§394 Gaius Julius Apollinarius

Gaius Julius Apollinarius

(0394) Text: ἔτου[ς] ἑκκαιδεκάτου Αὐτοκράτορος | Καίσαρος Τραιανοῦ Ἁδριανοῦ | Σεβαστοῦ Φαῶφι ε’ διὰ τῆς Διδύμου | τοῦ Πτολεμαίου τραπέζης | Πλατίας Γυμνασίου. Γάιος | Ἰούλιος Ἀπολινάριος Ἡρανού- | βι Δημᾶτος τοῦ Ἀβύκιος | ὡ(ς) (ἐτῶν) ξ’ οὐλὴ ὀφρύϊ ἀριστ(ερᾷ) ἱερεῖ Ἀνού- | βεως κώμης Καρανίδος ἀγραμ- | μάτῳ ἔχειν αὐτὸν παρὰ τοῦ Γαίου | ἀπὸ ἐκ̣φορίων ὧν ἔσχε ὧν ἐγε- | ώργει [ἀ]ρουρῶν πρότερον Πτολεμαίου | καὶ Χαιρή̣μονος ἀμφοτέρων Σωκράτους | ἃς τυ[γ]χάνει ὁ Γάιος ἐωνῆσ- | θαι ἐ[κ] προκηρύξεως [ἐ]κ τοῦ δημο- | σίου πυροῦ ἀρτάβας εἴκοσι ἐννέα | δίμυρ[ο]ν, οὗ καὶ τὴν ἀπόδοσιν ποιήσετ(αι) | ἐν προθεσμίαις δυσί , ἕως μὲν τῆς | τριακάδος τοῦ ἐ(νε)στῶτος μηνὸς τὸ ἥ- | μισου μέρος, ἕως δὲ τῆς τριακάδος τοῦ | Ἁθὺρ μηνὸς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἔτους | τὰς λοιπὰς μέτρῳ δημοσίῳ ἀνυ- | περθέτως. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀποδο͂ι τὸν σῖτον | ἀποδώσει τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ καιροῦ ἐσομέ̣- | νην πλίστην τιμήν.

Translation: The sixteenth year of the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, Phaophi 5, through the bank of Didymos, son of Ptolemaios, in the street of the Gymnasium. Gaius Iulius Apollinarius (advises) Heranoubis, son of Demas, the son of Abykis, about 60 years old, with a scar on his left eyebrow, priest of Anubis of the village of Karanis, illiterate, that he (Heranoubis) has received from Gaius from the rents which he (Gaius) has for the arourai which he (Heranoubis) has been farming, which formerly belonged to Ptolemaios and Chairemon, both sons of Sokrates, and which Gaius happens to have bought at public auction from the treasury, twenty-nine and two-thirds artabai of wheat, which he (Heranoubis) will repay in two instalments, one-half on the thirtieth of the present month and the rest on the thirtieth of the month Hathyr of the present year, measured with the public measure, without delay. If he does not repay the grain, he shall pay the highest current price at the time. 

Commentary: This papyrus documents a loan of wheat by Gaius Julius Apollinarius. Apollinarius probably has some Jewish heritage: his paternal great-aunt bears the name “Sambathion.” While the name Sambathion does not prove with certainty his Jewish ancestry, it remains likely. Tcherikover notes the mix of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian names in the family (CPJ). Several other letters from the family have been found but are omitted from those collected here – these are limited to those mentioning Apollinarius. Apollinarius’ father was also a soldier of legio III Cyrenaica. See the fuller discussion of the family’s archive in Elinor M. Husselman, ed., Papyri From Karanis, Third Series: Michigan Papyri IX  29 (Cleveland: The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1971), 5-8; K. Vandorpe, W. Clarysse and H. Verreth, Graeco-Roman Archives from the Fayum, Collectanea Hellenistica 6 (Leuven: Peeters University Press, 2015), 186-198. 

Provenience: Karanis, Egypt (near Fayuum, Egypt) 3 Oct 131 CE

Bibliography: P.Mich. 572*