Oath sworn by Diogenes son of Diogenes of Oxyrhynchus, newly appointed overseer of the public dikes of the Middle toparchy, addressed to the strategos Tiberius Claudius Herodes. He swears by Vespasian's Fortune to supervise dike work and water-guarding properly, pledging his listed property worth 3 talents 5,500 drachmas as security; dated 16 April AD 70 at Oxyrhynchus.
In English machine translation
To Tiberius Claudius Herodes, strategos of the Oxyrhynchite nome,
from Diogenes son of Diogenes son of Sarapion, of the inhabitants of the city of Oxyrhynchus, appointed by letter of Julius Lysimachus, who is in charge of the idios logos, as overseer of the public dikes of the Middle toparchy in place of Theogenes son of Theogenes, who has been released by the same Julius Lysimachus. I swear by the Fortune of the Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus and by the ancestral gods that I will take charge of the care of the dikes and with all diligence will make the men who have been or will be assigned to the work on them complete, each one, the naubia falling to him with the proper wooden measure, making the dumping of earth far from the dikes, at a distance of 18 cubits, so that the dikes may be completed and made watertight as is proper; and likewise that I will take the appropriate care of the water-guarding and will compel the men who will be assigned to carry out the proper tasks of the water-guarding […] each dike […] […] […] of the dike-overseership […] […] my […] of the administration (dioikesis) and of the idios logos, carrying out everything of the dike-overseership in the proper manner, my property, which is listed item by item below with the estimated valuation attached, being pledged as security, together with whatever I may acquire hereafter; and the itemized list of property belonging to me as of the present day is:
near the village of Senekeleu, from the kleros of Sosos and Agathon, 15 arouras of grain land: 1 talent; and from (the kleros of) Kapistoteles and Diophantos, from an overdue contract, 8 arouras: 2,500 drachmas; and I hold 2 talents 3,000 drachmas on the property of Sarapion and Ptolemaios, both sons of Sarapion, minors, formerly of their father and of Theon his brother. Total: 3 talents and 5,500 drachmas of silver. If I keep my oath may it be well with me, if I break it the opposite.
Year 2 of the Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus, Pharmouthi 21, Sebaste day.
A naubion was a unit of earthwork (a measured volume of soil) required for dike maintenance. The idios logos was the Roman office administering special revenues and confiscated property.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Oath of a Dike Overseer). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.