Tax Collecting in Byzantine Egypt Author(s): A. E. R. Boak Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol.

37, Parts 1 and 2 (1947), pp. 24-33 Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/298451 Accessed: 18/05/2010 05:56
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T"AX COLLECTING IN BYZANTINE EGYPT

By A. E. R. BOAK

In this article there is presented a small group of hitherto unpublished tax receipts They come from the archive of from Egypt which belong to A.D. 309 and 314. Aurelios Isidoros, a farmer and occasional local office-holder of the village of Karanis, and with the other papyri of the same collection are in the possession of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.' The chief interest which these texts hold for students of Byzantine Egypt lies in the picture which they provide of the tax-collecting process and of the handling of governmept grain in Egypt under the tax system introduced by Diocletian, and in particular the new information which they furnish on the matter of supplementary fees and transportation charges. The receipts of the year 309 are for deliveries of barley ; that of 3 I4 is for the payment of money for the village quota of clothing requisitioned for military purposes. We shall take up the barley receipts first, and then that for the price of the clothing.

RECEIPTS FOR THE DELIVERY OF BARLEY.

CAIRO,

Jozurnal d'entree,

NO.

57394.

A.D. 309. x I4-5 cm. 8o

At present this papyrus contains four columns of writing, of which the last is too badly mutilated to merit transcription. Since, however, the sheet is broken at both ends, it may originally have had one or more columns both before Col. i and after Col. II. In addition to the breaks along all edges, there are numerous holes in the body of the papyrus and in places the writing is badly abraded. Cols. i and ii are by the same hand, but neither column was written all at once, and the script, which is predominantly an upright cursive, becomes more hurried and cramped in the later portions. Col. III has two hands, both upright
cursives.

The text consists of a series of receipts for barley delivered at the harbours of Kerke and Leukogion by the sitologoi of Karanis as part of the canon, or grain levy, imposed for
the seventeenth and fifth year (A.D. 308-309). All of the deliveries were made in
A.D.

309,

the year of the first consulship of Licinius and Constantine I. Both Kerke and Leukogion are well-known from other papyri and from ostraka. Kerke, on the Nile in the Memphite nome, was the terminus of an overland route from Philadelphia in the Fayum and possibly at the northern end of the canal running northwards from the vicinity of Ptolemais Hormou (Illahcun) to the main stream of the Nile (E. Wiken, ' Zur Topographie des Fayufm,' Corolla Archaeologica, Shrift. Svenska Inst. Rom. II (I922), 270-6). Leukogion lay farther up the Nile in the Herakleopolite nome, at the end of another caravan route from the Fayfum (cf. Amundsen, 0. Oslo., p. 5I), more probably on a canal, perhaps the one mentioned above, than on the Nile itself. At Kerke the following six deliveries were made: (i) Pauni
24; I, I-8;

(2) Pauni 24;

I2; II,

II,

I5-22;

(3) Pauni 29;

I, 9-14;

(4) Pauni 29;

II, 23-27;

28-3I; (6) Epiph I6; II, 32-37. At Leukogion there was only one delivery, dated according to the Roman calendar on the fifth day before the Kalends of Aug. 28 ; III, 38-54. From this list of the receipts and their arrangement in September the three columns, it seems that the sitologoi made two separate deliveries on Pauni 24, for which the receipts were written in separate parallel columns, thus forming the tops of
(5) Epiph
1 The writer wishes to express his thanks to the Museum authorities for their kind permission to publish these documents. Other documents from the same collection have appeared in Etuides de 1-22 III Popyrologie ii (1933), (1936), 1-45 ; ; v

Me~langes Maspero II (1934), 85-117; Harv. Stiud. in Class. Phil. 51 (1940), 35-60; Joturnal of Juristic Papyrology) I (1946), 7-12. More will appear shortly in various publications.
(I939),
125-129;

