καὶ ἐμοῦ λογο-πυουμένου πρὸς αὐτοὺς
καὶ ὕββριν μοι ἐπεταίλε-
σαν οὐ τὴν τοιχοῦσαν ἔτι
δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου ἔδο-
κάν μοι ἀφιδέστερα πληγὰς
πλήρους εἰς τὰ παρατυχό-
ντα μέρη τοῦ σώματος
κ̣α̣ὶ ̣π̣ρ̣ο̣[σέ]π̣α̣ισ̣ ο̣ ̣μ μοι εἰς τὴν
πλευρὰν το̣ ῖ̣ [̣ ς] γρόνθοις
ὥσται νῦν κατακλεινην εἶ-
να̣ ι κα̣ὶ ̣κ̣ιν̣ δυ̣νεύ̣ ̣ει̣ ν̣ ̣ τῷ̣
ζῆν. διὼ ἀξι̣ῶ̣ι̣ γ̣ρ̣ά̣ψ̣α̣ι̣
τῷ․ τῆς Ταλεὶ ἀρχεφώδῳ
ἐκπέμψε τοὺς ἐνκαλου-
μέν[ο]υς ἐπὶ σαὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐ-
σομένην ἐπέξοδον.
εὐτύχι.
(The date, name, and description of the petitioner follow)
To Apollonios, strategos of the Arsinoite nome, From Petsiris son of Phoulemis, one of those from Talei. On the 5th of Tubi of the present 8th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, while I was working in the vineyard that I rent from Ischyrion, son of Ptolemaios, in Talei, I myself saw Patynion son of Herakleides and his son … leading mules … in the vegetable patches. I had a discussion with them and they did inappropriate violence to me, and what’s more, they beat me unsparingly with many blows all over my body. They laid into my side with their fists, so now I am laid up and in danger of losing my life. Therefore I ask you to write to the archephodos of Talei to send the accused to you for forthcoming punishment. Farewell.
Ἀπολλωνίῳ στρατηγῷ Ἀρσινοείτ(ου)
παρὰ Παποντῶτος τοῦ Παποντῶτο(ς)
τῶν ἀπὸ Ταλὶ τῆς Πολέμωνος με-
ρίδος λεγο(μένου) Ψεναμτῖτο(ς) γεοργοῦ
τῶν ἀπὸ Ταλεὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μερίδος.
ἐπιβάλλον(τός) τινος λῃστρικῷ τρόπο
εἰς ἣν ἐχο ἐν προγεγραμμένῃ κό-
μῃ Ταλὶ οἰκίαν καὶ ἤρωσάν μου
δοκοὺς δέκα καὶ ὅλμον, καὶ ἐ-
μοῦ τὴν ἀναζήτησιν πυουμέ-
νου σὺν τῷ τῆς κώμης Ταλεὶ ἐ-
πιστάτῃ εὗρον ἀπʼ αὐτοφώρωι
ἐν τῇ Πατυνίωνος τοῦ Ἡρακλήου
οἰκίαν ἀπὸ μέρους τῶν ἠρμέ-
νων δοκῶν δοκοὺς ̣ πέντε, καὶ
ἐμοῦ λογοπυουμένου πρὸς αὐ-
τὸν περὶ τούτων ὕββριν μοι
ἐπετέλεσον οὐ τὴν τοιχοῦσαν
καὶ ἐν τῇ συμπλωκῇ ἐξέπε-
σον παρʼ ἐμοῦ εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος
ὃ εἶχον ἐπὶ τῶι ὤμῳ μου
παιδίον ὥσται ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτο(υ)
κινδυνεύειν τοῦ ζῆ̣ ̣ν.̣ διὼ
ἀξιῶ γράψε τοῖς τῆς
Ταλεὶ ἐπιστάταις ἐκπέμ-
ψε τὸν ἐνκαλούμενο(ν) Πατυ-
νίωνα ἐπὶ σαὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐ-
σομένην ἐπέξοδον.
εὐτύχ[ει].
(The date, name, and description of the petitioner follow)
To Apollonios, strategos of the Arsinoite nome, From Papontos, son of Papontos, one of those from Talei in the division of Polemon and a farmer of the land called Psenamtis, in the same division of Polemon. Someone entered the house which I have in the aforementioned Talei in the manner of thieves, and took ten beams and a millstone. When the commander of Talei and I made an investigation, I myself saw five of the aforementioned beams in the house of Patynion son of Herakleos. When I had a discussion with him about this he used inappropriate violence, and in the melee a small child who was seated on my shoulder fell down to the ground, and because of this is in danger of losing his life. Therefore I ask you to write to the commanders of Talei and to have them send the accused man, Patynion, to you for forthcoming punishment. Farewell.18
Both documents tell stories with similar language, and both are fine examples of well-preserved first-century petitions—long and thin papyri, narrations that are short and to the point without excessive amounts of language. The formula for the address at the top of the papyrus and the formula for the request are personalized, but essentially the same, even down to the ways in which they present the text visually. Space is left at the bottom of both documents, perhaps to fill in any subsequent bureaucratic endorsements. More important, there are stock phrases and legal boilerplate used to frame the complaint itself: not only is hybris present as a legal term (and identically misspelled), but the same verb is used in both papyri to describe the way that it is employed. In addition, it is qualified as ou tychousa (inappropriate, aggravated) in both papyri.
