Accounting in the Zenon Papyri 9780231877428

Table of contents :
Preface
Contents
Abbreviations and Bibliography
I. The Household and the Estate of Apollonios, Treasurer General of Ptolemy Philadelphos
II. Accounting Offices, Accountants, and Accounting Method
III. P. Col. Inv. No. 249 and P. Col. Inv. No. 211
IV. Money Accounts
V. Accounts of Raw Materials, Live Stock, and Implements
VI. The Relation of the Ptolemaic to Other Ancient Accounting Systems
Notes
Accounting Terms
Indices

Citation preview

A C C O U N T I N G IN T H E

ZENON PAPYRI

ACCOUNTING

IN

THE

ZENON PAPYRI BY

ELIZABETH

GRIER

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS NEW YORK

1934

PRESS

Copyright 1934 Columbia University Press Published 1934

Printed in the United States of America The Cayuga Press, Ithaca, New York

Preface The published collections of Zenon papyri which have been of especial use in making this study of accounting are P. Cairo Zenon, P. Col. Zenon, P. Mich. Zenon, and P.S.I. Single texts which have appeared in periodicals and in other publications are listed in the Bibliography. I have also been able to consult freely the unpublished Zenon papyri in the Columbia University Library. Although there are still papyri in the hands of collectors who are reluctant to part with them at a reasonable price, there are, nevertheless, a sufficient number of available accounts and financial documents to justify the study which is here presented of the accounting of the third century before Christ. This book is the starting point for a more comprehensive study of the development of Greek and Roman accounting. Since I have been able to establish direct influence of Greek fifth- and fourth-century accounting methods on those of the Ptolemaic period in Egypt, I am convinced that a better understanding can be reached of the Greek accounts and financial records, knowledge of which has been confined to epigraphical and literary sources. In a similar manner, the continued use of Greek accounting and bookkeeping methods can be traced in the Hellenized provinces of the Roman Empire. I wish to express my gratitude especially to Professor William L. Westermann who suggested this subject to me. I am deeply indebted to him for his constant advice and scholarly criticism of my work. I wish to acknowledge also my obligation to Professor Clinton W. Keyes for reading and correcting my manuscript and for offering valuable suggestions. I am grateful to the Columbia University Library for granting me permission to publish the two Zenon papyri, Inventory Numbers 211 and 249; to the British Museum for their cooperation in making consultation of papyri and transcripts of the documents possible; and finally, to the Widener Library of Harvard University for kindly extending to me the privileges and use of the library, without which the immediate completion of this work would have been impossible. New York City July 15, 1934

Elizabeth Grier

Contents Abbreviations and Bibliography

ix-xiii

I. The Household and the Estate of Apollonios, Treasurer General of Ptolemy Philadelphos

3-8

II. Accounting Offices, Accountants, and Accounting Method III. P. Col. Inv. No. 249 and P. Col. Inv. No. 211 . IV. Money Accounts

.

9-23 24-35 36-45

V. Accounts of Raw Materials, Live Stock, and Implements 46-55 VI. The Relation of the Ptolemaic to Other Ancient Accounting Systems 56-57 Notes