TAX COLLECTING

IN

BYZANTINE

EGYPT

25

Cols. i and ii. Again when two more deliveries were made on Pauni 29, the receipts for these were added below the two previously written on the papyrus. But when they made the fifth and sixth deliveries in the following month, Epiph, the new receipts were written below one another at the bottom of Col. ii. The papyrus sheet with its receipts remained in the hands of the sitologoi, who presented it to the proper officials when they delivered their shipment of barley at Leukogion. These officials thereupon had their receipt written to the right of the earlier ones in Col. III. The six receipts issued at Kerke were signed by the same official, Aurelios Sumeios, who has the title of acTro8EKTrS KplGnS of the harbour of Kerke. At Leukogion, however, the single receipt was signed by two persons, Aurelios Aphrodisios and Aurelios Pamiton, op,uou AEUKOyiou (I, 38), or as acTrroSEKTal who describe themselves merely as acTro6EKTral The Michigan ostraka reveal also the presence of without further qualification (I, 5I). epimeletai at the latter port who were concerned with the grain deliveries. In 0. Mich. I, 179 (A.D. 297), accepted a delivery of straw from an (Trip(EkT;s) Opovu AEuKOYIOU Ptolemais, and in I, 254, of about the same period, an Ur,iEArT1'; Gtqaupo0 (or -&5v) acknowledged the delivery of one yavis to be credited to the village of Karanis. As we have seen, the officials who were responsible for the delivery of the barley of the canon were the sitologoi of Karanis for the current year, among whom was Aurelios Isidoros himself. They functioned not merely for the village of Karanis (I, 3 ; iO), but also cf. II, 17 ; III, 41, 45. Why they for a part (gEpos) of its boundary district (ploaEKKTia), did not serve the whole of the latter is by no means clear. Although the method of transof porting the barley from the granary (0racxaupOs) Karanis to the harbours of Kerke and Leukogion is not specified in the receipts, it was probably by donkey or, less likely, camel caravan. This conclusion is justified not merely by the location of the two harbours in relation to Karanis, but by the large number of receipts which were issued in this period at the granary of Karanis to individuals for the delivery of donkey-loads both at Kerke (0. Mich. I, 506, 5I5, 52I, 522, 527, 528), and at Leukogion (0. Mich. I, 524, 525, 526, etc. ; 0. Mich. II, 927, 930, 93I). It is fairly evident that each of the amounts acknowledged in the receipts from Kerke could have been delivered in a single day, perhaps by two separate caravans on the days when two receipts were issued, Pauni 24 and Pauni 29; for the average donkey-load was three artabas, and even the 379 artabas delivered on Epiph I2 (II, 28-3i) would only have required a caravan of I26 donkeys. In fact, the wording Kal Opuolics T1i Ke' of I, 9, (cf. also II, 23), indicates a delivery on a specific day only. But the case is somewhat different with the I976 artabas received at Leukogion (III, 45-46, 52-53), since this would have required the use of some 658 animals, which seems to be too large a number to be engaged in this service at one and the same time, and it must be borne in mind that each animal could make only one trip per day from Karanis to either harbour. We must conclude, therefore, that the delivery at Leukogion might have been spread over several days, on the last one of which the sitologoi were given their receipt for the total amount. The most important information offered by these documents concerns the various supplementary charges to which the tax barley delivered at the harbours was subject. In the four receipts from Kerke for the month Pachon these are: (i) a general levy of (2) an additional 8EKOtcTl, on the amount collected in accordance with the canon; IO%, charge of Q0 or 500, EiKOrT', levied on the original amount of the tax and the Io% charge as well ; (I) naula calculated at the rate of - denarii on each artaba ; and (4) a further assessment called ' the denarius per modius '. The two other receipts from Kerke, dated in Epiph, show in place of the IO% levy one of - or 2%, TrEvTflKoT-r. But, whereas the receipt of Epiph i6 mentions the naula of 5- denarii on each artaba and likewise the ' denarius per modius ', that of Epiph I2 omits both of these. I am inclined to believe that this is an error of omission on the part of the writer since one would naturally assume that freight charges would be collected equally on all grain belonging to the same category when delivered at the same port. The receipt from Leukogion agrees with the or and with 8E?a o first four from Kerke in recording the IO% tax, here called the last two in listing the 2%, E'KaToOral x'vo. It omits the naula but specifies the ' denarius

26

A. E. R. BOAK

per modius'. The following table shows the amount of grain delivered and the taxes assessed on it, apart from the money payments, according to each receipt. In order to simplify the calculation of the taxes, I have reduced the fractions to the nearest decimals.
(i)

Kerke, Pauni 24, I, i-8. Barley delivered including the io%, 260 I Levy of 5% Total Kerke, Pauni 24, 1I, 15-22. Barley delivered including the I0%, 78 Levy of 5% Total Kerke, Pauni 29, 1, 9-14. Barley delivered including the io%, 85 Levy of 5 % Total
29, II, 23-7.

260o83 artabas 14 00 (13 04) art. 274 83 alt.

(2)

78-75 artabas 4-00 (3-94) art. 82-75 art.

(3)

85-33 artabas 4-33 (4-27) art. 89-66 art.

(4) Kerke, Pauni

Barley delivered including the io%0 Levy of 5%

6o artabas 3 artabas 63 artabas

Total
(5) (6) (7) Kerke, Epiph Kerke, Epiph Leukogion,
I2, II, 28-31.

Barley delivered including 2% tax

i6, II, 32-7.

379 artabas 122 artabas

Barley delivered including 2% tax

Aug. 28, III, 38-54.

Barley delivered including io% and 2%/ taxes I976 artabas Calculated: shipment including io% 1937 art. ,9 2% 38-74 art. Total Grand Total
1975-74 2987-24 1976 art. 2987 i artabas

Before considering the character of the supplementary taxes, it may be worth while to point out the meaning of the term canon, Kavcbv,as used in these receipts. It occurs once in each column (I,4; II, 17-I8 ; III, 44), in the same formula where the barley is received irrE?p KavOVOS13 (E-rous) Kac E (E'Tous). From the wording of the receipts, it seems quite clear that the canon refers to the levy assessed against the village of Karanis and its horiodeiktia for the year in question, in other words, the amount prescribed in accordance with the current indiction. This is a common usage attested by examples from the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries (see Preisigke, Worterbuch, Abs. III, 24I, s.v. K'cVcv). The Io% tax on the amount collected in accordance with the canon, called EK&rTat (I, 4; II, I8, ai(Ct I i) and p 6?EKa 8?EKa'Tcra (i, (III, 43), is known also z5), ac KE?EUCTY from a series of receipts from Philadelphia between 3II and 324 (E. H. Kase, A Papyrus Roll in the Princeton Collection, Col. I, 6 ; ii, 6-7 ; Iv, 6, 15; VI, 6, 17 ; X, 7, i8 ; xi, 5; XII, 5, I4; XIII, 5; xIv, 7). These receipts were issued at the granary of Philadelphia by the sitologoi of the village for wheat and barley delivered by land-holders as taxes for the corresponding years. It is interesting to note, however, that the io% is collected on the wheat deliveries only, and not on the barley, unless in the case of the latter this tax is taken for granted, an assumption which would be difficult to prove. Another noteworthy point is that in the Philadelphia receipts the io% is turned over to the sitologoi at the village granary, whereas in the receipts from Kerke and Leukogion the io% is turned over with the grain of the canon by the sitologoi to the apodektai of these harbours. This levy then did not remain in the villages or in the nome but was delivered for shipment with the annona grain. In his note on Col. I, 6 (p. 17), Kase offers three possible explanations of the 8EK&Tca: (I) that it is a ' payment of Io% collected in the form of TITPQUIJE?TPJpo3VEa' (2) that it ; may refer to an artaba divisible into tenths; and (3) that it ' may be related to the ,ET-rpOv 8EKao-roV' for which he cites two references. From the term ai K?XEVefiaalCxc i I) it seems clear that we have to EKac(at in one of the Kerke receipts (i,

