9. PSI V 514 31.5 x 25 cm The dioiketes Apollonios (finance minister of King Ptolemy II Philadelphus), in Alexandria, wrote a letter to Zenon, the administrator of his vast farming estate in Philadelphia, demanding that, within three days, he send to the capital city the offering that the community of Philadelphia was required to contribute for the stephanephoria ceremony honouring the king. Immediately afterwards Zenon was to arrange to send what had been ordered to honour the anniversary of the king’s ascent to the throne. The papyrus is part of the enormous Zenon Archive, whose documents have made it possible to reconstruct the life of this figure. Born in Caunus, on the coast of Asia Minor, he went to work for Apollonios in the autumn of 261 BC. After serving in Palestine, he returned to Egypt; in the summer of 258 he began to accompany Apollonios on his journeys, working as his private secretary. According to the documents, in April–May 256 he was sent to Apollonios’ estate near Philadelphia, which he oversaw until 248/7. Zenon left this position in 247 but remained in the countryside, living on the income he earned from his vineyards and flocks, and from leasing his land. We do not know when he died, but he is last mentioned in a document dated 14 February 229. The 353 Florentine papyri from the Zenon Archive, written in Greek with the exception of a few demotic and Greek-demotic documents, were originally purchased by Guido Gentilli and were then progressively acquired by the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana starting in January 1917. Go Up |
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