The village community of Takona in the Oxyrhynchite nome, represented by Ioannes and Nilas, nominates Aurelius Anouphios, acting through his father Theodoros, as their nomikarios for the 12th and 13th indictions. They promise him an annual salary of 26 gold solidi besides the customary subsidy, in return for handling the village's dealings with the public authorities. Written at Oxyrhynchus in AD 473.
In English machine translation
[recto]
† In the year after the consulship of Flavius Marcianus, the most illustrious, and of the one to be announced, Pachon 14, in the 11th indiction, at the beginning of the 12th, in the city of the Oxyrhynchites.
The community of the inhabitants of the village of Takona in the Oxyrhynchite nome, through us, Ioannes son of Patbos and Nilas son of Serenos, who also undertake for the will of the other fellow villagers, to Aurelius Anouphios son of Theodoros, through you, his father Theodoros son of Megalos also called Didymos, from the city of the Oxyrhynchites, nomikarios, greetings. Since the cycle [...] that we should name the nomikarios according to the proportion falling upon our village, having come together and agreed with one mind, we have named you, the aforesaid Anouphios, through your father Theodoros, for the twelfth and thirteenth indictions, to the same post and charge of nomikarios, on condition that you remain and obey in the same duty of nomikarios and in no way abandon it; and it was agreed and resolved that we shall provide you each year, as stated, for the twelfth and thirteenth indictions, by way of wages, apart from the so-called subsidy (epikouria), 26 gold solidi, so that you may answer to the public authorities and do whatever pertains to the nomikarios and render every account on our behalf according to the share falling to us, and in no way abandon it. And for your security we have made this nomination for you, which is valid, written in a single copy, and in answer to the formal question we have assented. † We, Aurelii Ioannes son of Patbos and Neilas son of Serenos, the aforesaid, also undertaking for the will of the other fellow villagers, have made the nomination of the nomikarios, and everything written herein is agreed by us as stated above. I, Aurelius Germanos son of Ioannes, having been asked, wrote on their behalf since they do not know letters.
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[verso]
† Nomination of the nomikarios of the inhabitants of the village of Takona.
A nomikarios was a village official responsible for liaising with authorities on public obligations; the term has no exact English equivalent. The passage on the 'cycle' is damaged and its sense uncertain.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Nomination of a Nomicarius). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.