TAX COLLECTING

IN

BYZANTINE

EGYPT

27

do with a supplementary tax. But the purpose of this levy still remains uncertain. It may well be, however, that it took the place of the earlier -fPpOC1ETPE1JO1IVcEamounting to about one-seventh of certain taxes and rentals of the Roman period which were levied to compensate for differences in the content of local measures used in collecting grain dues and those specified by the State for accepting tax payments (Wallace, Taxation in Egypt, 38). in The 500 tax, which we find under the name of ELKOcTT) four of the receipts from Kerke (i, 6, I2; II, 20, 25), and which is collected on the original payment and the supplementary Io% as well, appears also in a group of contemporary wheat receipts from Karanis (P. Mich. VI 399-4II and 0. Mich. I I7I, I72). It is generally considered that the ElKocYTrl the equivalent of the older tax known as the 8iXoiviKia, a levy of I,/20 of an is artaba on each aroura of land in grain crops (P. Ryl. II pp. 234-35; Kalen, P. Berl. Leihgabe, pp. 305 ff.; Wallace, Taxation in Egypt, I2 and 36I n. IO; P. Mich. VI p. I03). Apparently, it was still collected in the sixth century, cf. P. Maspero I69, i8: UiToJ
KaVOVOSKaGapoJ O'Jv vaV?oiS Kai EKTOT-rais avUTrovKal EiKOcTalS.

As the preceding table shows, neither the Io% nor the 5% levies are mentioned in the two latest receipts from Kerke, nor does the latter of these appear in the receipt from Leukogion. Nevertheless, we must not assume that the deliveries attested in these receipts were exempt from these taxes. We can assume only that they were not paid at the particular time and place indicated. On the other hand, all three of these later receipts record a tax of 2% called both TrEVTT)KocYTad 30, 34) and 'K T ai 8o (III, 43). So far as I am aware,no other instance (II, of this particular impost occurs in the papyri of the Late Empire. It may have been a charge imposed to defray handling expenses, to furnish perquisites to government officials, or to allow for shrinkage or deterioration of the barley while in storage or transit. We now come to the naula of 52 ' denarii per artaba ', which is attested by the first four and the sixth receipts from Kerke, but is omitted in that of Epiph I2 from that harbour and in the receipt from Leukogion. If we accept the official price of barley at 6o ' denarii per modius' in Diocletian's Edict of Prices (I, 2), since the accompanying evaluation of wheat was still in force two years later (A. E. R. Boak, ' Some Early Byzantine Tax Records from Egypt,' Harv. Stud. in Class. Phil., 5I [I940], 35-69, No. 4, 5o), and allow 31 ' modii' to the artaba, we reach an estimate of 200 ' denarii per artaba '. On this basis, the naula was a freight charge of 23% on the value of the barley. This indicates that it was not the charge for transportation from Alexandria to Rome, which was fixed at i6% by the Edict of Prices (cf. Segre, ' Annona Civica and the Annona Militaris' Therefore, in all probability it was the vaoAov 395, n. I3). Byzantion xvi, 2 [I942-3], 'A\Egav6pdias or charge for transporting grain from Egyptian inland ports to Alexandria (cf. P. Oxy. I26, II ; 26; I42, 7; 2I95, I30-I3I ; A. C. Johnson, EconomicSurvey, Ii Egypt, 402, 4I8; Segre, op. cit. 404). It may be worth noting that in the Theadelphia

papyriof this period (P. Thead. nos. 26,

A.D. 296;

27,

A.D. 298;

32,

A.D. 307)

the epimeletai,

dekaprotoi, and apodektai who receive tax barley and wheat delivered in the name of the village acknowledge the receipt of the naula also, but do not mention the rate at which these charges are calculated. Finally, our texts reveal the imposition of another tax which, from its position in the receipts and from the fact that it was not in grain, appears to have been a supplement to the naula. This is the ' denarius per modius ' which appears last among the levies in all of the receipts. To my knowledge the only other mention of this tax occurs in the Princeton roll which also records the tax of IO%. It contains four references to TO 65rvapiov (Cols. x, IO ; 22 ; xi, 6 ; xii, a) in receipts dated in the years A.D. 3I8 to 321I. Tou' oiobiou In the first two of these instances it occurs as the last item following the number of artabas of barley; in the third, where the text has been restored by the editor, it follows the wheat total ; and in the last it stands alone after the date, apparently added to correct an omission (see the editor's note on p. 23). There does not seem to be any explanation of why this tax appears only in these four receipts and not in the others of the same character. In discussing the levy of a ' denarius per modius ', Kase (x, io note, pp. 22-3) offers the explanation that it was a charge levied to defray the costs of transporting grain

