Greek and Latin Papyrology

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Greek and Latin Papyrology

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
PAPYROLOGY: ITS NAME, DEFINITION AND LIMITS
WRITING MATERIALS AND BOOKS IN ANTIQUITY
DISCOVERY AND PUBLICATION OF GREEK PAPYRI FROM EGYPT
THE HERCULANEUM PAPYRI
GREEK AND LATIN LITERATURE IN PAPYRI
DOCUMENTARY PAPYRI AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF HELLENISTIC EGYPT
DATING AND HANDWRITING OF PAPYRI
LECTIONAL SIGNS AND EDITORIAL TECHNIQUE ANCIENT AND MODERN
PROSPECTS FOR PAPYROLOGY
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX
INDEX OF PAPYRI
INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORS
INDEX OF MODERN SCHOLARS
LIST OF PLATES
PLATES

Citation preview

CLASSICAL HANDBOOK 1

GREEK AND LATIN PAPYROLOGY by ITALO GALLO

Translated by Maria Rosaria Falivene and Jennifer R. March

Institute of Classical Studies University of London 1986

FOREWORD

This is the first volume of a new series of Handbooks for Classic inaugurated to mark the Sesquicentenary of the University of Lon

grateful to Professor Gallo for his generosity in making his indispens

available to English readers.

Two or three further volumes will appear during 1987, in translation of Bruno Snell's Griechische Metrik, a commentary Blamire on Plutarch's Life of Cimon (with text and translation), by Dr Olga Krzyszkowska of the technology of ivory-carving.

The series, designed with the needs of graduate students in comprise new works as well as reprints and translations, and will the more technical aspects of research across the whole field of Roman antiquity. J. P. Barron

Director of the Institute of

Classical Studies, and Editor of Publications

Italo Gallo is Professor of Classics at the University of

Salerno (Faculty of Lettere e Filosofia). For more than a decade he has taught Papyrology. He has published several works concerning literary papyri from Egypt and from Herculaneum, among them the first two volumes of the corpus of all Greek biographical papyri: Frammenti

biografici da papiri . I. La biografia politica (Rome 1975);

IL La biografia dei filosofi (Rome 1981). He is also the author of Ricerche su Eschilo satiresco (Salerno 1981), a side of the great tragedian which is known almost exclusively through papyri; and of essays about dramatic authors of the Hellenistic period ( Teatro ellenistico minore, Rome 1981), and about aspects of Alexandrian and Byzantine scholarship.

PREFACE

This book appeared in Italy at the end of 1983, and I wish to thank here two friends and colleagues of the University of London, Giuseppe Giangrande and Herwig Maehler, for suggesting that it be translated into English, As I said in my Preface to the Italian edition, my intention was to provide a concise, modern handbook for students and scholars alike. No one who is interested in the study of Classical Antiquity can afford to disregard the importance of papyri. This introduction to Greek and Latin papyrology attempts to define the problems in this field. No such book existed in Italy, for Orselina Montevecchi*s La papirologia (Turin 1973) has a largely documentary approach. But colleagues pointed out to me that an English translation of my book was called for. The late Sir Eric Turner's Greek Papyri differs in outlook from the present handbook, which is more broadly based; it includes, for example, a study of the Herculaneum papyri.

In this English edition, I have made a few corrections and

additions at the suggestion of my colleague Antonio

Carlini. I am grateful to Miss Maria Rosaria Falivene and

Dr Jennifer March who made the English translation. I

hope that my book may help to spread a knowledge of

this discipline which is a major source for new information in the field of Classical Studies, even though the pioneer discoveries of the last century are now past. In addition to publication of new texts, the detailed analyses of material already available remains an urgent task for Ancient Historians and Classical scholars. ITALO GALLO

CONTENTS

I. Papyrology: its name, definition and

II.

Writing

limits

materials

and

books

in

antiquity

III. Discovery and publication of Greek papyri from

IV.

V.

The

Greek

Egypt

Herculaneum

and

Latin

papyri

literature

in

papyri

VI. Documentary papyri and the socio-economic history

VII.

Dating

of

and

Hellenistic

handwriting

Egypt

of

papyri

VIII. Lectional signs and editorial technique ancient

IX.

Prospects

Notes

to

and

for

Index

Index

of

of

List

papyrology

Chapters

Bibliographical

Index

modern

of

-

IX

Appendix

papyri

ancient

modern

of

I

authors

scholars

plates

1

I. PAPYROLOGY: ITS NAME, DEFINITION AND LIMITS

Papyrology is one of the many disciplines that have come to be included in the study of antiquity. Like other historical disciplines, it contributes to a global view of the ancient world, and of Greek and Roman antiquity in particular, and is no mere sideline. Although one of the latest disciplines to be established, it has developed furthest and offers the greatest prospects. Before attempting a definition, I shall deal briefly with the origin of the name, which was coined only recently on the

model of other technical terms in the new branches of

knowledge. The term papyrology seems to have been introduced at the end of the nineteenth century, after research had been carried out for about 150 years in a varied, indeed

somewhat disorderly, manner. It was, apparently, only

then that the rapid expansion of research with papyri gave rise to the need for a scientific and formal systematization of the discipline, so that the name was first used in English in 1898. Two derivatives, papyrological and papyrologist , were adopted in 1906 and

1922 respectively.^ Girolamo Vitelli was the first to use the term in Italian, in 1901,2 while its appearance in French ( papyrologie , whence papyrologue, "papyrologist") and in German ( Papyrologie ) soon followed. 3 German scholars, however, generally preferred its synonyms:

Papyrusforschung^ and Papyruskunde.5

According to its obvious etymology, "papyrology" means "the study of papyri", both as a writing material obtained from the papyrus plant, and from the point of view of its written content. In the first, less common, meaning, technical knowledge is required, in botany, organic chemistry, climatic geography and the like, which is not usually part of a papyrologist* s basic training, so that he will often need to consult experts in those fields: ideally, they will collaborate. The second meaning is more rommon: it implies a very close connection between the

