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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 32675

Letter to the praepositus Abinnaeus reporting on men he was sent to fetch TM 32675Philadelphia (Arsinoites)Mitte IV

The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →

A letter to a praepositus (a military commander, here Flavius Abinnaeus of the Dionysias camp) from a subordinate reporting on his attempts to round up several men: Didymos is held back by a debt of 3 solidi owed to soldiers, Gerontios is laid up by a kick in the side, and Theodoros was found detained. It comes from the Abinnaeus archive, mid-4th century AD, Philadelphia in the Arsinoite nome.

In English machine translation

[recto] To my master and patron the praepositus, many greetings. First of all I pray for you and your household, may it be free from the evil eye. I want you to know, lord praepositus, that the letter which I gave to Posidonios because of the 7 soldiers who pretended (?) […] his […] that I […] led away to […] […] I sent to you, and […] of the city, with Apollonios. And I went to Didymos, and he says, "I cannot go away, because I am in great difficulty: I borrowed 3 solidi from soldiers and they do not allow me to return until I pay back the debt." And I looked for Gerontios, finding him (gone) from Pelkeesis to the village of his wife, and I wrote to him that he should meet (me) at the camp, and he himself wrote back to me, "I am suffering in my side, having received a kick; when I am myself again, (I will come) tomorrow before the praepositus himself." And I went to Theodoros; I found him in […] detained […] the […] and […] exactor […] and for this very thing [verso] to go out. I pray for your health for many years.

The praepositus is the camp commander Flavius Abinnaeus; an exactor was a tax-collecting official. The lower part of the letter is badly damaged and its ending is unclear.

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.

DDbDP-text Full record →

p.abinn.37

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · Mitte IV · Philadelphia (Arsinoites)

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