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Petition to the prefect against appointment as court advocate TM 10112Arsinoites

The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 2 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →

A petition to the prefect of Egypt from a former chief priest of Arsinoe, son of Didas (?), who complains that the town council elected him in his absence as an advocate attached to the prefect's court, though he was a farmer, barely literate and had never held civic office. Having missed the deadline for appeal, he had protested to the council through its prytanis Athenaios and now asks the prefect to intervene.

In English machine translation

To […]bius, the most eminent prefect of Egypt, from […] son of Didas (?), former chief priest of the city of the Arsinoites. That the advocates appointed by the councils to attend your spotless court, lord prefect, ought both to be men of learning and to come from the council class has not escaped your Excellency. Yet while I was living in […] and occupied with farming, certain persons in the most excellent council of the city of the Arsinoites elected me in my absence to the office of advocate, although I am unsuited and scarcely know letters and have never held civic office. And after […] days, having gone up to the metropolis and learned of this, I was not even able to lodge an appeal, because the customary days, for one must tell the truth before […], had passed; but using a written notice I petitioned […] the most excellent council through the prytanis in office, Athenaios, […] former agoranomos, former gymnasiarch, councillor, informing them that […] I am […], so that correcting themselves […] what had been done by them, [they might appoint] a suitable person in my place […] they have […]. For this reason I have taken refuge with your Magnificence […] those here who are able […] to be summoned by your Magnificence […] I shall attend your spotless court […]. I have submitted this. [Year …], Phaophi […] […] […]

The 'logographoi' were advocates or pleaders nominated by city councils to serve at the prefect's court, a compulsory civic duty. The councils (boulai) place the text in the 3rd or early 4th century AD, though no date is given in the records.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Petition to the Praefect). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.

DDbDP-text Full record →

p.amh.2.82

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · Arsinoites

[…]βειωι τῶι διασημοτάτωι ἐπάρχωι Αἰγύπτου παρὰ[…] Διδαροῦ ἀρχιερατεύσαντος τῆς Ἀρσινοιτῶν πόλεως. ὅτι τοὺς λογογράφους τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν βουλῶν χειροτονουμένους εἰς τὸ προσεδρεύειν τῷ σῷ ἀχράντῳ δικαστηρίῳ, ἡγεμὼν δέσποτα, καὶ γραμμάτων ἐπιστήμονας εἶναι προσήκει καὶ ἐκ τῆς βουλείας …