59-65

Accounting Terms

67-69

Indices

71-77

Abbreviations and Bibliography Andreades, A., A History of Greek Public Finance, Vol. I. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1933. Beigel, R., Rechnungswesen und Buchführung der Römer. Karlsruhe, 1904. Bevan, Edwyn, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. London, 1927. B.G.U., Ägyptische Urkunden aus den Museen zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden, I-VII (1895-1912). Bickerman, Elias, Beiträge zur antiken Urkundengeschichte, Das Hypomnema. Archiv für Papyrusforschung, IX (1930), 164-172. Breasted, James H., Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. IV. Chicago, 1906. Brown, Richard, A History of Accounting. Edinburgh, 1905. C.A.H., The Cambridge Ancient History, J. B. Bury, S. A. Cook, F. E. Adcock, M. P. Charlesworth. 12 vols., 1928-30. Vol. VII, Hellenistic Monarchies and the Rise of Rome. 1928. Demosthenes, Orationes, Vols. I-II, 1-2, S. H. Butcher, W. Rennie. Oxford, 1903-31. Desvernois, J., Banques et banquiers dans L'Égypte ancienne. Bulletin de la Société royale d'archéologie, X X I I I (Alexandria, 1928), 303-48. Fitzler, Kurt, Steinbrüche und Bergwerke im ptolemäischen und römischen Ägypten. Leipzig, 1910. Geijsbeek, John B., Ancient Double-Entry Bookkeeping. Denver, Colorado, 1914. Glotz, Gustave, Prix du papyrus dans l'antiquité grecque. Bulletin de la Société royale d'archéologie, XXV (Alexandria, 1930), 83-96. Grier, Elizabeth, Wages Paid in Kind in the Zenon Papyri. Transactions of the American Philological Association, LXIII (1932), 230-44. Hasebroek, Johannes, Zum griechischen Bankwesen der klassischen Zeit. Hermes LV (1920), 113-73. Hohlwein, Nicolas, L'Égypte romaine, Recueil des termes techniques relatifs aux institutions politiques et administratives de l'Égypte romaine. Paris, 1912.

X

Abbreviations and Bibliography

Hombert, M., Quelques papyrus des collections de Gand et de Paris. Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, IV (1925), 633-76. Hypereides, Orationes, F. G. Kenyon. Oxford, 1907. I. G., Inscriptiones Graecae. 1892-97. I. G.2 Vols. II et III editio minor. J. Kirchner 1913-16. Isaeus, Orationes, Th. Thalheim. Leipzig, 1903. Lysias, Orationes, K. Hude. Oxford, 1913. Maspero, Henri, Les Finances de l'Égypte sous les Lagides. Paris, 1905. Meyer, Eduard, Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung des Altertums. Kleine Schriften, Vol. I (Halle, 1924). Meyer, Paul, Dioikesis und Idios Logos. Festschrift zu Otto Hirschfeld, 131-63. Berlin, 1903. Papyrus Cattaoui. Archiv für Papyrusforschung, III (1903), 67-105. Milne, J. G., Ptolemaic Coinage in Egypt. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, XV (1929), 150-53. Oertel, F., Zur Frage der attischen Grossindustrie. Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, L X X I X (1930), 230-52. Otto, Walter, Priester und Tempel im hellenistischen Ägypten. Berlin, 1908. Pacioli, Lucas, Summa de arithmetica. Venice, 1494. P. Cairo Zen., Papyri Cairo Zenon. C. C. Edgar, Catalogue général des antiquités du Cairo musée, Vols. I-IV (Cairo, 1925-31). P. Col. II., Tax Lists and Transportation Receipts from Theadelphia, W. L. Westermann and C. W. Keyes. New York, Columbia University Press, 1932. P. Col. Inv. No., Unpublished papyri in the Columbia University Library. P. Col. Zen., Zenon Papyri, Business Papers of the Third Century B. C. Dealing with Palestine and Egypt, Vol. I, W. L. Westermann and E. S. Hasenoehrl. New York, Columbia University Press, 1934. P. Cornell, Cornell Papyri, W. L. Westermann and C. J. Kraemer, Jr. New York, Columbia University Press, 1926. P. Goodspeed, Greek Papyri from the Cairo Museum, E. J. Goodspeed. Decennial Publications of the University of Chicago, V (Chicago, 1904), 1-73. P. Hal., Dikaiomata. Berlin, 1913. P. Lille, Papyrus grecs, P. Jouguet, P. Collart et al. Paris, 1907.

