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An Augustan Document Recovered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

E. G. Turner
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Extract

Since its publication in 1930 by G. Vitelli and M. Norsa (Bull, de la Soc. roy. d'Alexandrie n.s. VII, 1930, 9 ff.) the text conveniently known as the ‘Boule’ papyrus, or (to give it the serial number under which it was republished) PSI 1160 (x, 1932), has been the centre of a furious controversy. Is the text an official document from the Egyptian archives, or is it non-documentary, whether that means ’rhetorical exercise’, suasoria, or semi-fictional narrative ? H. A. Musurillo's admirable collection The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (Oxford, 1954) sums up present views and excuses me from giving a bibliography.

One important piece of evidence has, however, been strangely neglected, namely the language of the text. It can, I think, be demonstrated that PSI 1160 is a Greek translation of a Latin original. The decisive point is the grammatical form of the sentences in col. 11, in which φημὶ ταύτην φροντιεῖν ἴνα μὴ beginning in line 1 continues to govern subjunctives down to the end of line 14. A total of seven finite verbs in the subjunctive occur in these lines, all owing their mood to this introductory phrase, a phrase never repeated or reinforced even though there are two breaks of sense sufficiently distinct for Musurillo to mark one with a colon, and one with a full stop.

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Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 1-2 , November 1955, pp. 119 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © E. G. Turner 1955. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 I am grateful for suggestions and criticisms to O. Skutsch, H. M. Last, A. Momigliano, A. N. Sherwin-White, J. Willis. This acknowledgment must not be construed to mean that they necessarily agree with my argument.

2 The scribe has hesitated between genitive sing. ἀνθρώπου and accus. pl. ἀνθρώπους in the phrase παρὰ λόγον πραττόμενος … ἤ ὑπό τινος πράκτορος ἀνθρώπους διασείοντος. Wilcken wished to accept the accusative ἀνθρώπους, supposing the article omitted in error before it, as object to διασείοντος; and Musurillo translates Wilcken's conjecture ‘or any other tax-agent who may be oppressing the people’. This may have been the scribe's second thoughts, after rendering the exactione of my version by the participial genitive διασείοντος. It is, of course, just possible that the Latin itself had a turn of phrase such as … exactione … publicani hominis uexantis.

3 Or procuratore ?

4 Or fieri. The word is not to be pressed to yield historical conclusions.

5 Assuming the original had διαλήμψο[μαι. I make no attempt to restore these final lines, except to warn that it is by no means necessary that they imply Octavian's (Augustus') presence in Egypt.

6 The editors' interpretation of the figures (col. ii, top left) is probably justified. It is just possible, however, that the first figure is the reference to the file of originals, the second to that of translations.

7 Val. Max. n, 2, 2, Magistratus uero prisci quantopere suam populique Romani maiestatem retinentes se gesserint hinc cognosci potest, quod inter cetera obtinendae grauitatis indicia, illud quoque magna cum perseuerantia custodiebant, ne Graecis umquam nisi Latine responsa darent (I owe the reference to Professor A. Momigliano). Nevertheless Flamininus (like Nero) made his famous proclamation of liberation in Greek, Plut., Tit. Flamin. 12, Polyb. XVIII, 46Google Scholar.

8 It will be remembered that Octavian delivered his amnesty message to Alexandria in Greek, his address being translated by his Alexandrian friend and teacher Areios, Dio Cass. 51, 16, 3–4; Plut., Anton. 80; Suet., Div. Aug. 89.