There is a list of prices in the appendices to K. Maresch, Bronze und
Silber: Papyrologische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Währung im
ptolemäischen und ršmischen Ägypten bis zum 2. Jahrhundert n.
Chr., Pap.Colon. XXV, 181ff. Only one price for wheat survives
from the first decade of the second century: P.Köln V 217.
Maresch gives value ratios for the monetary expressions on page 17; in
"book" drachmas (Rechendr.) in this period 1200 drachmas equals
1 Alexandrian tetradrachm.
5
The interest on loans in kind is 50% in the Ptolemaic period, regardless
of the amount or duration of the loan. See P. Pestman, "Loans Bearing
No Interest?," JJP 16-17 (1971) 7-29, esp. 9-14; N. Lewis,
"The Meaning of sçn ²miolÛ& and
Kindred Expressions in Loan Contracts," TAPA 76 (1945) 126-139;
see also P.Dion. p. 183.
6
See Pestman (n. 5) 9, n. 9.
7
For tokow meaning that "interest
is included in the capital sum," see Pestman, (n. 5) 7-29. The
basic work on loans is H.-A. Rupprecht, Untersuchungen zum Darlehen
im Recht der graeco-aegyptischen Papyri der Ptolemäerzeit, (Munich
1967) [= Münchener Beiträge 51], 73-90, esp. 74 n. 7.
See also idem, Kleine Einführung in die Papyruskunde, (Darmstadt
1994) 118-121. Compare also CPR XVIII 14, 16, and 24, on which
see also the introduction 45-46.
8
L. Mooren, La hiérarchie de cour ptolémaïque,
(Leuven 1977) 17-38; for an illustration of the phenomenon, the outdated H.
Henne, "Sur la titulature aulique des stratèges de nomes à
l'époque ptolémaïque," REA 42 (1940) 172-186
is still useful; cf. L. Mooren, The Aulic Titulature in Ptolemaic Egypt:
Introduction and Prosopography, (Brussels 1975) 98-107 #67-87 for the
Arsinoite.
9
Sarapion (PP I 327): P.Tebt. III.2 924 (144); Phanias
(PP I 340): P.Tebt. I 61b 363 (140/139); Phanias:
P.Tebt. I 72d 359 (140/139); [Phanias]: P.Tebt. III.2 959
(140); Phanias: P.Tebt. III.1 785.1-2 (138); Phanias: P.Tebt.
I 61b 46 (137/136); Apollonios (PP I 222 = I 937): P.Tebt.
III.1 802.5-7 (135); Apollonios: P.Amh. II 35.1-2 (132); Lysanias
(PP I 277): I.Fay. I 71 = SB. V 8888 (95). See also
Philinos (PP I 341): P.Tebt. III.1 700.18-19, 97 (125/124),
strategos and grammateus of the [... ]; Eirenaios (PP I 250):
P.Tebt. III.1 791 (117/116) epistates and grammateus of the
katoikoi hippeis and strategos; Ptolemaios (PP I 319): I.Fay.
I 13.3-5 = SB. V 7787 (42) strategos and exegetes of the Arsinoite.
10
L. Mooren, "On the Jurisdiction of the Nome Strategoi in Ptolemaic
Egypt," Congr. XVII 3.1217-1225, 1223.
11
See PSI. III 166-174 and PP I 210 as cited by Mooren (n. 10)
1223 n. 40. For a carrier of the title in Philae see I.Philae 320.
13 (116); see also L. Mooren, "The Strategos Athenaios, his Subordinate
Nestor, and the Administrative Organization of the Southern Thebaid,"
Cd'É 55 (1980) 262-270.
12
Mooren, (n. 10) 1222, does note that Eubios' post must be subordinate to
the strategia.
13
There may be two further instances in the Enteuxis papyri: in P.Enteux.
73.9-10 the petitioner asks the king to
pro!t‹jai Diof‹nei tÇi [!trathgÇi gr‹cai ca.
? ] | tetagm¡nvi ¤n t°i YemÛ!tou
merÛdi; the entire right half of the papyrus is lost and its
original dimensions cannot be deduced, but perhaps we should restore
[!trathgÇi gr‹cai X tÇi prò! t°i
!trathgÛai] | tetagm¡nvi. This restoration may bear directly
on P.Enteux. 63.10, [ c ? teta]g`m¡nvi
êpò Diof‹nou! prò! t°i strathgÛai. The editor notes "on
peut hésiter entre teta]gm¡nvi
et lelei]mm¡nvi . . . mais, à
vrai dire, la lettre mutilée ressemble un peu plus à un
m." U. Wilcken, ArchPap
10 (1932) 246, and C. C. Edgar, JEA 19 (1933) 108-109, 109,
independently restored katalelei]mm¡nvi.
On the strength of the restoration in P.Enteux. 73.9-10 above we
suggest that the reading of the editio princeps should be restored,
but certainty is impossible. Equally unexplained are the two occurrences
of the title diej‹gvn tŒ katŒ
t¯n !trathgÛan: P.Tebt. I 72b.25-26
(diej‹gvn tŒ katŒ t¯n !trathgÛan kaÜ
tŒ! pro!ñdou!;114/113), III.1 790.1 (II).
14
It is generally agreed that the military functions of the nome strategoi
dissolved in the second and first centuries. There are, however, a few
isolated cases in which the strategos seems to play a military role:
Mooren (n. 10) 1222-1225. For the moment the most we can say about
Agathis' unique title is that it may point to his inclusion among those
few cases.
