PREFACE

This volume publishes a selection of texts prepared to highlight recent work on the Oxyrhynchus Collection: in Part I, papyri of the Old and New Testaments. Part II offers Comedy Old and New: Aristophanes, a sizeable chunk of Menander’s Epitrepontes a play title meaning "The Arbitrators" (4936), and another from his Georgos a play title meaning "The Farmer". Part III presents previously unknown Greek literature, including a new papyrus of Empedocles (4938); a work by Thrasyllus Tiberius’ court astrologer and philosopher in residence on the classification of Plato’s dialogues (4941)—together with Dictys of Crete’s account of the Trojan War in unpretentious prose, complete with its ‘author’s’ own subscription (4943–4944). These add two new papyri of the Greek original to the two already known. They show more clearly the relation of the Greek original to the Latin version, casting doubt on the status of the latter as a straightforward translation. In 4939, a distraught lover laments his girlfriend’s untimely passing at considerable length in hexameter verse. A glimpse of the sleek, dark underbelly of Greek culture is afforded by a slice of Lollianos’ novel Phoinikika a title meaning "Phoenician Tales" (4945); a fragment of Hellenistic history (4940) may be the earliest textual attestation of the histories of Timagenes. Part IV showcases texts of previously known Greek literature of the Roman period uncommon among the papyri, while Part V presents texts at the subliterary level. On the documentary side, in part VI we find themes of extortion in petitions (4953–4954); a military muster, in Latin (4955); a letter on recovery from illness in high-flown Greek; a certified copy of a petition to a prefect (4961), which besides its impressive format has interesting though enigmatic implications for the use of Roman Law. 4965 is a Manichaean letter. 4956 is a census declaration, written in a standard scribal book-hand; 4967 contains a new but unread notarial signature. In 4966 we get what is possibly the first Egyptian member of the senate at Constantinople; and in 4967 the terms of employment of a public herald.

In editorial matters, Dr Gonis took responsibility for co-ordinating and overseeing most of the documentary section, Dr Obbink most of the literary one—both assisted by those expert readers whose contributions are only occasionally indicated in the editions. A special note of gratitude is due to Professors Donald Mastronarde and Nicholas Horsfall. A number of items are the revised product of dissertation work undertaken by A. Benaissa, R. Hatzilambrou, N. Litinas, M. Malouta, and A. Nodar. No less than in previous volumes, special thanks are due for the discerning judgement of Dr Benaissa in revision of copy and compilation of indexes, and to Dr Daniela Colomo for checking of collations, deft conservation, and eagle-eyed proof-reading. As in past volumes, Dr Jeffrey Dean of Manchester kindly provided expert professional and artistic assistance in matters of typesetting and typography. Without the guidance and financial support of the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council the continuing publication of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri would not be possible.

Most of the contributions in this volume were produced in honour of Peter Parsons and John Rea by editors who worked with these two in various capacities, commemorating a time when, as one contributor put it, ‘Oxford breathed papyrology’ (‘even Latinists were made to do it’). The contributors join the rest of the General and Advisory editors of the Graeco-Roman Memoirs in expressing their thanks to both these scholars for their personal and professional contributions to the effort of making sense of Oxyrhynchus. Their careers, spanning well over a half-century, have rung in changes in our ways of working on the papyri that include the binocular microscope, the computer database, and digital images.

May 2009                                                                                             D. OBBINK