28

A. E. R. BOAK

from the granary to the wharf where it was loaded for shipment by water. He also points out that the denarius was collected at the granary whereas such charges had previously been paid directly to various transportation officials, and concludes that some change had been made in the administration of the transport system, and he realizes that the new rate would mean a great reduction in the rate charged for the transport of grain by land. I believe that the true explanation of the levy of a ' denarius per modius' is to be sought in the recently published Latin fragments of the Edict of Prices from Aphrodisias in Caria (G. Jacopi, ' Gli Scavi della missione italiana ad Afrodisiade nel I937,' Monumenti Antichi 38 [I939], I30-I32; E. R. Graser, ' The Significance of Two New Fragments

of the Edict of Diocletian,' Trans. Amer. Phil. Assn. 7I

[I940],

I57-I74).

Fragment II,

line 23, contains the following item: a]qua discindentis per singulos mo(dios) (denarium) unum. Although the passage in which these words occur is so badly mutilated that its exact meaning is obscure, there can be no doubt that it refers to charges for the transportation of government grain, apparently down stream (Graser, op. cit., p. I73). It is tempting, therefore, to identify the levy of the papyrus receipts with that of the Edict. But the ' denarius per modius cannot be the regular freight charges collected for transportation down the Nile to Alexandria since, as we have seen, these seem to be equivalent to the naula Of 52 ' denarii per artaba'. Accordingly, it must be explained in some other way, probably as a special surtax.
'

[AMp'A]ios ZuvLos &Tro5E[KTTs Kpli6S O']ppoU KEPKf Kai Kai [Kao1c, K]al 'lai86cp [A0pTl]2\iols O?Evappik Trap' 'VPWV [ToTS Koi(vCwvo1s)] TOir(AQ\yols) KCTS Kapavi5oS. [rrapf]2\apov V1rr[EpToOU]Kcxv6vOS 13 (?-roUs) Kai E (?TOrUs) KpliO[fis Uv] 6EKXTrais {KplTifs} 5laKo[o]icxas ?TKOVTra 11lOiav TplToV Kaci UlTEp [apTa]Pais [1EKOrT]65V apT'apgs 5EKaQTEcQapEs Kic! UT7Ep (vUTCVTa va2Aa VrrrEp [EKaa]TiS apTTn 8nvcpia TrEVTE ? piOv Kai TO 8nvcpiOV [TOU pUo5lfov]. (E?-ovs) 13 Kai ?:, TTauvi K8 . Zvp?1oS UE?T (PEi5pai). [Kcl] 6~oioi@ TTDKG TrQpT)V[EyK]av [oi aciToi] 'TCr aUT'- Op[
UTrfp TiS QuTfl Tral KEAr:ua6a1s KCOA)l UTrEp TOE 8EKaTalS J C&TO\) ETOVl KplGfl
OUV

IO

apT'apaS

Oy?OTlKOVTra

rrEVTETpi-

c TOV Ka UlT?rp EiKo=TCTV apT'apaS TEaapEs TpiToV Kai Ta vavTOU Aa UvTrEp EKaCTfus apTar'apTsSTlVapla TrEVT?E TIliJv Kai TO 8vcapiov [,uo5i]ovJ. (E'-ovs)13Kal E, Fla0vi KT. [7_v]-uETl[p]S9E9T (PEIC)pai).2 4. 13 (T-roUs) Kai E (`ToUs). The regnal years are those of Maximinus Daia. 5. [ap-ra]pais:
aETc`v. 6. Kal iJrrrp

Galerius Maximianus and

read [apT]raPas.

The first two words are uncertain, but it is difficult to find another
Somewhat parallel is the use of
Ta[Cu]Tcov

phrase into which the aOTrv will fit.

there no preposition

in 1. 34, but

8.
14.

VIa&vi K8':
Taiuvi K'.

is involved. June i8.

: June

23.
11

15
K[pieinsl 'ppov KEpyfi la'bcopcw Kai TOIS KOl(vCovois) oITo(?oyois) ITrrp KaVOV[-rrap'apo]v Oplo8i[KT]ias Kapavi8os. vOS 13 (ETous) Kai E <((ToUs)> KpliO[s] rniv 8EKacTals apTcrcapas Ep08o'UKovTa ETrT[cXfa f][liv TETapTOV Kai VrErp diKoaTOv a&pTcrapas ?T[E?9]cpES Kai Ta va&Aa VTr1?p 1<C TO FTKaCTflS &pTar3S 8On[VQpl]a TrE?VTE'P KaI EU8?1S CrECn(?@a V'PIOV TOU ,uO5iOv. ('-TOvS) 13 Kal E, TTauvi KF).

Auprp2\iolS UTrlp ?p[ov]s

2vpoos a'Toa?K-Tis AuOpT'Aios OiEvacppk'w Kai

20

2 In the transcribed text dots below the line indicate uncertain letters; dashes mark broken ones that can be read with confidence.

