Letter of Pisais
A letter from Pisais to Heracleus asking him to pay 12 drachmae to Cleon.
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 10774
Letter from Pisais to Herakleios asking for three staters to be paid to Kleon TM 10774Kasr el BanâtEarly first century
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 3 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
A private letter from Pisais to Herakleios urgently asking him to hand over to Kleon three staters (12 drachmas) owed through Seleukos, treating it as a loan, even if he must pawn his cloak, because Pisais needs to settle accounts with his father. It was found at Euhemeria in the Arsinoite nome and dates to the early first century AD.
In English machine translation
Pisais to Herakleios, greeting. Whenever you wish in an emergency to borrow anything from me, I do not hold you back for a moment; so now please give at once to Kleon the three staters which Seleukos told you to give me, considering that you are lending them to me, even if you have to pawn your cloak, because I have settled accounts with my father and he has entered me as owing a balance, and I want to get a receipt. For Seleukos has cheated me of them here, saying that you had put them down to your own account. So now please, considering that you are lending them to me, do not detain Kleon, and go along with Kleon and ask Saras for the 12 drachmas of [...]. Do not fail to do this.
Year 20, Pauni 25.
[verso]
To Herakleios.
A stater here is a four-drachma coin, so three staters equal the 12 drachmas mentioned later. The regnal year 20 is probably of Augustus or Tiberius, giving a date around 10 BC or AD 34.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter of Pisais). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.fay.109
[r] Πισάις Ἡρακλήῳ χαίρειν. ὅταν πρὸς ἀνάγκην θέλῃς παρʼ ἐμοῦ χρήσασθαί τι, εὐθύς σε οὐ κρατῶ, καὶ νῦν παρακληθεὶς τοὺς τρεῖς στατῆρας οὓς εἴρηκέ σοι Σέλευκος δοῦναί μοι ἤδη δὸς Κλέωνι, νομίσας ὅτι κιχρᾷς μοι αὐτούς, ἐάν σε δέῃ τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου θεῖναι ἐνέχυρον, ὅτι συνῆρμαι λόγον τ…