Texts from the "archive" of Socrates, the Tax Collector, and Other Contexts at Karanis: P. Cair. Mich. II

Description

This volume of Papyri contains a selection of 25 pieces which were excavated in the village of Karanis in the north-eastern Fayum (Egypt) by American archaeologists between 1924 and 1926. Many of the texts published here come from the archive of a well known figure in the village life of Karanis in the 2nd century AD: Socrates, son of Sarapion, was a tax collector here for many years, serving the Roman Empire collecting taxes due in money and in kind. Besides his successful economic activities - Socrates certainly belonged to the upper stratum of society in Karanis - the tax collector was a lover of Greek literature; for sure, he did not venture into high philosophy and the like, but he read Homer, comedies, and tried to be up to date about mythology in plays. Half of the new texts published here are literary, mostly from Socrates' library; other texts were found in the immediate neighbourhood of where Socrates lived, such as a surgical treatise about remedies of shoulder dislocations, which perhaps belonged to a doctor. The other half of the papyrus texts in this volume are documents that can shed new light on the activities of the tax collector, or of other inhabitants of Karanis. Altogether they give us a vivid picture of village life in Graeco/Roman Egypt in the 2nd century AD. Preface Introduction A Literary Texts from the “Archive” of Socrates, the Tax Collector(House B17) 1. Homer, Iliad A 292–297 2. Homer, Iiad B 723–791 3. Two Fragments from the Roll of Menander’s Epitrepontes 4. History or Fiction, and Commentary on Iliad A? 5. List of Titles of Comedies or Satyrplays B Literary Texts from Street BS1 in Front of B17, and Other Houses 6. Homer, Iliad G 348–353 (Street BS1) 7. Homer, Iliad H 26–35 (House B25) 8. Homer, Iliad T 511–515 (House B25) 9. Demosthenes, De corona 85–86 (House 034) 10. Surgical Treatise (House B12) 11. Epictetus, Discourses 4.1.136–138 (House B12) C Documentary Texts from the “Archive” of Socrates, the Tax Collector (B17) and Street BS 1 12. Fragments of Land and Tax-Related Documents 13. Daybook of Payments in Kind 14. Declaration of Mutual Liability Addressed to the Strategus 15. Receipt for Rent 16. Notification of Death 17. Complaint about Robbery (or Seizure?) Addressed to the Strategus 18. Complaint about Violence and Robbery 19. Register of Land and Payments 20. Letter Written by a Woman D Documents from Other Locations in Karanis 21. Application for a Lease of Catoecic Land 22. List of Names 23. Receipt 24. Letter to a Monk? Bibliography Indexes 1. New Literary Texts History or Fiction Comedies or Satyrplays (?) Names General Medical Text 2. Documentary Texts I Chronology A. Roman Emperors B. Months II Personal Names III Geography IV Official Terms and Titles V Measures and Money VI Taxes VII Land Categories VIII Religion IX General Index of Words