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"papyrologist at work" and the classicist, the historian, and in general all those who study the ancient world. With regard to this etymological explanation, I shall have to delve a little further into detail in view of some

disagreement about the object of papyrology. Such discrepancies arise particularly from the main subdivision of papyri themselves into two categories: literary papyri , that is, those preserving literary works, or, more often, fragments of them, and documentary papyri, public and private, concerning all aspects of everyday life, from letters to contracts, laws, record-books, lists, and so on. A great number of papyrologists mistakenly considered that documentary papyri were their sole concern, while literary texts belonged to the classicist. This was the opinion of Ulrich Wilcken, one of the founding fathers of papyrology, who assigned to this discipline only "Greek and Latin documents written on papyrus" and thus expressly excluded literary papyrology from his influential handbook, leaving it to classicists and historians of

Greek and Latin literature. ^

More recently, W. Peremans and J. Vergote refined this proposition in their definition of papyrology: "a special discipline relating to Hellenistic civilization and based

upon the study of archival documents". ^ This defi is accepted by 0. Montevecchi in her handbook,® i

literary papyri are given some attention but only as they illuminate everyday life and historical events in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt. I believe all these definitions to be one-sided and

restrictive: they result in papyrology1 s being reduced to a mere subsidiary discipline to the social, economic and cultural history of Graeco-Roman Egypt alone, that is, the place of origin of the majority of these documents. Were this correct, all Herculaneum papyri would be excluded, to give but one example, and this just at the time when much new work is being done on them.

We might perhaps temporarily set aside discussion of the definition and limits of papyrology and follow the empirical

3

and sensible approach of Sir Eric Turner, ^ if the

non-literary approach were not still adopted in some places. The origin of such a view lies probably not only in the strict historical training of Wilcken and the others,

but also in their need to achieve an autonomous status for

the new discipline, which might have been endangered by too close a connection with classical philology. However this may be, such a view seems too narrow, especially since in the present day the study of history and literature tends to converge. Moreover the dividing line between literary and documentary papyri is not always clearly marked. Neither documents nor literary papyri are the sole material of papyrology. If a definition must be given, it is best perhaps to adopt the rather vague and general one suggested by Medea Norsa at the beginning of the entry "Papirologia" in the Enciclopedia Italiana (vol. XXVI, 1935, p. 257): "the discipline aiming at deciphering and editing Greek and Latin texts as written on papyrus or other easily portable material."

In fact, papyri have been found in many languages other than Greek and Latin. The most ancient are Egyptian, written in hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic scripts. There are also Coptic papyri, written in the language and script of Christian Egypt from the third century A.D. onwards; a few Meroitic papyri from Nubia, to the south of Egypt; an important group of Aramaic papyri written by Jewish immigrants settled in Egypt, mostly at Elephantine in the fifth century B.C.; Hebrew and Syriac papyri; a few Persian papyri in the Pahlavi language and script, from A.D. 619-629; and many Arabic papyri, from

the seventh to the fourteenth century A.D. 10 There is

therefore Egyptian, Aramaic, and Arabic papyrology, and one might equally think of a papyrology for any of these other languages were there not too few papyri surviving.

The specific object of our study is Greek and Latin papyrology - primarily Greek papyrology, as Latin papyri are few; and it is customary to include, along with papyri, ostraka (inscribed pot sherds), wooden tablets, lead tablets, parchment (vellum) and other animal skins.

4

Published Greek and Latin writing on papyrus or other material dates from the fourth century B.C. to the eighth century A.D. The earliest Greek literary papyrus has been assigned to the third quarter of the fourth century B.C.: it is a large half-charred roll (Plate 1) found at Derveni, near Salónica, in 1962, and contains a philosophic

commentary on an Orphic poem.H The oldest Greek

documentary papyrus, c. 330 B.C., was found at the necropolis of Memphis: this is Peukestas1 order not to

enter a sacred area.12 From A.D. 641 Arab domination replaced Byzantine rule over Egypt, followed gradually by the disappearance of Greek language and culture. New discoveries may yet extend these limits. Before the

Derveni text was found, P.Berol. 9875 (1537 Pack^)

Abusir and dated not much later than 330 B.C., was thought to be the most ancient literary papyrus; it contains Timotheus* Persians (see Plate 2). Similarly, Greek papyri are known later than the Arab conquest of Egypt, down to the ninth century at least.

The greatest number of papyri come from Egypt, thanks to the dry climate that made possible their preservation at

abandoned sites. But discoveries have been made outside

Egypt as well. In Syria about 150 Greek and a few Latin papyri were found at Dura Europos on the Euphrates. In Palestine, the Dead Sea scrolls on leather were found in pottery jars in a cave. The preservation of about 1800 papyri at Herculaneum is due to another phenomenon, as we shall see. It appears from these examples that papyrology possesses somewhat indefinite boundaries, ranging as it does over wide areas of time and space, while including a variety of writing materials (not only papyrus as such) within its compass.

This presents no real problem, however, to the papyrologist at work. What matters above all is that the work of a papyrologist is not mere technique, nor is it an isolated specialisation, but requires an approach which is inter-disciplinary. To sum up: it is difficult and perhaps impossible to draw a line between historical and literary scholarship. The

5

papyrologist has a foot in both camps. On the other hand, and in the present state of classical studies, it is desirable if not essential that every classical literary scholar and historian should be able to assimilate the

papyrological evidence. In conclusion, I quote Wilamowitz f s introduction to his History of Classical

Scholarship : "Because life, which we try to understand, is

a unity, our science is a unity too. The existence of separate disciplines like classics, archaeology, ancient history, epigraphy, numismatics, and now papyrology, is justified only by our human limitations: it must not suppress, however, an awareness of the whole, not even

in the specialist". 13

6

II. WRITING MATERIALS AND BOOKS

IN ANTIQUITY

1. Papyrus and other writing materials Papyrus was undoubtedly the most common writing material in antiquity both in Egypt, where the plant grew, and in other Mediterranean countries. Its use originated in very ancient times: if preserved Greek papyri date back only to the fourth century B.C., papyrus as a writing material was certainly in use several centuries before then, during the third millennium, if not even earlier, in Egypt. Its use spread outside Egypt probably

in the second millennium. 1 We know that it was expo

to Phoenicia around the twelfth or eleventh century B.C., and in particular to Byblos, in exchange for wood. So some scholars suggest that from Byblos is derived the word byblos (or biblos), which in Greek means papyrus and which is generally assumed to be of Phoenician origin {gubia). It is possible that papyrus was already known in Greece as early as the Mycenean period, but no trace of its use remains in the literary tradition. In fact, we have no real proof of the time of its introduction (or reintroduction) into Greece in historic times; though this probably took place around the middle of the seventh century B.C.

