PREFACE

This part is exclusively documentary and devoted to a homogeneous group of texts from a short period in the late third century after Christ. They have been assembled, transcribed, translated, and interpreted by Dr. John Rea, who first realized their purport and isolated them as an archive. Identification of the documentation in Oxyrhynchus of the institution in that town of a corn dole a government-subsidized distribution of grain apparently modelled on that of Rome itself is a considerable gain for historical studies. It is particularly felicitous that this discovery should be published in the 75th anniversary year of the opening of work at Behnesa.

The index has been made by Dr. John Rea himself. He would like to thank Mr. W. E. H. Cockle for cleaning the originals. And Dr. Rea and the general editors are grateful to the University Press, Oxford for their care over the printing.

P. J. PARSONS
J. R. REA
E. G. TURNER
General Editors of the Graeco-Roman Memoirs

May 1972