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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 21869

Petition to the prefect concerning fraudulent registration of slaves TM 21869Oxyrhynchos

The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 2 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →

Petition from Aurelius Theoninus alias Aphynchis of Oxyrhynchus to the acting prefect of Egypt, Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, about slaves inherited by his mother. He alleges that his great-uncle Syros had fraudulently registered the children of the family's slave Thaesis as his own, and that after his mother's death the uncle's heirs were now claiming them.

In English machine translation

[recto] To Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, vir perfectissimus, acting prefect, from Aurelius Theoninus also called Aphynchis, son of Dioskoros and of his mother Taaphynchis, from the city of Oxyrhynchus. Those who are ready to do wrong by the craft of unjust contrivance your vigorous and in all things sleepless providence not only renders without any profit but also subjects to the penalties laid down by the laws. Since such a thing has been attempted against me, I take refuge with your manliness, confident that I shall obtain the rights that belong to me, my lord prefect. The facts of the matter are as follows. There came to our mother Taaphynchis by inheritance from her mother Thatres, daughter of Apollonios, a female slave Thaesis, born of a house-born slave Taaphynchis. Having registered this slave in the household census for the 9th year of the deified Alexander's reign, she held ownership and possession of her in her own power. But once, when making inquiry about house-sites and searching the documents in the local public record offices, she found that a fraud had been committed. For she saw that her maternal uncle Syros, son of Apollonios, and his wife had registered […] the children born of Thaesis, Apollonios and Harseis, and had alienated the ownership and title, which was not […] nor proper, but rather […] to carry off what belonged to others as their own. […] of the laographoi the truth […] not keeping silent about this fraud […] before Titinius Clodianus, vir perfectissimus, and as long as she was alive the ownership of Harseis and Apollonios and their earnings were undisputed, that is, not acknowledging […] My mother having died […] months ago […] the heirs of the aforementioned […] new proofs concerning the slaves […] ever the persons inherited […] was […] […] I take refuge […] […] [verso] […]

The date is inferred from the addressee, Mussius Aemilianus, acting prefect around AD 258-259; the census of year 9 of Severus Alexander is that of AD 229/30. The latter half of the text is badly damaged and the restorations are uncertain.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Petition concerning Ownership of Slaves). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.

DDbDP-text Full record →

p.oxy.12.1468

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · Oxyrhynchos

[r] Λουκίῳ Μουσσίῳ Αἰμιλιανῷ τῷ διασημοτάτῳ διέποντι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν παρὰ Αὐρηλίου Θεωνείνου τοῦ καὶ Ἀφύνχιος Διοσκόρου μητρὸς Τααφύνχιος ἀπʼ Ὀξυρύγχων πόλεως. τοῖς κακουργεῖν προχείρως ἔχουσιν τέχνῃ οὐ δικαίας ἐπινοίας πρὸς τῷ μηδὲν ὄφελος ἔχειν ἔτι καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν νόμων ὡρισμένοι…