The papyrus plant ( cyperus papyrus) grows in marshland, in damp and heat, and it therefore found in Egypt the most favourable conditions for its cultivation, being particularly abundant in the Nile Delta and in the Arsinoite nome (modern Fayûm); it also grew in Ethiopia, Palestine, and Babylon, though less abundantly, and later in Sicily, where it was perhaps imported by the Arabs and still grows, expecially along the banks of the Ciane, near Syracuse, and in the basin of the- spring Arethusa, in the

town itself.2 Its stalk can reach five metres high, and

topped by an umbrella-shaped tuft. The plant was used to manufacture a number of other products before writing material was made from it: nutritious and cheap food, material for burning, medicines, bandages, sails, clothes, shoes, blankets, ropes, and even small light canoes. From

7

its triangular stem material was obtained for the manufacture of the papyrus sheet following a procedure described in detail by the elder Pliny in his Naturalis

Historiaß His description contains some confusion and

inaccuracies, though these can easily be corrected on the basis of modern experiments which have tried to reproduce the same procedure. The lower part of the stem was used to manufacture a writing surface: it was cut and stripped of its outer skin, while still fresh, to expose the pith. Very thin vertical strips ( philyrai ) were cut from the pith and arranged upon a hard plane (usually a table, wet with Nile water) such that they overlapped slightly with all their fibres lying in the same direction. A second layer was made up, with strips at right-angles to the first philyrai being placed on top of the initial layer ( schiza ). A few blows from some kind of large mallet (for instance, a large flat stone) were sufficient to blend the two layers into one sheet without any need of glue; this was then allowed to dry, and was finally polished with a pumice stone, an ebony tool, or a shell. The sheet which emerged from this purely mechanical process was light in colour, strong and at the same time flexible, and able to stay folded or rolled up without immediate damage.

The writing material was cut into sheets (kollemata) large enough to contain a limited number of written columns. These were then pasted together to form a roll (tomos, Latin volumen ), usually made up of some 20 sheets and about 4.50 metres long. This was the standard roll, but of course smaller pieces could be cut from it, to write letters or to compile documents; or, should the roll not be long enough for a particular need, extra sheets or even a second roll could be added, though never exceeding 9-10 metres in total, so as to keep it reasonably manageable. From the factories, however, papyrus came out in rolls ready-made to a standard format, in relation to which the price was fixed. The Greek word chsirtes (Latin chstrta) referred not to a sheet but to a ready-to-use roll, with horizontal fibres on the inner side and vertical fibres on

8

the outer surface. For some time now we have grown used to calling the side first used the recto, that is, the side where the writing was parallel to the fibres, and the other side the verso, thus extending to papyri a terminology already in use for mediaeval parchment and paper codices. This conventional definition, however, is valid only with reference to rolls, the first book-format, and not always so even there. It becomes ambiguous when it is used with reference to the codex, the other form of the ancient Look, which established itself in the Roman period and corresponds more or less to the form of the printed book. In papyrus codices, recto properly means the right side of a double page, without taking into consideration the direction of the fibres. So scholars, and

particularly Turner on several occasions, 4 have sugges

that the terminology recto/verso should be abandoned. It seems preferable to rename the recto "face with horizontal fibres11, and the verso "face with vertical fibres", , with the

direction of the fibres indicated with - ^ and y . It

may happen, particularly on small fragments, that the kollesis (the join where two sheets were pasted together) is no longer recognizable, so that it cannot be decided which side was written first. In this case both arrows

should be used : - r ..H , to show th

the fibres in relation to the writing. (For parchment leaves, the most accurate description specifies the flesh and the hair sides). In view of this manufacturing technique, one would expect all kollemata to be roughly the same size, at least in a

good literary roll - but this was not always the case

In linking sheets together to make up a roll, the ancient manufacturer took particular care to make the kolleseis as smooth as possible, so that the pen could write over them without getting stuck. An ancient volume was written in a number of columns ( selides ) parallel to the shorter side of the roll and beginning on its left side; and the roll itself was handled in much the same way both for writing and reading, that is, it had to be unrolled with the right hand and rolled up again with the left. The first leaf in the roll {protokollon ) was the only one with vertical fibres, and was usually left blank to protect the inner part of

9

the roll, which, once written and completed, was wound round a stick ( omphaios ), and on it was hung a label (sillybos) bearing the author's name and the title. As for official correspondence, documents relating to the same matter or to the same person were glued together by the offices concerned - or perhaps by private people instead of being kept separately, thus forming a papyrus roll called tomos synkollesimos , because it was not original like those produced by the manufacturer.

As for the quality of the papyrus, there exists a

nomenclature reported by Pliny, ^ though this clearly

refers mainly to normal practice in Rome of the first century A.D. "Charta hieratica" (the name derives from its having been originally reserved for sacred texts) was the best quality, of large size and very fine; "charta liviana" (so called in honour of Livia, Augustus* wife) was as large, but less fine; "charta Claudiana" (introduced under Emperor Claudius) was of inferior quality to the previous two, but stronger. Then followed the types of papyrus in common use: "charta amphitheatrica" (perhaps thus named from the location of the factory) later renamed "fanniana" after Fannius, a craftsman, who made it thinner and improved its quality with a new treatment of his own invention; "charta saitica" (produced at Sais, in the Nile Delta); and "charta taenotica" (made at Taenea, near Alexandria). Last was "charta emporética", made only for commercial purposes rather than for writing. In fact, writing material made from papyrus deteriorated progressively in quality, and the oldest papyrus is also

the best made. It has been observed^ that papyrus m

in Egypt during the Ramesside period is of an extraordinary fineness and evenness of texture, so that, in comparison, a sheet produced in the Ptolemaic period about 1000 years later is heavier and thicker. Leaves manufactured in the Roman period are clumsier and coarser still, though good standards are maintained until the third century A.D. After this its quality deteriorates rapidly until it ends up resembling cardboard, though there are of course exceptions to this.

