Will [180-192 AD]
Fragment from a will of Nilion that mentions some land and a house
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 22267
Will of Nilion son of Sarapion, with manumission of a slave TM 22267Oxyrhynchos180 CE – 192 CE
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 →
Fragment of a will drawn up at Oxyrhynchus in the reign of Commodus by Nilion son of Sarapion. It includes the standard clause reserving his right to alter the will, frees a slave woman and her future offspring, and mentions his son Sarapion, a share of land, a house with courtyard and yard, and household goods and debts.
In English machine translation
Year […] of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Armeniacus Medicus Parthicus Sarmaticus Germanicus Maximus Britannicus, […] at the city of the Oxyrhynchi in the Thebaid, with good fortune. These are the dispositions I, Nilion son of Sarapion son of Sarapion, my mother being […], of the city of the Oxyrhynchi, have made, being sane and in my right mind, in the street. For as long as I survive I shall have power over my own property to do whatever I wish, and to alter this will and to annul it, and whatever I do shall be valid. But if I die under this will having made no alteration, I set free under Zeus, Earth and Sun […] on account of goodwill and affection […] the slave woman and the offspring to be born of her, […] of the manumission […]
[…] and the same my son Sarapion […]
[…] of Papion, called […]
[…] the children to be born to him […]
[…] thirty-second part of arouras, survey of(?) Tychinakitoou(?) […]
[…] of a house and courtyard and yard and fixtures […]
[…] half share of the aforementioned land […]
[…] household equipment and debts […]
[…] brother(?) […] Harsiesis […]
[…]
[…]
Most of the formulaic opening is restored from parallel Oxyrhynchite wills; the dispositions themselves survive only in phrases. Freeing slaves 'under Zeus, Earth and Sun' is a standard manumission formula in wills from Oxyrhynchus.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Fragment of a Will). 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.col.10.267
ἔτους[…]Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Μάρκου Αὐρηλίου Κομμόδου Σεβαστοῦ Εὐσεβοῦς Ἀρμενιακοῦ Μηδικοῦ Παρθικοῦ Σαρματικοῦ Γερμανικοῦ Μεγίστου Βρεταννικοῦ[…]ἐν Ὀξυρύγχων πόλει τῆς Θηβαίδος, ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ. τάδε διεθέμην νοῶν καὶ φρονῶν Νιλίων Σαραπίωνος τοῦ Σαραπίωνος μητρὸς […]ἀπʼ Ὀξυρύγχων πό…