Abbreviations and Bibliography

xi

P. Lond. Inv., Unpublished papyri in the British Museum. P. Mich. Zen., Zenon Papyri in the University of Michigan Collection, C. C. Edgar. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1931. P. Oxyr., The Oxyrynchus Papyri, Vols. I-XVII, B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt. London, 1898-1927. P. Paris, Notices et extraits des manuscrits grecs de la bibliothèque imperiale, Brunet de Presle, Vol. XVIII. Paris, 1866. P. Petrie, The Flinders Petrie Papyri, I-II, Rev. J. P. Mahaffy. Dublin, 1891-93. I l l , Rev. J. P. Mahaffy and J. G. Smyly. Dublin, 1905. P. Petrie Griffith, The Petrie Papyri, Hieratic Papyri, from Kahun and Gurob, I-II, F. L. Griffith. London, 1898. P. Princeton, Princeton Paypri, A. C. Johnson and H. B. Van Hoesen. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1931. P. Rev., Revenue Laws of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. P. Grenfell. Oxford, 1896. P. Ryl. Zen., A New Group of Zenon Papyri, C. C. Edgar. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, XVIII (1934), 111-30. P. S. I., Pubblicazioni della Società italiana per la ricerca dei papiri greci e latini in Égitto, G. Vitelli, Vols. IV-VII. Florence, 1917-29. P. Teb. Tebtunis Papyri, Vols. I-III, Grenfell, Hunt, Smyly, Goodspeed. New York, 1902-33. P. Wis. A New Zenon Papyrus at the University of Wisconsin, W. L. Westermann and A. G. Laird. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, IX (1923), 81-90. Petrie, W. M. Flinders, Social Life in Ancient Egypt. New York, 1923. Plaumann, G., Der Idioslogos. Abhandlung der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philologische und historische Klasse, XVII (1919). Preisigke, Friedrich, Zur Buchführung der Banken. Archiv für Papyrusforschung, IV (1907), 95-114. ——— Fachwörter des öffentliches Verwaltungsdienstes Ägyptens. Göttingen, 1915. Girowesen in griechischen Ägypten. Strasbourg, 1910. Wörterbuch der griechischen Papyrusurkunden, Vols. I-III. Berlin, 1925-27.

xii

Abbreviations and Bibliography

Preisigke, Friedrich and Friedrich Bilabel, Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten, Vols. I-II, 1 (Strasbourg, 1915, 1918); Vols. II, 2—III (Leipzig, 1922, 1926-27); Vol. IV (Heidelberg, 1931). Rostovtzeff, Michael, Caravan Cities. Oxford, 1932. Foreign Commerce of Ptolemaic Egypt. Journal of Economic and Business History, IV, 4 (Cambridge, 1932), 728-69. The Foundations of Social and Economic Life in Egypt in Hellenistic Times. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, VII (1920), 161-78. A Large Estate in Egypt in the Third Century B. C. Madison, 1922. "University of Wisconsin Studies in the Social Sciences and History," No. 6. Out of the Past of Greece and Rome. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1932. Scharff, Alexander, Ein Rechnungsbuch des königlichen Hofes aus der 13. Dynastie, Papyrus Boulaq 18. Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, LVII (1922), 51-68. Schubart, Wilhelm, Die ptolemäischen Reichmünze in den auswärtigen Besitzungen unter Philadelphos. Zeitschrift für Numismatik, X X X I I I (1921), 68-82. Segr6, Angelo, Metrologia e circolazione monetaria degli antichi. Bologna, 1928. Seidl, Erwin, Übersetzungen und Abhandlungen zum vorptolemäischen Rechte Ägyptens. Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft, XXV (1932), 219-49. S. I. G., Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum, Wilhelm Dittenberger. Leipzig, 1915-24. Spiegelberg, Wilhelm, Die demotischen Urkunden des Zenon-Archivs. Leipzig, 1929. — Rechnungen aus der Zeit Seti I mit anderen Rechnungen des Neuen Reiches. Strasbourg, 1896. Steiner, A., Der Fiskus der Ptolemäer. Berlin, 1914. Tarn, W. W., Ptolemy II and Arabia. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, XV (1929), 9-25. Viereck, Paul, Philadelpheia. Morgenland, Darstellungen aus Geschichte und Kultur des Ostens, XVI (Leipzig, 1928).