10

The manufactured sheet did not usually require anyspecial treatment before being written on. Ancient sources say that cedar oil was used as a preservative, and a few fragments survive which still show a brilliant yellow patina that admirably sets off the written letters. In Egypt letters were painted rather than written, with a soft reed that could be both brush and pen. Greek scribes, once they had derived the use of papyrus from Egypt, improved on the writing technique: they would sit cross-legged, as did the Egyptians, holding the writing surface upon their clothing, stretched from knee to knee, but they used a hard reed (kaļamos) cut with a knife, with which they would draw each character separately instead of painting it. The earliest inks were prepared on the spot, by blending a dense carbon black (lamp-black), gum and water. At one time in antiquity papyrus was relatively cheap, but later it became more expensive, presumably because of increased demand. All the same, the practice of re-using the blank verso of a roll already inscribed on the so-called recto, or that of washing off the previous text with a sponge so as to re-use the same writing surface, had probably nothing directly to do with the price of papyrus. There was clearly a market for papyrus already written on one side. The most common case was for rolls

bearing literary texts on the recto to be re-used for documents on the verso, while the opposite case occurred much more rarely, the most remarkable instance being that of the Athenian Constitution by Aristotle (P.Lit.Lond. 108

[163 Pack^]) written on the verso of an account. In any

case there was probably no particular period in which papyrus was so excessively expensive that its price

limited its use and encouraged recycling instead

Of course people also used alternative writing materials. Schoolboys, soldiers, tax-collectors, and people from the lower socio-economic strata in general also made use of fragments of broken amphorae ( ostraka ) or flat pieces of limestone; and linen bandages intended for wrapping mummies, the bark or leaves of palm trees, slate slabs, and so on, also provided writing surfaces. A wooden

11

board, whitened and then painted on, was also very

common;^ on a board prepared in this way ( leu

album) the Athenians published their notices and the Egyptians did their homework. Alternatively, the wooden tablet could be hollowed out in the middle, or framed all round, and the cavity filled with a coloured (usually dark, but sometimes also red) wax that could be written on by incision with a stylus sharpened at one end; the other end of the stylus was blunt, so that it could be used to erase and to level the wax again. Such tablets ( deltoi ) were often hinged in groups of two (diptych), three

(triptych), or more (polyptych), and held together by a

ring or leather thong, the central tablets bearing wax on both sides. In some cases the wax is not preserved, and the writing can be deciphered only because the stylus scratched the wooden surface beneath, or else the wax was missing, either by accident or design, and the scribe wrote directly on the wood. The one material that rivalled papyrus, in the Near East

at least, was animal skin. Varro tells^ how Ptolemy VI of

Egypt banned the export of papyrus to prevent Eumenes II, king of Pergamům, from founding a library in his capital like that of Alexandria. Eumenes was thus compelled to resort to sheepskin, and the new material derived its name (pergamene) from Pergamům itself. But even if this tale were true, parchment could certainly not have been invented at that time, as Varro suggests: at most, its long-familiar production may have been expanded to answer increased needs. In fact, skins from different animals ( diptherai , membranae) are known to have been used as writing material for many centuries in Persia, Asia Minor and Egypt. The famous scrolls from Qumrân on the Dead Sea are made from leather and are similar to

papyrus rolls, apart from being written from right to left according to Hebraic custom. Several parchment texts from Dura-Europos (Syria) and from Egypt are also to be

dated before the supposed invention. The terms "leather"

and "parchment" are not interchangeable, however, since they refer to skins that have undergone different treatments: leather is made by immersing the skin in a vegetable substance containing tannin, whereas parchment is obtained by covering the skin with alum and then

12

dusting it with powdered chalk. By convention the term "parchment" ( pergamene , seil, diphthera or pergamon) is used for sheep or goat skin, "vellum" for the finer skin of a young calf or kid. The best-quality skin is obtained from newborn or stillborn lambs (hence its title "uterine

vellum").

Parchment never replaced papyrus entirely, though it spread even in Egypt from the third century A.D. Papyrus disappeared only with the coming of paper made

from rags, 12 anc| not entirely even then. Papyrus roll

were still in occasional use for literary texts in the sixth century A.D., and papyrus was always the chief material for documents, letters and accounts. It was still fashionable in Egypt under Arab domination (late seventh/early eighth century), while outside Egypt it was used as a rule for letters and documents.

The whole series of Ravenna archives (scriptoria) was also on papyrus; these are dated between the fifth and the tenth centuries A.D. Papyrus too was used at the Papal

chancery until the eleventh century at least.13 a few

texts on papyrus may be dated even later, down to the fourteenth century; but the production had ceased by then and the plant itself had begun to disappear, retreating towards the upper reaches of the Nile.

2. The book: from roll to codex

What is today understood as a "book" or a "volume" is quite different from the meaning of the same word in antiquity, at least until a certain period. To the ancients a book (byblos or biblos, biblion, volumen) was for centuries the papyrus roll. This format presented a number of disadvantages to anyone transcribing a text, particularly a long one (and long works required more than one roll, of course: for instance, each of the nine books of Herodotus' Histories and of the eight books of Thucydides filled one roll). Users were faced with more serious disadvantages: in the first place, the roll also involved the reader on a physical level, since he needed

13

both hands to keep it open, unrolling it from the right and rolling it up on the left as he ran his eye over the narrow columns (scenes on vases show readers in

difficulties with a twisted roll, and the Younge

tells how Virginius Rufus broke his hip in trying to pick up a roll that had slipped from his hands). Then after use it had to be rerolled with great care and accuracy; and even though it was made of quite tough material and was protected by a cylindrical container (very few of which have been preserved) it could not stand up to wear and tear, and was easily damaged. Because of all these factors the life of a papyrus roll was usually not very long, and it happened only rarely that one could be read

as much as 300 years after having been written. ^ But

should be added that this estimate of a relatively short life is never a firm and constant rule, since much depended on a whole series of circumstances (such as the papyrus quality, how it was preserved, how often it was used, the care of its user, and so on). As for content, since it was written on one side only the roll could comprise no more than one or two tragedies, and at most three short books of Homer.

These factors, among others, were instrumental in the growing use of another type of book, the codex, which in the Roman period co-existed with the roll and then gradually replaced it. This has been called "the most important revolution in the history of the book till print

was invented". 16 a codex ( somation , codex, from caudex

"trunk, stump") in its final form, as established by the fourth century A.D., was made of papyrus or parchment sheets folded down the middle and gathered together in quires, then stitched together and protected by a binding of wooden boards covered with leather. The new form

was without doubt much more practical: the codex would stay open, could be consulted at any moment and anywhere, and the reader needed one hand only; its pages could be written on both sides, and it could contain

four or five times as much text as a papyrus roll;!^

finally, it was bound and was thus robustly protected

fiom wear.

