Private Letter
Letter from Artemis to Sokrates, asking him to find an ekdikos (legal representative) for her as she need to engage in a lawsuit
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 27117
Letter from Artemis to Sokrates asking for a legal representative TM 27117probably Alexandria, province of EgyptIInd century/IIIrd century 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 →
A private letter from a woman named Artemis to Sokrates, written after she arrived in the city, probably Alexandria, in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. She asks him to send one of his family to act as her legal representative, since a woman could not bring a lawsuit without one, and stresses that the outcome affects them all.
In English machine translation
[recto]
Artemis to Sokrates, greetings.
Before all else I pray that you are in good health.
I arrived in the city on the 9th.
I ask you, if you can, send me one of you, for I have need of someone to be my legal representative, since a woman is not permitted to go to law without a representative. Know that if you help, the matter has a chance of being saved. So that he may come quickly, understand then that if I suffer loss, you too will suffer loss, but if we win, the matter is yours.
I greet your mother Thatres and Achillas and Sarapion and Ptolemaios and Kastor and Tasoucharion. I pray for your health.
[verso]
Deliver […] from Harpakysis […]
An ekdikos was a legal representative or advocate; here one is needed because a woman could not litigate alone. The address on the back mentions Harpakysis, possibly the sender's or recipient's associate or place.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Artemis to Sokrates). 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.8.507
[r] Ἄρτεμις Σωκράτει χαίρειν. πρὸ μὲν πάντων εὔχομαί σε ὑγιαίνειν. παρεγενόμην εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῇ θ. ἐρωτῶ σε ἐὰν δυνασθῇς πέμψον μοι ἕνα ἐξ ὑμῶν ὅτι γὰρ χρείαν ἔχω ἵνα ἔκδικός μοι γίνηται, ἐπὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔξεστι γυνῇ χωρὶς ἐκδίκου δικάσασθαι. γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐὰν βοηθήσητε σωτηρίαν ἔχει …