TAX COLLECTING

IN

BYZANTINE
aUJT

EGYPT

29

oi Kai o,uofco5 auTol Tra[pflv]EyKav

OppLA)

T1r K'

E'V T6

25

UTrEp TOv aUTOU ETOU5 KplUTrEp Tfis aCUTfis K[CO>]fPl Kat UVTEp EIKOUTCOV OriS aov 5EK&TalS ap[T]a'pas EnT)KOVTa EKa'aTfs T]OU apTap-r3s 8Tv&pia

apTa saS TpTs Kai Ta vau7[Aa] KaG TO 8nvapi[ov T1rEVTEVpiv

EVUAE10S

Ao5iou.

(?TOUV) l3 Kai E, TaiUvi K6'.

9E9j(jAEiWjai).

Ev TCr)G aGTCA) OPILAU UTrEp TOV Kai o,loicos oi aGuTol Trap['V]EYKyav aG(rTOU ET`Ov5 K(ai UTrEp TT5 aUTf`S KCA4LfT5 KpliOr U'VVTE5

30

EV&pT[a[Pa]s TplaKOoucas E18op1LT1KOVTa TrEVTTKOTra[!]s vEa. ('Tous) l3 Kai E, 'ETrip l'. EvEp6o; 9E9T (jAE1CLAal). Kai oIloicoS oi avrToi Trrap1jVEyKav UTrEp TT)S avUTlS KCA4pTrS UTrEp

TOU a[cUTOl] O"JV TES Ta[vi]TCA)V

rTOUS EV [TCKEA?EUVOEVTCOV

aUT]CD) OplLco Kplies TrEVTT9KOaTcA)VapTa-

35

pas E'KaTOV [E]Y[K]Oi

TrEVTE fllLIO{U Kai]

8OUo Kai Ta vauRa EKa(TTS TO 8iiVaapioV TOU po8foU.

apTaPc3S 8flvapia

(E'-ovS) 13 Kai E, 'ETri i. ly.

17.

YVEu,?os UEUI(,uEico,uai).

[-rapEaPo]v. Epiph
i2;

There is not space enough here for the full formula TTrapAacov

-rrapa vp,Cov. 29.; 34. T-r;

3 I.

for Tras.

Julv 6 34. T2{U]-rcoV: 'of these,' i.e. the artabas of barley raised as the tax. Cf. I, I 1, above. TrEVTTlKOUTCoV: for KEAEuvOiclS TrEvTrKoaTals. KEA?EUOE?VTCA)V 37. Epiph i6; July io.
111

Secondhand.
A_gpMot 'Aqp[o8]ia!os
AEUKayiqV
TlrE['1]TOUJ

HjI KL
T@you

CO irTv

EO8EKTal op[oU]
aiTro?O6yOls

40

Ai:prlAiolis

KaaiXc

Kai' laib8po Kal 'povS

Kal KOlYCvois opio8lKTiaS

KcpoIiS Kapgvi8oS Trap' TrapUapov KpliOs

VUTlEp

xaiP?tv.

KaGapao

'pi&3v ?v T$) aUTCG) OppcAp AEUKOyiOU avv p [8]EKca Kai EKaToxTaIS 8iiO
a
. .
1ECA)S

KaX.VOVOS (ETOUS) KYd ? (?TaUs) 13 Kai opl[o]8[i]KTias apTapas

FiTou

liTEyK(,p

45

Kapavf8os

XEiAias

Eg iovas, ( rpT&apas) Aroq. 8p8o[p]'KorvTa Kai EKQaToU iio8iou 8rlv&pia 2' [ ujiav]. AiKyvviavOU OiaAEpioU fiv'$v UTIra-Tra[s TCO]v 8EX1r0T&$V ?vaKO[ai]s
EuXov

50

KcvxTavTivou AyKlvdfoU E[Epa]TarOU Kal c)Aauiou Oia?Epfou 2 vIOU EPaavTcov Trrp]o ? KaAav8Mv 2ETrTEkPPpiOU.

Thirdhand.
AU'p uAios
EXOIIEV

qppo8icios
KptiOs

Kai fTapi-rcAv

aTrO8EKTat

Tas

a'p-rapas

EvcKaKcYiasp8opowraEKOVTa

XElAi'as b 'W TEpOKiTal

AU'piAIos Air[ . . ]cv ?ypayka lJTrEpau'TcOv aypa,uauaTcov.

39. AwuKayiou: for

40. '118 'po:

AwUKyyiou.

Cf. I, 42.

p. the doubtful letters in the first word appear to be pE, but I cannot 44. a . . iEcos a'ITO: of Kase, find any explanation of a term a&EiEws. One is reminded of the a&v' aEiyos Papyrus Roll I, 7, etc. 46. ioivas: ' even,' that is, without fractional numbers. It cannot hardly have the usual meaning of ' without additional charges', since surtaxes are included.
for lai8c

TRANSLATION
I

Aurelios Sumeios, receiver of barley for the harbour of Kerke, to Aurelios Ouenaphrios and Aurelios Kasios and Aurelios Isidoros and their associate sitol9goi of the village of Karanis.

