The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 55

ALL forty-five of the items in this volume are documentary; one is from the Ptolemaic period, while the rest are Roman and Byzantine. Just under half are official, illustrating the government and administration of Egypt (3777–97); the others are private documents, with a preponderance of letters (3806–21). Only a few of the most interesting ones can be mentioned here. Outstanding for its extent alone is the account roll of a part of the Apion estates; it is nearly three metres long in its not quite complete state. It was used first for the annual account of a steward for AD 565/6 (3804), and the back was used later in the estate office for various draft calculations (3805). Many of the individual entries are of interest, and 3804 as a whole is the most complete specimen of its kind, instructive for monetary and metrological matters and for the rigid system of accounting. The letter of a prefect of Egypt announcing the accession of Hadrian is dated only fourteen days after his dies imperii day of imperial power/accession day, which graphically illustrates his hasty assumption of power without authorization from the Roman senate (3781). The orderly list of Egyptian month names as revised under Gaius brings a simple certainty to the calendar of his reign, hitherto much argued (3780). The eminent Persian with the name or title of Saralaneozan makes another appearance in 3797, a receipt for payments in gold for Oxyrhynchus and Cynopolis. A contract acknowledging the return of a loan illuminates the legalities affecting the families of auxiliary veterans (3798). Among the private letters, 3812 stands out for its allusions to the celebration of the Roman New Year under the simplified name of the Calends, without naming the month.

About twenty of the texts were taken to Warsaw in summer 1975 and studied with the members of a seminar there. Dr Krzystoff Winnicki produced a typescript of 3799 and Dr Adam Łukaszewicz undertook four other items: 3778–9, 3782, and 3784. These have been revised to bring them up to date by Dr Rea, who has edited all the other documents in the volume and compiled the indexes.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge again the skill of the Oxford University Press, which has worked its usual miracle in giving this difficult material a clear and agreeable presentation.