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 letter of the early 6th century AD from Oxyrhynchus. The writer first rebukes the recipient for opening his letter with complaints, then reports on supplies (carats, radish oil) and chiefly on the abduction of a woman named Makaria by a singularius who keeps her in his house claiming she is free, asking for swift action and for officials to be informed.
A singularius was a low-ranking official attached to a governor's staff; the commentarienses were clerks responsible for prisoners and court records. The claim that Makaria 'is free' suggests a dispute over her status as a slave.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter concerning an Abduction). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
After an interesting introduction in which the writer hints disapproval of his correspondent's epistolary methods, his main topic is a case of abduction, the victim of which was a certain Macaria. Apparently the case was to be the subject of legal proceedings.
[r] † οὐδεὶς θέλων ἐγκαλέσαι ἢ μέμψασθαί τινων ἐν προοιμίοις τῆς ἐπιστολῆς γράφει ἵνα μὴ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων σιανθῇ καὶ μὴ ἀναγνώσῃ τὴν ἐπιστολήν, ὑμεῖς δὲ τάξιν διαλαλίας τὸ προοίμιον ἐγράψατε. πάντα δὲ τὰ κελευσθέντα ἡμῖν ποιοῦμεν. εἰσὶν δὲ τὰ κεράτια τοῦ κυρίου Μηνᾶ ϙζ 𐅷. καὶ περὶ ῥ…
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