30

A. E. R. BOAK

I havereceivedfrom you for the canon of the seventeenthand fifth year, togetherwitlhthe charges of io%, two hundred sixty, and five-sixth artabasof barley, and for the charges of 500, fourteen artabas, and as transport charges on these (?), five and one-half denarii on each artaba, and the 'denarius per modius '. Year I7 and 5, Pauni 24. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature. And likewise on the 29th, the same (sitologoi)have delivered at the same harbour on behalf of the village for the same year, including the authorizedcharges of io%, eighty-five and one-third artabasof barley, and for the charge of .5s/,.four and one-third artabas, and as transport charges on each artaba,five and one-half denarii, and the ' denariusper modius'. Year I7 and 5, Pauni 29. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature.
2

Aurelios Sumeios, receiver of barley for the harbour of Kerke, to Aurelios Ouenaphrios and Aurelios Isidoros and their associate sitologoiacting for part of the horiodeiktia Karanis. of I have received-for the canon of the seventeenth and fifth year, together with the charges of io%, seventy-eight and three-fourths artabas of barley, and for the charge of 500, four artabas, and as transportation chargeson each artaba,five and one-half denarii,and the' denariusper modius '. Year I7 and 5, Pauni 24. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature. And likewise the same (sitologoi)have delivered on the 29th at the same harbour on behalf of the same village for the same year, including the chargesof io%, sixty artabas,and for the charges of 5%, three artabas, and as transport charges on each artaba, five and one-half denarii, and the 'denarius per modius'. Year I7 and 5, Pauni 29. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature. And likewise the same (sitologoi)have delivered at the same harbour for the same year and on behalf of the same village, including the charges of 2%, three hundred and seventy-nine artabasof barley. Year 17 and 5, Epiph I9. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature. And likewise the same sitologoihave delivered at the same harbouron behalf of the same village for the same year, including the authorized charges of 2%, one hundred twenty-two artabas of barley and as transport charges on each artaba, five and one-half denarii, and the ' denarius per modius '. Year I7 and 5, Epiph i6. I, Sumeios, have affixedmy signature.
3

Second hand. Aurelios Aphrodisios and Pamiton, receivers of the harbour of Leukogion in the fifth pagus. To Aurelios Kasios and Aurelios Isidoros and their associate sitologoiof the village of Karanis and a part of its horiodeiktia greeting. We have received from you in the same harbourof Leukogion, including the charges of io% and 2%, for the canon of the I7th and 5 years of...... grain on behalf of the village of Karanisandits horiodeiktia clean barley to the amount of exactly one thousand nine hundred seventy-six artabas, I976 artabas,and I have also received one denarius on each modius. In the consulship of our lords Valerius Licinnianus Licinius Augustus, and Flavius Valerius Constantinus,son of the Augusti, on the fifth day before the Kalends of September. Thirdhand. We, Aurelios Aphrodisiosand Aurelios Pamiton, receivers,have the one thousand nine hundred seventy-six artabasof barley as aforesaid. I, Aurelios Ap. . on wrote for them since they are illiterate. II
RECEIPTS FOR THE PRICE OF CLOTHING. A.D.

3I4

CAIRO,journal

d'entree, NOS. 57024 A-E.

23 X I2-I3*5

cm.

These five papyri were found tied in one bundle. On the whole, they are in good condition, although all show minor breaks and some traces of abrasion. Papyrus 57024 C was clearly damaged before it was used. In 57024 A, B, and C, the receipts proper are all written in the same hand. This is a large, irregular, upright cursive, which becomes extremely careless in the later lines. The receipts of 57024 D and E are in separate hands, both smaller than that of A, B, and C ; D in a neat, compact, slightly sloping cursive, E in one that is equally practised but more fluent and sloping and written with a finer pen. The subscriptions are all in the same hand, a partly upright, partly sloping cursive of medium size, with legible but not too well formed letters. Since all five receipts were
obviously meant to be identical it seems unnecessary to give the text of each in full, and

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31

so I have selected E as the one to be reproduced since it requires the least emendation, and I have indicated variant readings of the others in the notes. The receipts are addressed to the Strategos of the Arsinoite nome, Aurelios

Sarapammon,who is known also from P. Flor.

