Letter of a meiz�n
Business letter from the meiz�n Spanias to Makarios.
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 37869
Letter from Makarios, headman of Spania, about goods seized by neighbouring villagers TM 37869Oxyrhynchus6th-7th century AD
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 from Makarios, headman (meizon) of the village of Spania, to his master, reporting a dispute with men from neighbouring villages over property taken from his village. He asks that the chief symmachos (armed messenger) of Meskanounis be sent to collect the goods so that his village can recover what was taken. Oxyrhynchus, 6th-7th century AD.
In English machine translation
[recto]
†
† Let your good lordship know that on this very day you were given (?) in peace with the people from Kosmos. For having found the people from Lower Isieion and the people from Phebichis in our midst and with them, for so it seemed, tomorrow we are seeking the damage, we are seeking the things taken by them. I therefore beg your lordship, send the chief symmachos of Meskanounis both to collect their goods and to hand them over to them, so that I too may receive the things of our village that were taken by them, master. †
[verso]
† To my own most admirable master D[…], † Makarios, headman of Spania, your servant. †
The writer's Greek is ungrammatical and the opening sentence is obscure. One catalogue description mistakenly treats Spanias as the sender's name; in fact Spania is his village and Makarios is the sender, the addressee's name being only partly legible.
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 a μείζων). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.oxy.16.1866
[r] † † γνῶναι τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγαθὴν δεσποτείαν ὅτι κατὰ τὴν σήμερον ἡμέραν ἐδόθης ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ μετὰ τῶν ἀπὸ Κόσμου. εὑρὼν γὰρ τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰσίου Κάτω καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Φεβίχεως εἰς τὸ μέσον ἡμῶν καὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν, ἔδοξα γάρ, αὔριον ζητοῦμεν τὴν βλάβην, τὰ λημφθέντα παρʼ αὐτῶν ζητοῦμεν. παρακα…