Abbreviations and Bibliography

xiii

Voigt, Moritz, Über die Bankiers und die Buchführung der Römer. Abhandlung der Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Klasse, X (1888), 515-77. Wessely, C., Studien zur Paläographie und Papyruskunde, I-XXIII. 1901-24. Westermann, William Linn, Upon Slavery in Ptolemaic Egypt, P. Col. I. New York, Columbia University Press, 1929. Warehousing and Trapezite Banking in Antiquity. Journal of Economic and Business History, III, Part I (Cambridge, 1930), 30-54. Wilcken, Ulrich, Alexander der Grosse und die hellenistische Wirtschaft. Schmoller's Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung, und Volkswirtschaft im deutschen Reiche, XLV (1921), 45-116. Griechische Ostraka. Leipzig, 1899. Zu den Impensae der Res Gestae divi Augusti, Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Klasse. (1931), 772-85. Wilcken, Ulrich and L. Mitteis, Grundzüge und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde; Vol. I, Part I, Grundzüge. Leipzig, 1912; Vol. I, Part II, Chrestomathie. Leipzig, 1912.

Papyri

I The Household and the Estate of Apollonios, Treasurer General of Ptolemy Philadelphos The Zenon papyri were discovered in 1915 in Egypt by peasants who were digging for antiquities on the spot where the ancient Philadelphia was located in the Fayiim. There was thus brought to light a series of documents which form a very valuable source of information upon the history of the Ptolemaic economic system and upon the important works of organization in the state during the third century before Christ. The application of certain fiscal and commercial policies as well as the results of one of the most successful of the experimental projects introduced by the second Ptolemy are illustrated in these papyri of the Zenon archive. They present detailed information concerning the private and official business transactions and the household affairs of Apollonios, the dioiketes, or chief financial minister of Ptolemy Philadelphos. They also furnish valuable records belonging to Apollonios' dorea in the Fayiim, or "gift-estate," of which the administrative system was largely based upon that of the Ptolemaic government itself. This estate was located near a completely new town called Philadelphia which also was planned under the direction of Apollonios although it was not a part of the ten thousand arouras which the dorea contained. 1 The ten thousand arouras, or about seven thousand acres, of newly reclaimed land were to be prepared for cultivation and were to be worked under the supervision of Apollonios. Such an estate was not only difficult to put into running order, but the holder of it took the risk of a sudden change in rulers and in their policies as well as of the ultimate confiscation of the property by the state, which would then assume control. Actually Apollonios does disappear from our sources after the death of the second Ptolemy and the estate was confiscated. Whether Apollonios died or was sent away in disgrace is still a matter for conjecture. At first Panakestor was oikonomos, or manager of the estate for Apollonios but since his work was not satisfactory he was soon succeeded by Zenon, a Carian Greek, who first appears in the correspondence of Apollonios in 261-

4

Household and Estate of Apollonios

260 B.C. Zenon did not become acting manager of the estate until sometime before the end of April in the year 256 B.C. He had visited the place once before this time while on a long tour with Apollonios in the year 258-257 B.C. There are some letters of complaint, belonging to the period when Panakestor was manager, in which Apollonios accused him of negligence in his duties (P.S.I. IV 502). The work of organization appears to have been too difficult for a person of no more than ordinary abilities in administration, and too, there was the additional difficulty of satisfying Apollonios, who was certainly a hard taskmaster. No such complaints are to be found among the papyri concerning Zenon's management of the estate. Zenon had, it must be remembered, already served his apprenticeship in the miniature court of the dioiketes and was, therefore, well acquainted with Apollonios' methods of work. He had consequently been judged capable of handling the large estate in Philadelphia. It is due to Zenon's habit of filing all documents, both those referring to the estate and those belonging to the period when he was general manager in Alexandria for Apollonios' foreign and domestic affairs, that there have been preserved these many accounts, memoranda, and the private and officia correspondence, well over a thousand documents in all. These reveal the various tasks incidental to the conducting of official duties, to the running of the household of an important public official, and to the organization of a gift-estate which was run on a large scale. There is evidence of another establishment under Apollonios' supervision at Memphis, but there is very little known concerning this estate. There is no proof that it was property assigned by Ptolemy "in gift." The names of the chief representatives connected with the Alexandrian household and with the estate frequently appear in the papyri, either in reports which these employees gave in connection with their departments, or in accounts presented by them or drawn up in Zenon's own office. An Amyntas was in charge of a large number of the servants who were employed in the household at Alexandria, while Peisikles and Aristeos were treasurers. An Artemidoros was mentioned as the steward of the house, and was therefore responsible for payment of salaries to boys and to others hired to help him in his work. That Apollonios' interests reached several countries outside of Egypt is shown in a group of letters and accounts from or about agents working for him and purchasing goods such as wine, oil,

