Letter from Sostratos to Zenon and Xenophon

Description

Sostratos writes that he is sending a copy of the letter which Sosibios has written to Zenodoros about the bee-hives and other matters and also a copy of the memorandum which he and Kleon had presented to Sosibios. If Ammonios is still refractory, he asks his correspondents to send him the bee-keepers and Rhodon with all the justificatory documents, in order that the case may be tried in his own district. Below is the letter of Sosibios, sending Zenodoros a copy of the memorandum and requesting him to see that the petitioneers obtain justice. Below this again is the memorandum from Kleon and Sostratos in which they state that they own a thousand bee-hives leased to various natives, some in the Herakleopolite and some in the Memphite nome. The latter hives had lately been transferred to the Herakleopolite nome without their permission and Ammonios the oikonomos had imprisoned the bee-keepers, doing much damage to the hives, though afterwards, on the intervention of Sostratos and through fear of Zenodoros, he had released the prisoners. Again he had arrested Rhodon the guard of the petitioners' hay, and in the absence of the guard most of the hay was carried off by the natives; and though he had promised to recover the price of it, he had not yet done so. Moreover, the petioners had hired a boat to carry the hay to Alexandria; owing to obstruction on the part of Ammonios' agents the boat had gone away empty; but all the same the owner claimed payment for hire. They therefore ask Sosibios to write to Ammonios to send the bee-keepers together with his own representative to the place where the petitioners are living in order that the case may be tried there.