54,

of

3I4,

and is almost certainly to

be identified with the Strategos Sarapammon of P. Strassb. 45, I of 3I2. The signatories are three in number: Aurelios Isidoros, son of Palenios, and Aurelios Doulos, son of Timotheos, both Komarchs of the village of Karanis, and Aurelios Isidoros, Tessararios of the same village. In all probability the latter is Aurelios Isidoros, son of Ptolemaios, who appears as one of the sitologoi of Karanis in the preceding receipts for From two other documents in his archive we know that the delivery of barley in 309. Isidoros, son of Ptolemaios, was a Tessararios, and the omission of the father's name in these receipts is not sufficient ground for believing that we have to do with a different Isidoros. The duties of the Tessararios (for variant spellings, cf. line 4, note) are not too well known, but he appears here as a village official co-operating closely with the Komarchs in the collection and delivery of requisitions in clothing imposed upon his community. This confirms the suggestion of Jouguet (P. Thead. 32, col. I, I4, note) that the village Tessararios cannot be the subordinate military officer of that title, but is an official charged with the raising and transporting of levies for the annona militaris. The editors of P. Oxy. I425 (ca. 3I8) in their note to line 5 speak of the Tessararioi as village officials, but appear to be somewhat uncertain as to whether they were civil or military. They also equate the Tessararios with the Quadrarios, but this view is contradicted by one of the Isidoros papyri, which is a petition addressed to a Prefect of Egypt by the Tessarariog and the Quadrarios of Karanis. In P. Oxy. I430 of 324, a Tessararios apparently takes precedence over the two Komarchs with whom he is co-operating, whereas in our receipts he yields to them in rank, but is not necessarily under their authority. The Komarchs and the Tessararios acknowledge that they have received payment, in accordance with a warrant issued by the Strategos, from the bankers who handle the government funds in the Arsinoite nome, for twenty-two shirts (o-riXapia) and eight which they had delivered to two receivers (a-rro6EKTa), Kurillos military cloaks (Tr&A;Aia) and Demeas. The said shirts and cloaks constituted the village quota for the seventh and fifth year or A.D. 3IO-3II. Since the receipt is dated Tubi 20 (I5 January) 314, there appears to have been a delay of fully two years in gathering (possibly in weaving) the requisitioned articles of clothing. There can be little doubt that these garments were requisitioned for military supplies, as part of the annona, or vestis militaris. Not only do the receipts record the total amounts of money received for the sticharia and pallia, but they also give the value assigned to single articles of each category. The value of the sticharion was set at 4,000 dr. ; that of the pallion at 5,ooo dr. In Diocletian's Edict of Prices xxvi, 28-30 (T. Frank, Economic Survey v, 387-388) we find that the are set as follows for a shirt prices for soldiers' linen shirts (cYTiXaQ Ca-rpcOTricKni) of the first quality I,500 denarii, of the second quality, I,250 denarii, and of the third quality, I,OOO denarii. Since the denarius equalled 4 drachmai, it is apparent that the shirts in question here were those of the third class, priced at I,OOO denarii or 4,000 drachmai. This agrees with the price of the o-rXaXpla 8Aopa in BGU 620, 9, where the meaning of 8i;A\cposis uncertain. Unfortunately, the prices of pallia are missing from our text of the Edict. For the twenty-two shirts the Komarchs and Tessararios received I4 T. 4,000 dr., and for the eight cloaks 6 T. 4,000 dr., making a total of 2i T. dr. But from this there was deducted for the Fiscus (TO TraIlEiOV) i T. 2,I90- dr., 2,000 leaving a balance in their hands of i9 T. 5,8IO dr. This deduction is explained as having been made (lines I2-I3) VrrErp Trp( ) S (E'TouS), which indicates that village was delinquent Accordingly in some way with respect to its obligations for the sixth year (A.D. 309-3io). and translated as ' penalty it seems most likely that -rrp( ) should be read Trp(ooThiouv) for delinquency' (cf. Preisigke, Worterbuch, s.v. TrpOCSrilov). From the text of the receipt we can reconstruct (in part at least) the procedure involved in collecting articles of clothing for the vestis militaris. A definite quota of shirts and cloaks was assigned to Karanis for the specific year. Apparently this was the universal

32

A. E. R. BOAK

practice in Egypt at this period, since P. Oxy. I448 of 3 I8 contains an "x0 cetS TLXPrap)V KQai TrcaAAiv for seventeen villages with the quotas for each. After the quota had been collected the responsible village officials, namely the Komarchs and the Tessararios, delivered the articles to the appropriate acrro8EKTQl, probably at Arsinoe. Upon proper certification of this delivery they received from the Strategos a warrant (ETricx-ra?qa), which instructed the officials in charge of the branch of the Fiscus in the nome to pay them at a specific rate for the articles delivered. A similar procedure is indicated in the I74, no. IO fragmentary receipts BGU 620 and Goodspeed, Class. Phil. i (I906), Preisigke, SB. 442I. Both of these texts come from Karanis, and are assigned by their editors to the third century, but they must belong to the latter part of that century, most probably to the time of Diocletian. There are, however, some differences, particularly in the officials involved. In the earlier texts the Komarchs of Karanis act alone, without mention of the Tessararios. Furthermore, although they give the receipt to the Strategos, they declare that they have been paid by the authority of 6o b8acTpuorTaToSE1TiTpOTrOS as well as in accordance with the warrant of the Strategos. In our receipts there is no mention of the ErriTpOTrOS (procurator). In BGU 620 the money paid to the Komarchs appears to have been subject to the deduction of a 5 0 charge, of which no mention is made in our receipts of 3I4. This procedure in the delivery of the vestis militaris differs considerably from that in use in the latter part of the fourth century as indicated by a group of Leipzig papyri, most recently interpreted by A. Segre in ' The Annona Civica and the Annona Militaris', At this period the collection of the vestis was under Byzantion XVI (I942-3), 420-42I. the direct oversight of the provincial Praeses who, through his subordinates, imposed the task of procuring the required articles upon the municipal epimeletai or apodektai. The Strategos no longer played a part in the process. It is possible, however, that the apodektai to whom the officials of Karanis delivered their quota of shirts and cloaks were municipal councillors like the apodektai of later times. The payment of the Komarchs and Tessararios for the garments which they had collected is a clear indication that the receipts before us have to do with a requisition and not with a tax, that is to say, they indicate how the appropriate government agency procured the articles for the vestis militaris, not how the money was raised by taxation to purchase the clothing. For the later fourth century this tax was a monetary levy imposed upon provincial land (C. Th. vii, 6, of A.D. 377; P. Oxy. I905 ; Segre, op. cit., 4I8, 422). Presumably some such levy was in force at least from the time of Diocletian's reform of the Egyptian tax system.
'AVTCoViCo rappcovi aTpa(Tr-yC) 'ApaCi(vo?iTov) Xapa Kaci (v) irapa A.iprjAio(v) 'Iai5cbpo(v) TTaMTviou Ao(C)Ao
TipoOE'ov, aQPpOTEPCAV KOPapXCAVKC1) (p1S) TrEaAc;xpfOv KapaviboS, Kai 'Iai5copo(v) Tris a[CITris]