Household and Estate of Apollonios

5

perfumes, pickled fish and meats, dyes, myrrh, rugs, sheep, and other kinds of live stock, all of which were shipped to him for his storehouses, his household in Alexandria, or for his estate in the country {chord). These commodities were later issued by the storekeeper at the order of Zenon and were either used by Apollonios and members of his household, or were sometimes sold. In either case accounts were kept of the receipt and disposal of these goods. The merchant fleet by means of which Apollonios and others transported goods from Palestine and also up and down the Nile, was commanded by Kriton. There are accounts and letters which deal with the actual fitting out and rigging of boats in this fleet, and for wage payments to the captains and the crews. The boats were also used by Apollonios and by Zenon when they went on the tours of official inspection through Egypt. Although there are several series of documents dealing with the household of Apollonios both in Alexandria and on tour, and with his mercantile transactions, the bulk of the Zenon papyri belongs to the estate maintained at Philadelphia. Through accounts and other documents it is possible to trace the development of this estate from its very beginning to its confiscation by the Ptolemaic state, and even thereafter for a few years. The task of constructing the works of irrigation necessary during the first few years was conducted by Kleon, an engineer, and by his assistants; the clearing of the land and its cultivation, by Damis; the building was under the direction of Diodoros who likewise supervised the daily accounts of this period. P.S.I. V 580 for 257-256 B.C., a letter sent from Maron to Zenon at Alexandria, shows that the expenses for the constructions and other operations which were going on in that year were recorded daily and were sealed after their accuracy had been testified to by the supervisor of accounts. It is not specified anywhere whether the money used in outlay for the works of construction on the estate came from Apollonios' own account or from the state treasury. P.S.I. V 499, 4 (c. 257-256 B.C.) however, a letter from Panakestor to Zenon, suggests that Apollonios paid for the clearing of the land and for its cultivation. Panakestor asked for money to defray the cost of these works, since there was no money left in his treasury. The accounts for the early years of the estate's organization have not been preserved. 2 Duplicate receipts for wages or for loans to pay for clearing and for working the land under cultivation comprise the extant financial records for the estate during this period. These belong to

