Draft or copy of a deed in which Aurelius Didymos cedes 4 1/2 arouras of land in the eastern toparchy of the Oxyrhynchite nome to Aurelia Helene, a woman acting without a guardian under the right of children. He acknowledges full payment, guarantees her ownership and undertakes to defend her against any claims. Oxyrhynchus, 3rd century AD.
In English machine translation
From Aurelia Helene […] of the city, acting without a guardian in accordance with Roman custom by the right of children […]
[…] Aurelius Didymos agrees that he has ceded the 4 1/2 arouras formerly belonging to him and […] by sale made in the past […] year, in the month P[…], in the eastern toparchy of the Oxyrhynchite nome, and Aurelius Didymos has received from Aurelia Helene the price, in accordance with a handwritten cession, in full. Therefore Aurelia Helene, with her descendants and those who will succeed her, shall hold and own the same 4 1/2 arouras […] and manage and administer them in whatever way she chooses, and Aurelius Didymos shall make no claim concerning them, nor shall anyone else on his behalf in any way […]
[… lines lost …]
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[…]
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[…] dike-guarding (?) […]
[…] public […]
up to the present year itself, because the revenues from them from the coming year belong to Aurelia Helene […]
[…] handwritten cession […]
[…] be destroyed, not requiring […]
[…] to the same through the public […] and anyone who in any way whatever proceeds against or lays claim to them on this account, he himself will repel immediately at his own expense, as if by a court judgment. Asked by the purchaser whether these things have been rightly and properly done, the seller agreed.
Cession (parachoresis) was the legal form used for transferring rights in land held from the state. The 'right of children' (ius liberorum) allowed a woman with enough children to act without a guardian.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below. It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.