Petition to the Exegetes of Alexandria

‘To Tiberius Claudius Cronius, exegetes of Alexandria, from Demetrius son of Aristomenes of the Hermopolite nome above Memphis. It happens that I, with my paternal uncles Dionysius and Demetrius the elder, both sons of Demetrius, in the 12th year of the deified Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, had a case decided by his highness the praefect Gaius Caecina Tuscus, when he was juridicus, wherein we and Philotera daughter of Dionysius were suing our creditor Musaeus son of Hermophilus, gymnasiarch, for an audit of the mortgage which he holds against us of 83¼ arurae, and for the rents which he had appropriated from them exceeding twice the capital sum apart from the further sum of 5,000 dr. in rents on which an embargo had been laid. He decided that we should repay the capital sum and recover the mortgage and that Musaeus should receive a discharge for the rents previously obtained. When in accordance with his minutes we approached Musaeus to give us a portion of the mortgage that we might sell it and thus repay to him the capital sum, since we have no means other than the mortgage, he refused, having grown covetous of it owing to its great yearly productivity, the rent being at the rate of 10 artabae of wheat per year. Not only that but he seized the rents of the 10th and 11th years which were lying with the cultivators under embargo in accordance with a letter of Tuscus, and he continues up to the present to enjoy the mortgage aforesaid by which he has profited to the extent of 5 talents in place of a capital sum of 4,800 dr. We have therefore been robbed on every side by this man, against whom we made numerous petitions and presented reports, which he scorned in virtue of his superior local power, and we served a summons upon him and his sons Hermophilus and Castor to go down to the assize, but his sons made light of it and did not appear; therefore we beg you to give a decision on all these points, so that we may obtain our rights from you and be relieved. ‘Demetrius son of Aristomenes and Philotera daughter of Dionysius, on behalf of whom her husband Eudemus was appointed a representative, citizens of Hermopolis, versus Musaeus son of Hermophilus their creditor and his sons Hermophilus and Castor re the restitution of the mortgage of 83 arurae and of the produce amounting to 5 talents exceeding the capital sum.’