6

Household and Estate of Apollonios

the year 257-256 B.C. when Panakestor was still oikonomos, before Zenon had taken over the management of the estate and had introduced a systematic method of accounting. After this period the estate was better organized and its personnel was divided into separate departments. These were headed by persons frequently mentioned in the Zenon archive. The vineyards, for example, were a very important part of the estate and vine planting was carried on on a large scale. Names of vinedressers occur in the accounts. The chief supervisor of vineyards was probably Herakleides. Another Herakleides managed the swine department which rented the estate's herds of swine for breeding. There was also a Herakleides, called the head farmer of the estate, who had charge of the distribution of grain for seed purposes, for wages, and for loans to employees of the estate or to estate farmers, and for feeding of live stock. Two men, Jason and Herodotos, managed the sheep and goat distribution among those farmers who possessed no live stock of their own but had to rent them from Zenon. There are many memoranda which in most cases take the form of accounts of money intrusted to employees of the estate for use in the interests of the estate itself. Some of these memoranda were from farmers, stonecutters, vinedressers, and others. Accounts or memoranda had to be presented concerning every transaction. The use of every drachma or commodity used on the estate was carefully recorded. The accounts, after being received by the accountants or by Zenon, were filed to be used as a basis for drawing up the longer general accounts of monthly and of yearly expenditures. The picture portrayed of Zenon's share in the affairs of Apollonios is much clearer than that of the part played by the dioiketes himself. The documents show that while Zenon was in Philadelphia in charge of the estate from 256 to 246 B.C. he directed the building activities of the town itself and also had complete control over the management of the affairs of the estate there and probably over those in Memphis as well. He was, however, at all times in constant communication with Apollonios who was interested in every detail. It is also obvious that Zenon worked in cooperation with the government in connection with the collection of various money taxes and of the apomoira, that is, the "sixth" or hekte due from the vineyards and orchards in the districts tinder his care. There are a number of official documents which have appeared with the correspondence and with those accounts which

Household and Estate of Apollonios

7

belonged strictly to the estate or to the household of Apollonios. There is some question as to the reason for the presence of official letters in the Zenon archive. The only satisfactory answer that can be suggested is that many of the accounts and other records of Apollonios' private and public affairs were apparently kept by the same staff of accountants and scribes. Zenon's own personal transactions and those of Apollonios were confused in a similar manner since the same accounting office managed both sets of accounts and Zenon filed them all. In addition to the picture presented of the estate and of its management there is much that adds to our knowledge of the finances and of their administration by the larger oikos, or household, of Ptolemy, inasmuch as the accounting systems were almost identical. The accounting terms are the same. Also the double system of economy which was characteristic of ancient life after the introduction of coined money constituted the basis of both organizations. That is, the accounts show a distinct separation between payments and expenditures made in money and those made in produce.' Employees received as regular wages not only money, but grain, and in some cases oil in part payment. It is a reasonable supposition, which will be more completely worked out later (cf. Chapter VI pp. 56-57), that in its general principles, the system of accounting which was used on the estate, and presumably by the Ptolemaic state itself, was similar to that employed by Greek business men of the fifth and fourth centuries before Christ and thereafter, and that its general application may be detected in the literary references as well as in the financial records of the Greek city-states and the amphictyonies both in the classical and in the Hellenistic periods. The Roman emperors continued at first the Ptolemaic system in Egypt and used it to a great extent in their own imperial financial system, so that by the second century after Christ they had worked out an elaborate accounting system which surpassed that of the Greeks in its organization and detail.4 There is, however, no evidence to show the use in Greco-Roman accounting of double entry in which every debit has a corresponding credit. 6 There is very little progress over the Greek and Roman systems shown in accounting until the nineteenth century after Christ. The accounts of a Florentine banker of 1211 and the so-called ledgers of the fourteenth century are the earliest preserved accounts from our era which begin to show a scientific system of bookkeeping with advanced rules and formulas.

8

Household and Estate of Apollonios

The double entry system appeared in regular use in 1340 in Genoa in the accounts of stewards to their local authorities. 6 The early Greek ephemerides and ledgers, the Roman adversaria (ephemerides), codex accepti et expensi, and the liber rationum (ledger) form, however, the fundamental basis for any accounting system.

