P.Mich.inv. 2978

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About this Item

unspecified | summary (1 items)

Record Details

Inventory Number
P.Mich.inv. 2978
Processing Number
1723

Background and Physical Properties

Connections
Archive of Gaius Apolinarius Niger (& family). - PMich. Inv. 2981 is a fragmentary copy of the same petition, written on a sheet cut from the same roll
Material
Pap
Size
27 X 22 cm
Items
1
Lines
29
Mounted
No
Negative
No
Conservation Status
nearly complete; somewhat crumpled
Palaeographic Description
see electronic version of PMich VI, 423-424
Status
published
Library
Cairo

Contents

Date
May 22, 197 A.D.
Origin
(probably) Karanis, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt
Provenance
Karanis, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt
Acquisition
24-5006E2-A
Language
Greek
Genre
Documentary
Author
Gemellus alias Horion
Type of Text/Title of Work
Petition concerning Trespass
Content
Petition addressed to the strategos Hierax alias Nemesion by Gemellus alias Horion, complaining that a certain Iulius, with his wife and another man, have carried off produce from his fields and threatened him with some magical procedure, while several village officials were witnessing
Persons
Hierax also called Nemesion, strategos of the Herakleidou meris;
Gemellus alias Horion, son of Gaius Apollinarius, Antinoite (Gaius Gemellus Horigenes) (see P. Mich. VI, 422 introd.; Eos 49 [1957/1958] 155-164);
(Quintus) Aemilius Saturninus, prefect of Egypt;
Sotas, son of Eudas (deceased);
Iulius, son of Eudas;
Iulius' wife;
Zenas;
(unnamed) georgos of Gemellus;
Petesouchos & Ptollas, presbyteroi of Karanis, diadechomenoi ta kata ten komogrammateian;
Sokras, hyperetes (of the presbyteroi);
Septimius Severus, Emperor
Geographica
Karanis; Kerkesoucha; Herakleidou meris of the Arsinoite nome
Translation
To Hierax also called Nemesion, strategos of the division of Herakleides of the Arsinoite nome, from Gemellus also called Horion, son of Gaius Apolinarius, Antinoite. I appealed, my lord, by petition to the most illustrious prefect, Aemilius Saturninus, informing him of the attack made upon me by a certain Sotas, who held me in contempt because of my weak vision and wished himself to get possession of my property with violence and arrogance, and I received his sacred subscription authorizing me to appeal to his excellency the epistrategos. Then Sotas died and his brother Iulius, also acting with the violence characteristic of them, entered the fields that I had sown and carried away a substantial quantity of hay; not only that, but he also cut dried olive shoots and heath plants from my olive grove near the village of Kerkesoucha. When I came there at the time of the harvest, I learned that he had committed these transgressions. In addition, not content, he again trespassed with his wife and a certain Zenas, having with them a brephos, intending to hem in my cultivator with malice so that he should abandon his labor after having harvested in part from another allotment of mine, and they themselves gathered in the crops. When this happened, I went to Iulius in the company of officials, in order that these matters might be witnessed. Again, in the same manner, they threw the same brephos toward me, intending to hem me in also with malice, in the presence of Petesouchos and Ptollas, elders of the village of Karanis who are exercising also the functions of the village secretary, and of Sokras the assistant, and while the officials were there, Iulius, after he had gathered in the remaining crops from the fields, took the brephos away to his house. These acts I made matters of public record through the same officials and the collectors of grain taxes of the same village. Wherefore of necessity I submit this petition and request that it be kept on file so that I may retain the right to plead against them before his excellency the epistrategos concerning the outrages perpetrated by them and the public rents of the fields due to the imperial fiscus because they wrongfully did the harvesting.
(2nd hand) Gemellus also called Horion, about 26 years of age, whose vision is impaired.
(3rd hand) The 5th year of Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus, Pachon 27.

Information on Publications

Publications
Series and Volume Editor Year Pg/Nr Photo SB Preferred Citation Corrections
PMich VI Pearl OM-Youtie HC 1944 423 Pearl OM-Youtie HC, PMich VI, 423, 1944 -- BL VI, 82 (about the archive) BL VI, 82 (about the archive)

Information on Publications--Bibliography

Bibliography
Tomasz Derda, ARSINOITHS NOMOS. Administration of the Fayum under Roman Rule, Warsaw 2006, p. 208
For the interpretation of the words BREPHOS and PHTHONOS see Ari Z. Bryen - Andrezei Wypustek, Gemellus' Evil Eyes (P.Mich. VI 423424), GRBS 49 (2009), pp. 535-555.

Cataloging

Cataloger
PH
Year Begin
197
Year End
197

Technical Details

Record
1723
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-1723/1

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Full citation
"P.Mich.inv. 2978." In the digital collection Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS UM). https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-1723/1. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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