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A private letter from Ammonios to Julius and Hilaros, whom he calls brothers, apologizing in effect for an apparent lack of courtesy: he insists he is no barbarian or inhuman Egyptian, explains he hurried to see his family after a year and to leave Egypt before winter, and promises to visit soon. It comes from Oxyrhynchus in the 3rd century AD.
"After three" has no noun in the Greek; days or months may be meant. The phrase "inhuman Egyptian" reflects contemporary Greek prejudice about native Egyptians, and "brothers" may be a term of friendship rather than kinship.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter of Ammonius to Julius and Hilarus). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
[r] Ἀμμώνιος Ἰουλίῳ καὶ Ἱλάρῳ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς πλεῖστα χαίρειν. ἴσως με νομίζετε, ἀδελφοί, βάρβαρόν τινα ἢ Αἰγύπτιον ἀνάνθρωπον εἶναι. ἀλλὰ ἀξιῶ μὴ οὕτως ἔχειν, πρῶτον μὲν ἀπὸ μέρους πεῖραν λαβόντας τῆς ἡμετέρας γνώμης, πολλὰ δέ με ἤπειξε πρὸς τοὺς ἐμοὺς γενέσθαι, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ διʼ …
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