II Accounting Offices, Accountants, and Accounting Method The double system of economy which was followed by the household and also by the estate of Apollonios resulted in the drawing up of separate sets of accounts in accordance with the nature of the goods to be accounted for. For the purpose of convenience, therefore, there were two particularly important divisions made in the accounts, one in which were posted receipts and expenditures in money, and the other in which were recorded the receipts and the distributions of grain. These accounts were headed argyrikoi (sc. logoi) and sitikoi (sc. logoi), "money accounts" and "grain accounts" respectively. Similar divisions appeared in the government accounts from the banks and the granaries of the Ptolemaic state of the same period; and they go over even into the Roman period in Egypt along with the double system of economy.7 In the Zenon archive there were, in addition to accounts of money and of grain, accounts which dealt with oil, wine, and various other products brought into Egypt by Apollonios as an importer, and with numerous supplies issued for work on the estate from its iron stores. Other accounts record the purchase and use of live stock, bricks and other materials necessary for the building and the repairing of houses and various structures on the estate or in the town of Philadelphia. The type of account was always indicated at the head of the papyrus. If, as in some cases, this is now lost, frequently identification is still possible from the docket which Zenon's clerks wrote on the verso when they filed the documents. For example, in the duplicate receipts for money for the year 29 of Ptolemy II, the word argyrika appears on the dockets of several of the documents.8 This distinguished the money loans or receipts from the sitika daneia (grain loans) or sitika symbola (grain receipts). There is evidence in the Zenon papyri of treasurers, accountants, and of several accounting offices associated with the estate, with the private establishment of Apollonios at Alexandria, and with the official following of Apollonios as Treasurer General of Egypt. It is sometimes difficult in examin-

10

Accounting Method

ing the accounts and letters to draw a sharp line between the private and the official transactions of Apollonios because it is apparent that his accounting bureaus and clerical staff kept accounts of both types. Therefore, his activities as a private citizen frequently come into collision with his interests in the state. The fact that Zenon had in his files such a variety of accounts and letters indicates the important part which he played in the affairs of Apollonios. Some very important accounts have come from the year 258-257 B.C. which give not only a picture of the luxury and attention to detail which attended Apollonios at home or which accompanied him on his official tours of inspection, but which also reveal the names of several of his accountants and scribes who had charge of the accounting and record offices. The daily business carried on by Apollonios even during these trips was so extensive that it was necessary to transport whole offices and their staffs along with him. In P. Cornell 1, an account of castor oil distributed during two months of the year 258-257 B.C., three accounting offices are mentioned; namely those of Athenagoras, Demetrios, and Dionysodoros. These received as a daily allotment one kotyle of castor oil for lighting purposes, or as in the case of Dionysodoros one half kotyle per day, except when business was suspended for the holidays during the Isis festival on Apellaios 9 and 10. On the eleventh of the month the assignments to the logisteria were again resumed. The accounts kept by the office of Demetrios in particular, were numerous. At one time, on Apellaios 25, the pressure of work required the employment of an additional number of scribes to help Demetrios during the night. 9 Another indication of the importance of the accounting offices and of the amount of work which they undertook is revealed in the accounts of papyrus rolls distributed to the offices in Apollonios' service.10 P. Col. Zen. 4 is an account for three successive months of the year 258-257 B.C. During these months. Panemos, Loios, and Gorpiaios, a large number of rolls were given out daily, Some rolls were even assigned to Peisikles for wrapping purposes, which indicated the cheapness of papyrus at this period.11 The office of Demetrios, obviously the largest, received during Loios ten rolls per day for four days and twenty rolls on a fifth day. Altogether four hundred and thirty-four rolls were given out to accounting and to other offices presumably during a period of thirty-three days, an average of thirteen rolls a day. Other recipients of papyrus who have been identified with the financial organization of

