| letter |
| Publius Ostorius Scapula |
| this letter contains an original of a directive emanating from the office of the prefect.
In this letter the prefect asks someone, whom he adressess as 'brother' (l. 8) and
to whom he extends the bureaucratic courtesy of reciprocity (l. 9), to investigate
Isidoros' claim of being from the Memphite nome (ll. 4-5). Scapula further delegates
to the recipient of this letter the task of informing Tryphon that he is no longer
to trouble Isidoros and is to return the cheirographia which Tryphon's agents took,
should Isidoros' claims prove valid (l. 4-7). |
| Hanson AE, BASP 21, 84-6, 1984, Photo -- SB XVI 12835 -- BL IX, 293; BL X, 216 (bibliography;
l. 10); BL XI, 221 |
| SB.:16:12835 |
| P.Mich.inv. 1674 |
| 1 papyrus ; 18 x 11 cm. |
| Several lines are missing in lacuna at the top of the letter; the address, opening
courtesies, and prefatory remarks about the case of Isidoros might be expected. The
right margin is otherwise intact, because the letter was folded for dispatch from
right to left for eight folds, thus protecting the text within from right margin up
to a distance of about eight letters from the beginning or writing at left. This left-hand
margin, plus the first eight letters of text, suffered severely from exposure; in
the majority of lines these eight letters are at best partially preserved and at worst
totally lost. In all likelihood, the address which would have appeared on verso at
this point on the exposed outside fold was apparently also destroyed, since now the
verso appears blank. |
| 1-10 |
| Source of description: Recto |
| The first hand of this text (m. 1) is written in an elegant and upright cursive, similar
to that in inv. 1436 and 1440. At the same time, letters are bound together in ligature
far more frequently in inv. 1674 and the attractive rounding of epsilon, theta, and
omicron is here contracted, no doubt to enable the prefect's scribe to write with
greater speed. The prefect (2nd hd.) adds his greeting in his own hand, as well as
the date. Although he writes in a hand similar to that of his scribe, the differences
in hands are best seen in the writing of cheir, in cheirographian of line 7 by m.
1, and directly below in Mecheir of line 10 by 2nd hd. As the darkness of the ink
with which the prefect begins his greeting [e]rroso suggests, the prefect dipped his
pen before beginning this final line of the document and then he completes the line
with that same supply of ink, ever lighter as he approaches the right margin. |
| Philadelphia, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt
|
| Greek |
| February 16, 6 A.D.
|
| Location: Ann Arbor |
| Pub. status: Recto; Verso is blank |
| Archive of the strategos Tryphon concerning his dispute with Isidoros, son of Isidoros,
of Psophthis |
| Philadelphia; Evidence, Documentary--Egypt--Philadelphia (Extinct city); Sowing--Egypt--Philadelphia (Extinct city); Harassment--Egypt--Philadelphia (Extinct city); Letters.; Papyrus; documentary |
| Livia; Tryphon; Caesar |
| Recto medium |
| Recto large |
 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License. |
© Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.