Petition concerning theft of donkeys and maltreatment by village police TM 12260Karanis, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, province of Egyptreign of Claudius (rather than Nero[?]) (41-68 A.D.)

[…] […] […] […] in the night […] of Pharmouthi of the current […] (year?) of Tiberius (?) Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, some persons in the manner of robbers dug through the stable of our donkeys and, having got inside, drove off my two full-grown white donkeys, valued at 290 drachmas. Concerning these I submitted to Pankrates, the chief of police of Karanis, a memorandum, and together with him, having loaded another donkey with water and provisions, we set out on another (donkey?), tracking the culprits, whence we found that their route had gone into the district of Bacchias and back again into the desert. But Pasion, the chief of police of Bacchias, and the men at the gate prevented us, when we were already about to catch the culprits, at their own place; they detained me and the chief of police of Karanis, and having broken our water jars and snatched away our helmets (?), they held us in confinement for three days so that we could not arrest the culprits. Then, having carried off our two cloaks and the loaves and a sheepskin and two fodder bags (?), they also maltreated me with blows, and when the village scribe and the elders spoke, they compelled them to release us. I ask to receive help from you.