Accounting Method

11

Apollonios were Artemon, Pyron, and Peisikles. The names of Artemon and of Peisikles have been found in documents relating to the Alexandrian household; Artemon as an accountant and Peisikles as a treasurer, or paymaster of the employees. In P.S.I. IV 373 Artemon paid out a sum of money from actual amounts on hand in contrast to amounts paid out through the bank. In P. Cairo Zen. Ill 59355, concerning money loaned by Zenon to Philon, the baker of the household, Peisikles is recorded as having paid out various amounts of money to the latter for wages. There are references in this same document to the logos of Apollonios, which was presumably kept for payment of salaries of the employees on the pay roll of his Alexandrian household and for other expenditures strictly connected with Apollonios' private transactions. Zenon had access to this account and through it was able to attach salaries or stop payment of them in the case of those who had borrowed money from him. The Pyron who is recorded in P. Cornell 1 as head of the accounts of the stewards' office, and again in P. Col. Zen. 4 as a recipient of papyrus rolls for ephemerides, or day-by-day accounts, is undoubtedly the same Pyron who appears in five documents connected with the estate at Philadelphia in the years 252, 251, and 250 B.C. 12 On one occasion in 252 B.C. he was sent a copy of Zenon's latest private account (idios logos) in order that he might check the difference in reckoning (diaphora) and compare it with his own records.13 It is not possible to determine exactly when Pyron with his clerical staff was transferred to the estate at Philadelphia. There are no dated documents between 258-257 B.C. and 252 B.C. which refer to his activities. The undated petition to Zenon for an office and for fixed salary for himself and for his clerks (P. Cairo Zen. IV 59647) may well have been the first in the series of documents belonging to the time when Pyron was known to have been working on the estate. In this letter he asked for an office building near that of Zenon, a hundred rolls of papyrus to begin with, and a definite arrangement about salaries. The cost of the papyrus rolls was to be entered on the account of Apollonios. When the requests had been granted and he and his office force were settled, then, he claimed, he could pay back these expenses out of the money taken in by his own office. This reference to the fact that Apollonios' account could be drawn upon for Pyron's needs, makes it certain that Apollonios himself, temporarily at least, was responsible for the initial outlay, and for many later expenditures incurred by the estate.

12

Accounting Method

The wages to be paid to Pyron's office clerks were little more than those received by unskilled laborers. The amount paid monthly was to be 5 drachmas with 1J artabs of wheat for one clerk, and 3 drachmas with artabs of wheat for the other. Pyron himself was to receive considerably more. His salary was to be 10 drachmas with 3 artabs of wheat. P. Mich. Zen. 46 for 251 B.C. and P.S.I. VI 571, probably for 251-250 B.C., substantiate the belief that Zenon acceded to the greater part of these requests. In these two documents, the one a letter and the other a memorandum, Pyron requested some additional favors. He asked for a plot of land with seed for the first year's sowing so that he need no longer trouble Zenon for his monthly sitometria, or food allowance in wheat. He also wanted money so that he might be suitably prepared to travel in style on a journey which he was to take with Zenon. He also claimed that he was paying for one more clerk in addition to those already supplied to him by Zenon. The amounts paid to this extra clerk were stated as 3 copper drachmas, 1? artabs of wheat, 2 kotyles of oil, and 10 drachmas for himalismos, or clothing allowance. Zenon was, according to Pyron, well acquainted with the amounts paid to the other clerks. But Pyron reminded him that there were daily expenditures which had to be met by his office. Pyron lost no opportunity to impress upon Zenon the weight of the responsibilities and the number of the expenditures undertaken by himself and by his staff. Zenon must have attributed some importance, however, to Pyron's position on the estate, since, in 250 B.C. when he himself was away, Pyron was the recipient of a complaint (P. Mich. Zen. 52) made by Phanesis, a grain agent, against Stotoetis another grain agent. This implies that apparently Pyron's office temporarily handled the business of the estate in the absence of the manager. All evidence points to the existence on the estate of the two accounting offices, that of Zenon, which was the main office, and that of Pyron, where a great many of the accounts must have been drawn up. The greater part of the accounts handled by these offices dealt with the receipts and expenditures incurred daily, monthly, and yearly by the estate. But there were some which were prepared in one or the other of the offices by some scribe or accountant to be presented to individuals who were responsible for money belonging to the estate or to Zenon. In one account drawn up for Pyrrhos, one of Zenon's farmers, the accountant began the account with the verb «xo/xti', and later

Accounting Method

13

used the second person singular of the same verb as if addressing Pyrrhos himself.14 The use of the second person, however, was common in accounts. For example, in the long money account P. Cairo Zen. Ill 59326 the verb ava