Letter from Lysanias to Theophilos reproaching him for absconding from trial TM 1957probably Philadelpheia, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, EgyptJuly 4, 248 B.C.

[recto] Lysanias to Theophilos, greeting. I think you are not unaware of our zeal and goodwill toward you, and how from the beginning we have stood up for you. When we saw you being falsely accused by Demeas, and how the members of the association (?) were working together to have you unjustly condemned, and when Alketas my brother, who had stood surety for you, was harassed, both he and his friends, under a written bond to produce you for trial within five days or to pay the sum claimed, you lost heart so far as even to depart without us. Even if you wished to sail down anyway, would we not have supplied you with provisions and sent you back upstream with advisers […] against your opponents and the members of the association? For we would have given you arguments that would have made your opponents howl. So even now, if you can yourself, freeing yourself of worry, make a petition (for it was not suitable for us to write), and we have heard that you are able to obtain orders for them to be punished. Know then that Demeas has petitioned Phanias against Alketas, saying that having undertaken under bond to produce Theophilos for trial he does not produce him, and that Phanias has written to Eperatos to seize the crops of Alketas until he comes to the count and hears the case. So try to get there before Phanias sails up, sailing up ahead of him. Otherwise, in your absence he will be condemned and Alketas will risk paying the 300 drachmas. If possible, obtain an order; if not, sail up yourself, so that both you and Alketas may be released and it may not happen that, since you are not produced at the trial, Alketas pays the sum claimed, which is written for you above. Please come quickly. Farewell. Year 38, Pachon 14. [verso] To Theophilos. From the people of Epistratos.