KCPTS.

pIP'F1PEV

Vrapa TrcAV

IO

15

TOUJ vO,OUJ TOpoaiCA)V XPipTacV Tpa-rrEIrTCOV] OU r E? E?1riarT(ApTOa ovTrEp cXcv TrapeTlris Kai Trrapa5E5C;)Ka,EV [aj i[xapicov] aXi1KaQPEV Kai TraAAicov Ullr?p 3 (?ToUS) Kai E (?ToUs), Kai 1rapa5OeEVTCA)V Kr3 KupiAAcA Kai TI ,a a'rrO6EKTals aTIx(apicov) 'A (T&AavTa) i5 (8paXpa&s) 'A, -rraAia TI, Cbs To(U) a' (5paX,pc7v) 'E, o;S TO(UJ)a' (pax'pc,v) (TaXavTa) 'A, (6opou> (T&aQvTa) Ka (5paXpaai) 'B, E( CbV 0-rToXoyOlJVTral VrTrEp s (5paX,pas) p 9 (EToUs) (TaXavTa) a (5paXpai ) 'Bpp, Ta Aorir(a) (T&aVaTa I iO (5paXpai ) 'Ecot. yEVEaco i1 arrOXx KUpia, Kal ETrEp (cA)TTev-TES) CbpoAo (yaa,PEV). EraT s U1ETiasQ TCOV T11S 5Earrc0)V UpCJv Kco(v>a(TavTivoU) TO y', TUpi (K>. Second hand AiipTjAioiS['IaThcopoS] Kal AiKlvioU vEPaYT3V Kao AOCAoU Ka' iai 'cpo(U) [CDS1rpoKiTrai]. iPTpPr0eTPiEV AopilMos liacov Eypa4JE VTrEp aQlTO)V ay[pappaTrcov].
2.

Ai^prAio(i):
TECaXaapioUJ:

pap. a"
So

4.

D have pyi9. A, B, C, ATp)cov. also D. A, B, C, have eEaCapio(tJ)

for

e?ECaAapiouJ.

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also B, C, D, but A has UT?rp *[ * ] Kal E (ETOuS). The letter following VTrEp might be a v or possibly a Tr, or it might be a combination of two letters. One cannot read ?@[56pou], but the presence of E ("ToUV) indicates that must have preceded. 3 (E-ToV5) Nom. or acc. for gen. in agreement with II. Tr6CAAia: so C, elsewhere abbreviated.
Kai

7. E E`rlrTaApaTo's 8-9. [a]jwi[xapicov] 9. Ullr?p 3 (ETOUS)

ou:

omitted

Kai iraAAicov: ? (ETroV5):

in B and D. omitted in A.
SO

D omits

Kali TraAAicov.

TrapaoOeEVTcoV of I, 9. a': 605 TOU EVOS -D. COS TO0J) iz. <o'PoO>: included in A, B, C, D. in followed by TC6 TaQp'Cw I2-I3. p S' ('TOUS):

A, B, and C. A apparently omits s F^for Trp,as Professor Youtie has derrionstrated in his note on P. Aberdeen I8 (AJP LXI [1940], p. 481), to which he has called my attention. This abbreviation may be completed in various ways, Cf. the introbut the reading which seems best to suit the sense of the passage is Trp(oUTi,Pou). ductory discussion. lacking in A, B, C, D. I3. -yEVE?OCA) urraTEica: A, B, C, D have pET'a TflV 1vTraTEiav. Since the third consulship I5. PEWTa TS of Constantine and Licinius fell in 313, Tubi 20 following this consulship will be equivalent to Jan. I5, 314. For the same way of dating cf. P. Lond. 975, 20 (cited in Preisigke, W61rterbuch i6. <K>: obviously an unintentional omission, since it appears in all the other receipts. so AMpTAioi5: also A. B, C, D. ['Iai5copo5]: so B, but perhaps Ision wrote 'Iaoicopouas he did in A, C, D. 17. AouiXou: B, C, D have AoOXos; A has Ao<(Ao5>. 'Ioi65'po(u): as in B, C, D, and probably A where the final letter has been lost. It is interesting to note that Ision placed the dots about the initial Iota of this name in all of the subscriptions but omitted them in the case of the first Isidoros.
III, 74).

TRANSLATION

To Antonios Sarapammon, Strategos of the Arsinoite nome, from Aurelios Isidoros, son of Palenios, and Aurelios Doulos, son of Timotheos, both Komarchs of the village of Karanis, and Isidoros, Tessararios of the same village. WVe have been paid by the bankers of the public monies of the nome, in accordance with your warrant, for the price of the shirts and cloaks which we have received and delivered for the seventh and fifth year, and which have been delivered to Kurillos and Demeas, receivers, (namely for) 24 tunics at 4,000 dr. each, 14 Tal. 4,ooo dr. (and) 8 cloaks at 5,ooo dr. each, 6 Tal. 4,000 dr., altogether 21 Tal., 2,000 dr.; from which are deducted on account of outstanding obligations (to the Fiscus) for the sixth year i Tal. 2,I90 dr., leaving I9 Tal. 58io dr. Let the receipt be valid, and upon being formally questioned, we have made acknowledgment. After tlle third consulship of our lords Constantine and Licinius, Tubi 20. Second Hand. We, Aurelios Isidoros and Aurelios Doulos and Aurelios Isidoros have been paid as aforesaid. I, Aurelios Ision, wrote for them since they are illiterate.