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Letter from Nikias to Apollonios
Description
Apollonios had written to a certain Lysimachos, evidently a man of high rank, asking him to give his messengers some fruit trees for his or their plantations. As Lysimachos happened to have gone down to Alexandria, the letter was answered by his agent Nikias, who writes that he has shown the messengers round all the orchards and advised them to send a delegate to Lysimachos, who could give them a better supply from down the river. The messengers, however, preferred to take what they could get from Nikias, and he adds a list of the sorts which they actually took: fig-trees of six kinds, pomegranate, apricot, apple and eleven varieties of vine.
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
· Greek
Translations (1)
Nikias to Apollonios, greetings. You wrote to Lysimachos about the trees so that [mostly illegible word]. Yet Lysimachos happened to be in Alexandria, and after leading the men who came around the garden I explained that on our land it is not possible nor is it usual for there to be offsets – nor were they unaware of this – but that we send for them from the Arsinoite island, for there through labor [...] water was always at hand, and I thought it right to send one of your men to Lysimachos, for it was possible for them to get the offsets from the low-regions, but they said that it was sufficient for them if they could bring trees to their plantation from the ones which were available on our land. So I gave them whatever ones they wanted, an itemized list of which I have appended. Farewell. Year 28, Athyr 25. Chian fig-trees, wooly fig-trees, Lydian fig-trees, mild fig-trees, red fig-trees, fruit-bearing fig-trees; pipless pomegranate trees; spring-time apple-trees, and those which bear fruit twice a year; and vines with smoke-colored grapes, Cilician vines, Mendaian vines, Eudamideian vines, Maroneian vines, pumpkin-seed (?) vines, Phoenician vines, vines with smoke-colored grapes, Alexandrian vines, Boumastian vines, […]ermulian vines, Drimian vines. From Nikias to Apollonios concerning trees.
Connections
Cross-references (5)
- TM-Text 693 primary
- APIS-Text oxford-ipap.apis.516 tier-1
- DDbDP-Text p.cair.zen;1;59033 tier-1
- DDbDP-Text p.cair.zen.1.59033 tier-1
- HGV-Text 693 tier-1
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