14

The change in form, however, cannot be ascribed to the replacement of papyrus by skins, since the first codices were almost invariably made from papyrus, and skin had

long since been employed as a writing material (see abo

in the roll format.

We cannot trace the precise history of the development of the codex nor fix exact dates. For a long time scholars assumed that no codices existed before the fourth century A.D.; but this view had to be modified after examples were found that could not possibly be later than the second century A.D., or even earlier, and the origin of the codex was then pushed back to the first century A.D. (not later than 70 A.D.).

E.G. Turner^ followed C.H. Roberts^ in believing that the

appearance of the codex was related directly to the gradual spread of Christian literature: Christ's words began to circulate on note-books, and the fact that the Gospels were disseminated in this form from the beginning determined the custom of using the codex for Christian scriptures as a whole. Lay (that is, pagan) literature slowly followed this example, perhaps at first for economic reasons. These factors have recently been studied in depth and given a more convincing historical explanation by Cavallo: "The codex is ... the book for popular, Christian, and technical literature, in any case for use by the lower and poorer classes. The alternative was the roll, which carried the great literary works and was reserved for readers in a position to appreciate them, the traditionally educated elites of society. So the technical innovation in book production was an impulse from the lower strata of ancient society, when, in a period of crisis in the ancient world, new social groups began to penetrate the world of the written word ... The arrival of

the codex, therefore, broke up the exclusive circle of habitual readers: from this point of view its function may be compared in a sense with the arrival of the paperback

in our times". 21

15

The most common, though not the only, unit in a codex was the quaternion ( tetradion , quaternio) formed from four double leaves stitched down the middle, to make up eight leaves and 16 pages. Codices consisting of quinions, or even of single sheets, also occur; and the same codex may comprise quires with different numbers of sheets. Before beginning to write (in the case of parchment codices) the scribe would rule each leaf with a hard point, both vertically, to mark the margins, and horizontally, to draw the lines for the pen; then the double leaves were sewn and bound after they had been written. The inner leaves in a quire were cut slightly narrower than those on the outside, so that they would lie flush when shut. A book thus made up, however, would still be liable to be torn or broken along the stitching, no matter how much it was strengthened with parchment strips; moreover, it was not easy to read close to the stitching itself. In certain codices, the double leaf was so large that it had to be made up of two papyrus sheets glued together; and in this case the manufacturer tried not to have the join in the middle, but rather to have it on the left-hand page, in the middle or near the margin. As already stated, one of the reasons for the great durability of the codex was its cover, of which there were different types. In general, the most ancient covers were made from wooden boards, often hollowed out as if for wax tablets, but then covered with leather decorated with simple geometric figures. P.Bodmer XVII (sixth or seventh century A.D., containing New Testament texts) has a flexible cover of incised leather strengthened with cardboard (made from old papyrus) and a rough cloth. To sum up: in the Greek and Roman world the form of the book was first the roll, and then the codex. The papyrus roll had been in use from the time when writing began to spread and oral culture changed to the culture of written communication, transmitted through the book. It remained in use, and was the main medium, until the second-third centuries A.D. The codex, of papyrus at first and then predominantly of parchment, began as a Christian and popular book form, and then established itself as the book both of the Church and of lay culture

16

to the end of the ancient world. It continued throughout

the so-called Dark Ages in the ecclesiastical scriptoria , then came into wider use once more with the Byzantine and Carolingian revival of the ninth century, when the minuscule book scripts replaced the literary majuscule of

antiquity.

17

III. DISCOVERY AND PUBLICATION OF GREEK PAPYRI FROM EGYPT

As we have seen, papyrology has only recently become an autonomous discipline within classical studies. But the first papyrus finds date back to the mid-eighteenth century. Before outlining a brief historical sketch of the most important finds, however, I must point out that these discoveries, first at Herculaneum and later in Egypt, did not bring to light an entirely unknown and unheard-of material, since a few surviving mediaeval papyri were kept in various European libraries and museums. These included a few literary fragments, particularly on religious subjects, but were mainly documents, such as the papyri of the Merovingian sovereigns (dated between 625 and 658); the Ravenna papyri, written while the town was the capital of the Western Empire and then of the Ostrogothic Kingdoms; and Papal papyri, documents coming from the Pontifical Curia, mainly licences, of which we have

examples down to the nineteenth century. 1 We

of a discovery in the humanist period: the Hellenist Johannes Jacob Grynaeus (1540-1617) presented his friend Basil Amerbach with two scraps of Greek documentary papyri from Egypt, which he believed to be Turkish texts; later these were kept in the Basel library ( Amerbach Papyri) and were published only in this century by E. Rabel in P. Bas. I (Berlin 1917). This discovery, however, made no impact on classical studies at the time and is mentioned here only for the sake of curiosity.

The first discoveries of Greek and Latin papyri were made at Herculaneum between 1752 and 1754, although their publication began only in 1793 with P. Here . 1497, the very first literary papyrus published. The next chapter will be devoted entirely to the Herculaneum papyri because of their special character both in material (they consist of charred scrolls) and contents (almost all deal with philosophical subjects), and because of a number of problems related to their study. Apart from all other considerations, the Herculaneum papyri certainly deserve more attention than has been given in current handbooks, in which information about them is not only scarce but often imprecise and inaccurate.

18

Thus the present chapter will deal only with the Greek and Latin papyri from Egypt, from where nearly all the extant documentary papyri and most of the literary texts come.

To make our survey of the finds as clear as possible, it seems sensible first to explain why ancient papyri in Egypt and a few neighbouring areas were preserved from the corruption which is the common lot of all organic material, and to describe the conditions and circumstances in which the papyri were found. The main reason for their preservation is the hot and dry climate typical of the Nile valley (though not of the Delta, where in fact papyri are rarely found, unless burnt and charred). In other areas, especially those high enough to avoid the waters of the annual flood, papyri were preserved where villages had been abandoned during the Arab period, if not earlier in the last centuries of the Byzantine period, and sand had eventually covered and preserved everything. Excavation amid the ruined buildings of these ancient villages, or in the huge rubbish mounds outside them which look like hills covered with sand, have brought to light, and are still doing so, thousands of papyrus fragments, ostraka , and so on, in various states of preservation, though always, of course, needing to be cleaned and restored. Many papyri have also been found in tombs, where they had been put as funerary gifts. Many others have been retrieved from mummy cases, many of which were made from disused papyrus rolls, pasted together and compressed.

