Letter to servant Epagathus
Letter to Epagathus, censuring him for death of two pigs and ordering him to purchase lotus and to care for the olive trees.
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 10776
Letter from Gemellus to Epagathos about lost piglets, lotus and olive groves TM 10776Euhemeria13 Sept. 95 A.D. or 10 May 96 A.D.
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 letter from the landowner Lucius Bellenus Gemellus to his estate manager Epagathos, rebuking him for the loss of two piglets that died from being driven on foot, and ordering him to buy 20 artabas of lotus at Dionysias and to see to the flooding and watering of olive groves and plants. It dates to year 15 of Domitian, from Euhemeria in the Fayum.
In English machine translation
[recto]
Lucius Bellenus Gemellus to his own Epagathos, greetings.
I blame you greatly. You lost two piglets through the fatigue of the journey, though you have ten working animals in the village. Herakleides the donkey-driver shifted the blame, saying that you had told him to drive the piglets on foot. I gave you strict orders to stay at Dionysias for two days until you bought 20 artabas of lotus. They say the lotus at Dionysias is at 18 drachmas. Whatever you see the price to be, by all means buy the 20 artabas of lotus; consider it necessary. Press on with the flooding of all the olive groves, and assign a fresh(?) labourer to the flooding at the (plot) of Sentheus, and water the row of plants in the 'Prophet' plot. So do not do otherwise.
Farewell. Year 15 of Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus, month of Germanikeios [...]
[verso]
To his own Epagathos, from Lucius Bellenus Gemellus.
The day of the month is lost, so the date falls either in September AD 95 or in May AD 96, depending on which month was called Germanikeios. 'Lotus' here is a fodder or food crop, and 'Prophet' is apparently the name of a plot of land.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter from Gemellus to Epagathus). 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.111
[r] Λούκιος Βελλῆνος Γέμελλος Ἐπαγαθῶι τῶι ἰδίωι χαίρειν. μέμφομαί σε μεγάλως. ἀπώλεσας χοιρίδια δύο ἀπὸ τοῦ σκυλμοῦ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἔχων ἐν τῇ κώμῃ ἐργατικὰ κτήνη δέκα . Ἡρακλίδας ὁ ὀνηλάτης τὸ αἰτίωμα περιεποίησε λέγων ὅτι σὺ εἴρηκας πεζῶι τὰχοιρίδια ἐλάσαι. περισσὸν ἐνετειλάμην σοι ε…