15
PP I 837 = VIII 837; see. P.Petr. II 38a, III 34. For the
later dating of these texts see M. Hombert and C. Préaux,
"Recherches sur le prosangelma a l'époque
ptolémaïque," Cd'É 17 (1942) 259-286, 264,
274; L. Criscuolo, "Richerche sul komogrammateus,"
Aegyptus 58 (1978) 3-101, 82 n. 2; W. Clarysse and E. Lanciers,
"Currency and the Dating of Demotic and Greek Papyri from the
Ptolemaic Period," AncSoc 20 (1989) 117-132, 126 n. 31.
16
The worth of the ox leaves some doubt whether the seventh regnal year
falls under Epiphanes (199/198) or Philometor (175/174) but the former
date is secured on prosopographical grounds: Clarysse and Lanciers (n. 15)
125-127. On the change from a silver standard to bronze see Maresch (n. 4)
18-20, 21-51, 58-61.
17
F. Uebel, Die Kleruchen Ägyptens unter den ersten sechs
Ptolemäern, (Berlin 1968) 138-139 n. 3; cf. G. Mussies,
"Supplément à la liste des stratèges des
nomes égyptiens de H. Henne," Pap.Lugd.Bat. XIV, 13-46,
16 #23.
18
Clarysse and Lanciers (n. 15) 125-127.
19
On the dates of the salt-tax see W. Clarysse and D. J. Thompson,
"The Salt-Tax Rate Once Again," CdÉ 70 (1995)
223-229, O.Vleem. p. 35-36, P.Brookl. 32; O.Ashm.Shelt.
1, with bibliography since F. Uebel, "Die Frühptolemäische
Salzsteuer," Congr. XI 325-368. There are only two
second-century attestations of the salt-tax: P. van Minnen, "Taking
Stock," BASP 31 (1994) 89-99, 95 (151/150 or 140/139), with
note on P.Tebt. III.2 880 (181/180 or 157/156).
P.dem.Berl.Eleph. I 13537 (217) and O.Vleem. 25 (219) appear
to be the latest third-century attestations. Argumentation on these
grounds, however, ought to remain tentative until the appearance of W.
Clarysse and D. J. Thompson's study of the Ptolemaic census, mentioned by
van Minnen 89.
20
P.Cair.Zen. IV 59656.10 (III), P.Frankf. 5.2, 10, 18, verso
1, P.Frankf. 6.1, verso 1, PSI. I 64.1 (I?), Tarusinas
P.Lond.VII 2098, 2 (III). On Thracian onomastics see V. I. Velkov
and A. Fol, "Les Thraces en Égypte gréco-romaine,"
Studia Thracica 4 (Sofia 1977); J. Bingen, "Le Thraces en
Égypte ptolémaique," Pulpudeva 4 (1980) 72-79.
The name does become common in the sixth century AD in the Oxyrhynchite.
21
See note on line 14 below.
22
Sosin, (n. 3) 142-143.
23
Mooren, (n. 2) 9-12; Sosin (n. 3) 142-143.
24
The significance of P.Cair.Zen. IV 59539b (ca. 258) is unclear in this regard.
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Please see our page with contact information if you have any comments or questions about the Duke Papyrus Archive.The situation
Theambesis petitions Agathis, the strategos of the Arsinoite nome, for
redress in the matter of a wrong done her by Heliodoros son of Bromios.
Theambesis lent 1264 drachmas of bronze and 1 1/2 artabas of grain to
Heliodoros on the condition that he pay back the loan with interest on the
bronze at the end of three months. When the time was up Heliodoros did
not return the money and grain, but offered a heavy coat as security
instead, promising to return with the payment in one month. His failure
to do so prompted Theambesis to ask the strategos to refer the matter to
Chairephanes, the epistates. Chairephanes and Heliodoros paid Theambesis
little attention, so she asks Agathis again to be more stern with
Chairephanes and to resolve her problem once and for all.
The loan
The loan in this text was made in Tybi of the fifth year of Epiphanes
(ii 9 - iii 8, 200) and lasted until Phamenoth 30 (v 9). The loan was
extended for a month, to Pharmouthi 30 (vi 8). The loan anticipates the
harvest. By Tybi (February) the nature of the harvest would be evident
and by May the crop would have been harvested. Perhaps in this case
another month was needed to have the wheat threshed or processed and thus
the loan was extended against the security of Heliodoros' heavy cloak.
Agathis strategos and hipparches
The date
p>In P.Petr. III 31 Sentheus son of Sochotes,
[15]
royal farmer and village-scribe of Lysimachis complains that an ox of his
was killed on the royal road. W. Clarysse has read 4 1/2 lines that had not
been transcribed in the initial publication. These lines reveal that
Sentheus claimed that the ox was worth 8000 drachmas, an amount that could
only have been measured in bronze; this means that the seventh year in
which the events took place fell after ca. 210 and the change from a
silver standard to a bronze standard. So the text, and with it Agathis'
term as strategos of the Arsinoite, was re-dated to 199/198, the seventh
year of Epiphanes' reign.
[16]
P.Duk.inv. 314
31.7 x 13.5 cm.
xi 3, 200 BCE
Arsinoite
Tafel II
[ƒAgayÛdi !tra]thgÇi kaÜ
ßpp‹rxhi parŒ
To Agathis strategos and hipparches from Theambesis, daughter of Onnophris, wine-seller. Being
wronged by Heliodoros son of Bromios, one of those who inhabit, as I do, Oxyrhyncha of the Polemon
division, I submitted a memorandum to you in order to make clear to you that, since he was an
acquaintance of mine, I gave him by hand 1264 drachmas of bronze and 1 1/2 artabas of wheat in the
fifth year, in Tybi, on the condition that he pay me the interest on the bronze until Phamenoth 30
of the same year, but when the time had elapsed, when demanded back by me, he gave me a gaunakes in
To Chairephanes. For reading.
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