The first Greek papyrus from Egypt to be published in Europe was acquired near Gizeh in 1778 by an Italian merchant, to whom, it seems, many more had been offered by Arabs. The merchant gave it to Cardinal Stefano Borgia, who kept it in his Museum at Velletri and had the Danish professor Niels I. Schow study it. The roll, 3.5m. long and comprising 12.5 columns, was published by Scftow in Rome in 1778 under the title Charta papyracea Graece scripta Musei Borgiani Velitris. It is a document dating from A.D. 192/3 (the 33rd year of Emperor Commodus •

Alexandria £ V ' V //S¿n>K ļ ' I TH V ! OUl^Ł^rj. A * ļ ^

1 ' ļ U jl limai) (sân-d-Hagar)

Dl ļ e I i I f i

i' ^Cclfty' 1 »u . V*Toura ^J) M^^4' i' 1 »u . • V*Toura T CS rvvAcf'kk"1J • T 1

SOKNOPAIU NESOS < Dimai »# ^ fi / .łfO£ft/i / AC U i V DIONYSIAS (Qasr-QarX^/^r--^ lí™*®?1™'01 ARS,NOE IS (A,f'h) V ' ' EUHEMERIA(Qasr-e1-Banat>*/'apy.rologiral

research.

134

9. History: reference works The study of documentary papyri presupposes a good knowledge of the history of Graeco-Roman Egypt. On the other hand, papyri themselves have contributed much to the understanding of that history, as I have said. The results of research inspired by papyri are contained in very many publications which cannot here be discussed in detail. I shall cite only a few fundamental works. First of all, M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World , in three volumes, (London

1941, 19532): this is a masterpiece of historical research

on the Hellenistic Age in the present century, even though it is now in many respects outdated. This work makes full use of papyri, which Rostovtzeff himself knew and studied. It is now superseded by C. Préaux, Le Monde Hellénistique (Paris 1978). Another classic work is

W. Tarn, Hellenistic Civilization ^ (London 1952), the

reading of which may usefully be integrated with that of H.I. Bell, Egypt from Alexander the Great to the Arab conquest: A Study in the Diffusion and Decay of Hellenism (Oxford 1948), a very clear synthesis for Egypt. C. Préaux, Economie roy¿de des Lagides (Brussels 1939) also concerns Egypt, and is based largely on papyri (Claire Préaux' s works on Egyptian history from the papyri are outstanding). For the Ptolemaic period one must also read P.M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (Oxford 1972) in three volumes, though this is basically on the political and cultural history of lhe capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom. For papyrology and Hellenistic-Roman history, we now have surveys by R.S. Bagnali, "Papyrology and Ptolemaic History: 1956-1980", CW 75 (1982) pp. 13-21, and J.G.

Keenan, "Papyrology and Roman History: 1956-1980", ibid.,

pp. 23-31; also A.K. Bowman, "Papyri and Roman Imperial History 1960-1975", JRS 66 (1976) pp. 153-173.

A comprehensive picture of Hellenistic society (not of Egypt alone, in this case) in all its various aspects (politics, economy, law, religion and culture), and taking

135

into account the most recent developments in historical research, is given in Storia e civiltà dei greci (Milan 1977), directed by R. Bianchi Bandinelli, volumes IV and V, each of them in two parts. For further bibliography, T refer the reader to the handbooks and bibliographical surveys.

10. Chronology A.E. Samuel, Ptolemuic Chronology (Munich 1962) T.C. Skeat, The Reigns of the Ptolemies (Munich 1954) P.W. Pestman, Chronologie égyptienne d'après les textes démotiques (Leiden 1967) R.S. Bagnali - K.A. Worp, The Chronology Systems of Byzantine Egypt (Zutphen 1978)

136

INDEX OF PAPYRI BGU BGU'2'Q BKT

Charta

Borgiana

CPR

Membrana

Petropolitana

388

MPER OOnt

Pap.

Lugd.

Bat

PAmerbach PAmst PAntin

PArden PBarc

PBarc.

45

126-149a 158-161 PBas

PBas. PBerol

1

.

6926

9875 "

11628 16369 21208

PBerol.

s.n

PBodmer

PBodmer

IV

XVII

XXV XXVI "

XXVII XXVIII

"

XXIX

"

XLV XLVI

PCairo PCairo

43227

inv.

26/6/27/1-35

PCairo PCairo

PChester

Mäsp Zen

Beatty

PCol

137

PCol.

123

PCol.

Zen

PDerveni

PEleph.

1

PFayum PFayum

1

PFlor

PFlor.

II

PGen PGiessen PGiessen PGrenfell

40

II

8

a

PGurob PHarris

PHawara

24-28

Pfferc.

817

1005 1018 1021 1050 1251 1427 1457 1471

1497 1507 1672 1675 1806 1815-26 PHibeh PHibeh

6

PKòlo PKòln

3

58 59 61 inv. inv.

3328 4780

PLaur PLeid.

PLille

76

I

and

82

79

138

PLitLond "

"

"

"

"

46

49 "

96

108

"

"

"

"

120 123

"

"

132

"

"

133

"

"

134

"

"

145

PLond. PLouvre

"

"

VII 3320

7733

med. PMed.

Bar

PMerton PMichaelidis

1

PMicb PMich.

inv.

PMich.

PMil.

6585a Zen

Vogl

18 124

PMorgan

s

.

n

POxy POxy. "

22

668

842 "

875

1019 1082 1174 1176 1250 1622 1805

"

2083 2161 2162 2258 2263

2303 2326

139

POxy. "

2334

2426

"

2427

"

2429

"

2438

2450

"

2617

"

2656

"

2657

"

2686

"

2746

"

2831

"

2943

"

2946

"

2981

"

3014

"

3151

" " "

3209 3331 3367-71

"

3436-37

"

3653

"

3686

"

3687

"

3788

POxy

s

POsl.

.

n

168

PPal.

Ribes

PPar

PPar.

2

71 inv.

7733

inv.

9331

PPetrie POasr

PRoss PRoss

v

Ibrim

1

Georg

Georg.

18

PRyl PRyl.

