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A letter on an ostracon from Domitius, a curator at the Roman quarry of Mons Claudianus, to Successus about oil consumption. He explains how much oil he used on a day's work with the working squad, complains that another man used twice as much on one water-carrying trip, and invites Successus to send someone to check.
A curator here is the officer in charge of a station or work unit; a dekania is a squad of workers. The oil was probably for lamps used during work, and the exact sense of some phrases is uncertain.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter from Domitius curator to Successus). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
Δομίτις κουράτωρ Σουκκέσσωι χαίρειν. ἔδωκές μοι ἔλαιν ἐξ οὗ ἐχθές μετὰ τῆς ἐργαζομένης δεκανίας κατέβην καὶ ὃ ἔπεμψά σοι ἀνγῖον, ἵνα καταμάθῃς ὃ ἐδαπάνησα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν. αὐτὸς δὲ καταβὰς σήμερον ἵνα μίαν ὑδροφορίαν ἀπολύσῃ, δὶς ἤδη τοιαῦτα ἐδαπάνησεν. εἰ δὲ ἐμοὶ οὐ πιστεύεις, ὅ…
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