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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 36098

Letter about sale of sour wine, purchase of cloaks, and a recruit's misconduct TM 36098unbekanntVI

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

A sixth-century private letter in Greek reporting the sale of 36 jars of sour wine sent by camel, asking the recipient to buy cloaks and couch-covers, and reporting that the writer has asked an official to punish a recruit named Ouliarich who wronged the recipient over pay.

In English machine translation

† I received the letter of your [fatherly] disposition […] the 36 knidia of sour wine I sent off at once and immediately by camels, and the wine-seller received them less 3 knidia, and I got for the 33 knidia 24 keratia. As I asked you about the cloaks (pallia) and the couch-covers (accubitalia), be so good as to do me the great favour of buying these and sending them to me. I gave these same instructions to Antiochos too, so that he may meet you and introduce you to where you should buy. As you wrote to me also about Ouliarich the recruit, that he did some impious things against you regarding the pay (rhoga), I wrote to the lord Christop[…] so that he may both exact the punishment and support you. If you need anything, do not hesitate to write to me.

Knidion is a wine jar and keratia are small coin units; rhoga is official pay or allowance. Ouliarich is a Germanic name, the 'tiro' being a military recruit.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Privatbrief). 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.berl.zill.13

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · VI

† ἐδεξάμην τὰ γράμματα τῆς σῆς πατρικῆς διαθέσεως […]…[…]στ[…] τὰ τριάκοντα ἓξ κνίδια τὰ ὄξινα εὐθὺ καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀπέστειλα καμήλια, καὶ ἐδέξατο αὐτὰ ὁ οἰνοπράτης παρὰ τρία κνίδια, καὶ ἔλαβα τῶν κνιδίων τριακοντατριῶν κεράτια εἴκοσι τέσσαρα. καθώς δὲ παρεκάλεσά σε διὰ τὰ πάλλια κ…