53

458 473

PSaqqàra PSaqqàra

71/2

140

PSchubart

30

PSI "

126

"

156

"

1209

"

1291

"

1304

"

1305

PSorb

826 2272

b

PStrasb

PTebt PTor

PVat PWessely

Pragenses

SB

SB

5124

VH1

VIP WO

141

INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORS Achilles

Leukippe

Tatius

and

Klei

tophon

Aeschylus Di

ctyoulkoi

Septem Theoroi Alcaeus

P.

Köln

59

+

P

.

Oxy

.

2303

Aleman frg.

1

Page

Anacreon

Anonym Vita Vita

Aesopi Alcibiadis

Vita

Vita

Mani

Pindar

Archi

P.

i

lochus

Köln

58

Aristophanes Aristophanes

of

Byzantium

Aristotle The

Athenian

Constitution

Arrian Anabasis

III

5,5

Bacchylides Callimachus Aetia,

Hecale,

Iambi

Diegeseis

P.

Lille

IS,

79,

82

Carneiscus Cercidas Meliambs

Chariton of Aphrodisias Chaereas

and

Kal

li

roe

Chrysippus peri

apophatikon

Cicero in

Cat

.

I

and

II

Colotes

Comica adespota frg.

258

Austin

142

Corinna

Corne P.

Oasr

Ibrim

Demetrius

1

Lacon

Demosthenes

Dinarchus P.

Oxy.

3436-37

Diogenes Cynicus Chreiai

Empedocles

Epicharmus Epicurus Euripides Cyclops Rhesus Gaius

Hellenica

Oxyrhynchia

Hermarchus Herodas

Mimi

ambs

Herodotus II

92

Hesiod Catalogue

of

Women

Hyperides adv. adv.

Athenogenem Demos

Epi

pro

em

us

Euxenippo

pro

adv.

then

taphi

Lycophrone

Phi

1

i

ppi

dem

Homer

Iliad

Odyssey Ibycus Juvenal

Livy epit.

37-39;

48-55

Lollianus Phoinikika Lucan

Lycophron

143

Menander Aspis Dis

Exapaton

Dyskolos Epi

t

Fab

repontes

.

incerta

Georgos Heros Karchedoni Ki

os

tharistes

Kolax

Misoumenos Perikei

romene

Phasma

Sarnia

Sikyoni

os

Theophoroumene Metrodorus Niños

Romance

Nonnus

of

Panopolis

Papinianus

Philodemus adversus de

bono

de

rege

1

de de Ethica

Sophistas

ibertat

de

de

[

secundum e

]

Homerum dicendi

morte

musica

IV

pietāte viti

is

Comparetti

Index

(P.

Herc

.

1251

Academicorum

Index

Stoicorum

Poetica

Rhetorica Pindar P.

Oxy.

2450

(frg.

169

SN.-M.)

Plato Phaedo

Pliny the Younger Ep.II

1,

5,

144

Pliny the Elder N.H.

"

"

"

XIII

68-69

70

"

74,

76,

78-80

Polystratus On

irrationally

despising

popular

opinion

Pyrrhon

Rabirius Bellum

Actiacum

Sallust Historiae

Sappho P.

Kòln

fr.

31

61

LP

Satyric play (unidentified) P.

Bodwer

XXVIII

Satyrus Vita

Euripidis

Simonides

Sophocles Ajax Ajax

Locri

an

Antigone Ichneutae

Oedipus

Tyrannus

Trachini

ae

Stesichorus Geryoneis P.

Lille

76

Terence

Testament

(Old)

Deuteronomy

Testament

(New)

Theophrastus Hist.

pl.

IV

8,

3

Thucydides Timotheus

The

Persians

Tryphiodorus The

capture

of

Ulpian Varro Vergil

Troy

145

INDEX OF MODERN SCHOLARS Aland

Aland

B

K

Alessio

G

Amelotti Anderson Arnim

M R.D

H.

Arangio

v

Ruiz

Arnold

Arnott

W.G

Arrighetti Austin

G

C

Babington Bagnali

Ch

R.S

Barber

E.A

Barbour

Bartoletti

R

V

Bassi

Bataille

D

A

Battisti

Bell

V

E

C

H.1

Bianchi

Bingen

Bandinelli

Blanchard

A

Blass

F

Bollack

Bowman

J

A.K

Bruckner Brunet

de

A

Presle

Bücheler

Buck

W

F

C.D

Burzacchini

Calderini

Cambier

Cameron

Capart Carden

G

A

Cambier

Carlini

R

J

G

J.B

R

J R

A

Cavallo G. 14, 85, 86, 102, 103, 109, 122, 123, 127, 130

146

Cavenaile

R

Cencetti

G

Champollion Citi

A.

Cockle

J.

W.E.H

Coles

R.À

Classen

C.J

Colin

G

Collomp Comparetti Croenert

W

S

David

M

Falco

Degani De De De

P

D

Daris

De

E.

A.J

H

Dorandi Dornseif

Egger

T F

M

H

Fackelmann

A

Flores

E

Foraboschi Fraser

P.

Funghi

Gallo

M.

D

M

M.

S

F

1

Gardthausen

Gentili

V

B

Gerstinger Giangrande

Gigante

H

G

Dewey

Erbse

A.

Ph.

Petra

Diels

V

E

Lacy Lacy

Galiano

Fr

M

H G

M

Gignac

F.

Gomperz

Grenfell

B.P

T

Th

147

Gronewald

M

Grynaeus Guerrieri

J

G

Hagedorn Handley

D

E.W

Hfauiscn



Harrauer Haslam

H

M.W

Hayter

J

Hemmerdinger

Hengst Henrichs

1

A

Hombert

Hunt

B

J

M

A.S

Hussein

M.A

Hutchinson

Indelli

James

Jensen

T.

G.O

G

G.

Jorio

A

Jouguet

P

Kannicht

R

Kapsomenos Kasser

S.

G

F.

W

Kemke

J

F

Kiessling Kleberg

E

T

Knight Koenen

G

R

Keenan

Kelsey

Kenyon

H

Ch

C

L

Körte

A

Kramer

B

Kretschmer

Lasserre

F

Lavagnini

Lebek

W.

P

D

B

148

Leemans

Lefebvre

Lenaerts

Lenger

J

M.-Th

Leo.

F

Letronne Lewis

J.

