Petition
Petition of a woman, concerning a dispute over an empty building lot, in the course of which some violence arose
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 22198
Petition of Aurelia Eirene about an assault and a disputed empty lot TM 22198UnknownMay 5, 381 A.D.
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 3 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
The end of a petition by a woman, Aurelia Eirene, complaining that a man attacked and threatened to kill her, and that she was saved only by the help of her fellow villager Pamoun. She asks the official to bring the offenders before him, punish them according to the laws, and secure her possession of an empty lot that belongs to her. It is dated 5 May 381, and Aurelius Herakleides wrote it for her because she could not write.
In English machine translation
[… lines lost …]
[…] […]
[…] [saying to] my face through his own nose (?), wishing to deprive me of life, and if I had not obtained help from Pamoun my fellow villager,
long ago it would have reached my very life. For this reason, unable to endure the insults (?), I submit this to your diligence,
testifying to these very things and asking that they be brought before you and that the consequences in accordance with the laws be carried out against them, and that the possession and ownership of the empty lot belonging to me be preserved for me. Farewell.
In the year after the consulship of our masters Gratian
for the 5th time and Theodosius for the 1st time, the eternal Augusti, Pachon 10.
I, Aurelia Eirene, have submitted this. I, Aurelius Herakleides,
son of Apollonios, wrote on her behalf, since she is illiterate.
The word rendered 'insults' (libelloi, literally 'little books' or 'libels') is unusual here and its sense is uncertain, as is the phrase about the nose. The date is given by the year after the consulship of Gratian (5th) and Theodosius (1st).
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Petition). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.mich.18.793
[1] [… ? lines lost …] […]…[…]… […]λέγων εἰς πρόσωπόν μου διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ῥινὸς βουλόμενος μὲ τοῦ ζῆν ἀπαλλάξαι, καὶ εἰ μὴ βοηθείας τετυχήκειν ὑπὸ Παμοῦν ὁμοκωμήτου μου πάλαι ἂν εἰς ψυχήν μου ἔφθακεν. διὰ τοῦτο μὴ φέρουσα τοὺς λιβέλλους ἐπιδίδωμι τῇ σῇ ἐμμελείᾳ αὐτὰ ταῦτα μαρτυρομ…