HERACLIDES TO PETEPSAIS ABOUT AN ORDER OF FOOD*
P. Met. Mus. Inv. 25.8 10.5 x 7.9 cm. Third Century
The papyrus is a uniform light brown in color and of medium
thickness, with an irregular left margin of about 0.7 cm. There are a
few small holes scattered over the surface, and a bottom line, which
perhaps contained the date, is lost. The writing is along the fibers of
the recto in firm black ink, and the verso is blank.
The hand could belong either to the third or early fourth
century; it is quite similar in the letter-forms and the extensive
ligaturing to Schubart, Pap. Gr. Berol. 36 (A.D. 236) although the
latter appears more practised and regular. The form of the prescript
makes the earlier date the more likely: according to Exler, the
prescript "A to B irXelora xaipew" comes into use in the first
century B.C. and occurs no later than the third century.1
The only major problem of interpretation is presented by
acrarpof3a in line 11. Otherwise, the message of the letter is quite
straightforward: Heraclides asks Petepsais to bring an order of food,
which includes poultry, bread, and vegetables.
*This papyrus belongs to the Metropolitan Museum; it was accessioned in 1925 and is
now on permanent loan to the American Society of Papyrologists. It was made available to
me during the Fifth Summer Program in Papyrology (1970) in Toronto. I would like to
thank Professors William H. Willis, Alan E. Samuel, and Paul R. Swarney for their generous
help in the preparation of this edition, and I would also like to thank Professor Herbert C.
Youtie for his encouragement and helpful suggestions.
1. Exler, Francis Xavier, S.J., The Forms of the Ancient Greek Letter: A Study in
Greek Epistolography, Diss. Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1923, p. 62.
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