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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 219289

Greek translation of a prefect's letter condemning two soldiers for desertion TM 219289Mons Claudianus186 - 187

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 →

A Greek translation of a Latin letter from Pomponius Faustianus, prefect of Egypt, to Probus, reporting his judgement against two soldiers of a cohort, Julius Serenus and Creperius Donatus, who deserted their comrades and let themselves be overcome by a few weak, unarmed barbarians. The prefect orders the letter and his decision to be posted at the guard posts of the quarries as a warning to other soldiers.

In English machine translation

Copy of a Roman letter and of a decision, translated as far as possible. Pomponius Faustianus to his own Probus, greetings. I have taken proceedings against Julius Serenus, soldier of the same cohort, and Creperius Donatus, soldier of the same cohort, because they abandoned their fellow soldiers, and they themselves, though few, were subdued by barbarians who were weak and unarmed. For this reason I ordered that copies of these (?), together with my decision, be posted in the garrison posts of the quarries, so that the remaining fellow soldiers may be reminded. I thought that you should do this.

The text is a copy written at the quarry of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert, where military posts (praesidia) guarded the quarries; the Greek is clumsy and the scribe omitted and miswrote several letters. The word 'numerus' was deleted before 'of the same', so the unit is described as a cohort.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Translation of a Letter of the praefectus Aegypti). 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.bagnall.8

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · 186 - 187 · Mons Claudianus

ἀντίγραφον ἐπιστολῆς ῥωμαϊκῆς καὶ ἀποφάσεως μεθερμηνευθείσης κατὰ δυνατόν. Πωμπώνιος Φαυστιανὸς Πρόβωι τῷ ἰδίῳ χαίρειν. ἐπέστησα κατὰ Ἰουλίου Σερήνου στρατιώτου σπείρης τῆς αὐτῆς καὶ Κρεπερηίου Δονάτου στρατιώτου σπείρης τῆς αὐτῆς διὰ τὸ ἐνκαταλελοιπέναι αὐτοὺς τοὺς συστρατιώτας,…