A

N

Liddell

H.G

Litta

V

Livrea

Lobel

E

E

Locker

Longo

C

G

E

Auricchio

Lumbroso

Luppe

Maehler

F

G

W

H

Mahaffy

Mai

J.P

A

Mallon

Mandilaras

J

B.G

Manfredi

Marichal

Mariette

A

Marini

Martin

G

V

Marzi

Masai

M

R

M

F

Maspero Mayser

J

E

MacNamee

K

Mekler

Merkelbach Mertens

R P

Mette

Mitteis

S

H.J

L

Modrzejewski Monnnsen

J

Th

Montevecchi 0. 2, 34, 72, 74, 76, 78, 85, 88, 101, 106, 120, 122, 123, 126, 127, 129 Morison Müller Müller

S J

W

149

Nachtergael Nardelli Nauck

A

Nencioni Nicosia

Nisbet

Norsa

G S

R.G

M

Oat

es

J.F

O'Callaghan

J

Oikonomides

A.N

Olivieri Otto

Pack

R.

A

W

A

Page

D.L

Parassoglou

Parsons

G

M.L

G.M

P.J

Pasquali Peremans

G

W

Pestman

P.W

Petersen Petrie

W.

M.

W Flinders

Peyron Pfeiffer

Philippson Piaggio

A

R

R

A

Pintaudi

R

Poethke Powell

Préaux

J.

G U

C

Preinsendanz

Preisigke

K

F

Rabel Radt

Ragab Rea

E

S

H

J.R

Reitzenstein

Renner

Reynolds

L.D

Revillout

Ricciardelli

R

T

E

Apiccella

G

150

Roberts Roca

C.H

Puig

R

Rohde

E

Römer

Rostovzev

C

M

Rupprecht

Samuel

H.

A.

Sandbach

E

F.

H

Santifaller

Sbordone

L

F

Schäublin

Schmid

C

W

Schow

Schubart

N.1

W

Schwartz Scialoia Scott

E

Seider

Th.

Snell

R

C B

Stark Stuart

J

V

R

Seckel

Skeat

R

Jones

Sudhaus

Tandoi Tarn

Thompson Tischendorf jāder

Treu

H

S

V

W

Taubenschlag

T

A

R E

.

M

Ae.F.C J.-O K

Tsantsanoglou

K

Turner E.G. 3, 8, 14, 23, 52, 55, 84, 85ff, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 115, 117, 123, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131 Usener

H

Uxkiill-Gyllenband

van

Groningen

van

Haelst

W

B.A J

151

van't

Dack

Vergote Vitelli

E

J

G

Vogliano

A

Voight

Wessely

E.-M

C

West

M.L

Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Wilcken

U.

v

U

Wilke

Willis

K

W.H

Wilson

N.G

Winkelmann

Wójcik

Worp

M.R

K.A

Wouters

Youtie

J.J

A

H.C

Zereteli

G

Zimmermann

F

152

UST OF PLATES

1. P.Derveni (around 350 B.C.)« fragments of a roll;

commentary on an Orphic text (cols. 13-15 and 17-18); perhaps the most ancient Greek papyrus found to this date; writing of an *epigraphic? type. University of Salonika (reproduced from Mandilaras, Papyroi kai papyrologia , p. 148).

2. P.Berol 9875 (around 350 B.C.): found at Abusir;

handwriting of an 'epigraphic* type; part of a roll containing Timotheus1 nomos The Persians , describing the battle of Salamis. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (reproduced from Roberts, Greek Literary Hands , Pl. I).

3. P. Sorb. 2272-73 (late third century B.C.): Menander, Sikyonios (papyrus roll that was cut and re-used in the manufacturing of a mummy cartonnage). Université de Paris Sorbonne, Institut de Papyrologie. 4. P. Herc. 1018 (around mid-first century B.C.), Frame 3 (cols. 9-13 and 14-19): fragments of the papyrus roll containing Philodemus* Index Stoicorum. Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli, Officina dei Papiri Ercolanesi. 5. P.JJerc. 1044 (first century B.C.), Frame 2 (cols. 11-14

and 15-17): fragments of the roll containing the Life of Philonides (an Epicurean philosopher), which may be

attributed to Philodemus. Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli, Officina dei Papiri Ercolanesi.

6. P.Köln 58, inv.7511 (first century A.D.): fragment of a roll, containing the last 35 lines of an epode by Archilochus, and the first five lines of another epode.

Institut für Altertumskunde der Universität zu Köln.

7. P.Mich. inv.41 (late first century A.D.): sayings of the Cynic philosopher Diogenes. University of Michigan

Library, Ann Arbor (USA).

153

8. P.Oxy. 1241 (second century A.D.): a list of famous men (sculptors, painters, grammarians, librarians, etc.)» Trinity College Library, Dublin. 9. P.Bodmer XXV (third century A.D.): page 18 of a papyrus codex, containing the final part (11.698-737) of Menander's Samia, with the subscriptio. Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Cologny/Genève. 10. P.Bodmer XXVI (third century A.D.): p. 40 of the same Menander codex (see Plate 9), containing the beginning (11.1-50) of the Aspis . Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Cologny/Genève. 11. P. Brüx. E 5927 verso, formerly P.OxyAlS (third/fourth century A.D.): a small leaf with a fragment of the Life of Tilliborus (?) by Arrian, written on the verso of the remnants of a dictionary. Musées Royaux, Bruxelles. 12. P.Oxy . 2083 verso (fourth/fifth century A.D.): a leaf from a papyrus codex containing the Vita Aesopi . Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 13. P.Eleph. 1 (311 B.C.): marriage contract (only part of the text is reproduced). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (reproduced from Schubart, Papyri Graecae Berolinenses). 14. P.Med . 2 (105 B.C.): contract of sale. Istituto di Papirologia dell'Università Cattolica di Milano (reproduced from Monte vecchi, La Pap., Plate 23).

15. P.Oxy. 3123 (A.D. 322): letter. 16. P.Herm. Rees 5 (around A.D. 325): letter from Hermodorus to Theophanes. John Rylands Library, Manchester (reproduced from Turner, Greek Man ., Plato 70).

P L ATE S

1. P. Derveni (about 350 B.C.): fragment of a roll. Commentary on an Orphic text (cols. 13-15 and 17-1 8); perhaps the oldest Greek papyrus found to date. Writing of an " epigraphic" type.

University of Salonika (after Mandilaras, p. 148).

g 'S

la

^ 1 CS CS

^ on

.

s.i

is

2 a

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