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Last Updated on 11 Jan 2019

Author: Matt Gibbs & Philip F. Venticinque

CAPInv. 1442: demosioi georgoi hoi apo Oxyrhynchon tes Polemonos meridos

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Egypt
ii. Nome Arsinoites (00)
iii. Site Oxyrhyncha

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) δημόσιοι γεωργοί οἱ ἀπὸ Ὀξυρύγχων τῆς Πολέμωνος μερίδος (P.Fouad 18 ll. 10-11)
ii. Full name (transliterated) demosioi georgoi hoi apo Oxyrhynchon tes Polemonos meridos

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 53 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Geographical:apo Oxyrhynchon tes Polemonos meridos
Professional:demosioi georgoi

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) P.Fouad 18 (11 Oct. AD 54)
Online Resources P.Fouad 18
TM 11182
i.a. Source type(s) Papyrological source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Oath to prevent the inundation of the drymoi, in Greek
i.c. Physical format(s) papyrus

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership Herakleides, son of Harmiysis, ἡγούμενος hegoumenos (ll. 1, 6)
iv. Officials οἱ πρεσβύτεροι hoi presbyteroi (l. 9). Herakleides, son of Harmiysis, the hegoumenos, appears to have been a member of the presbyteroi too.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number at least 5
ii. Gender Men
Note The recorded officials are men.
iii. Age Adults
Elders
Note Herakleides, son of Harmiysis: 35 years old; Petosiris, son of Theonis: 45 years old; Diodoros, son of Simon: 55 years old; Nepheros, son of Patoes: 30 years old; Harmiysis, son of Senapos: 50 years old (all noted as presbyteroi 'Elders').
vi. Proper names and physical features Herakleides, son of Harmiysis (scar on left shin); Petosiris, son of Theonis (scarred on the little finger of his left hand); Diodoros, son of Simon (scar on his right eyebrow); Nepheros, son of Patoes (scar on his left arm); Harmiysis, son of Senapos (scar on his left forearm)

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The fact that the georgoi engage with the officials charged with supervision of sowing throughout the nome, and provide a sworn statement that they will neither permit anyone to divert water into the swamps nor themselves do so is certainly suggestive enough to posit a clear local relationships between this group (and the individuals within it) and the local administration.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Inclusion of this group depends mainly on use of association-like hierarchy with appointed officials. Cf. CAPInv. 1819 and CAPInv. 1443.
Cf. Thompson 2007: 105, for the admittedly earlier basilikoi georgoi as a 'loosely defined body, closely connected with the village where the land was held'.
iii. Bibliography Youtie, H.C. (1976) "P.Fuad 18." ZPE 21: 147-48
Bonneau, D. (1993) Le régime administratif de l'eau du Nil dans l'Égypte grecque, romaine et byzantine. Leiden: 169-70
Monson, A. (2012) From the Ptolemies to the Romans: political and economic change in Egypt. Cambridge: chapter 4 in passing, 108-55.
Thompson, D. (2007) Kerkeosiris: An Egyptian Village in the Ptolemaic Period. Cambridge: 105.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note It remains unclear whether or not the demosioi georgoi were a private association; their similarities to certain private associations in Egypt, with respect to officials (in particular), suggest that it is possible that this groups of farmers were organised on a private basis. That these groups existed and operated collectively is confirmed by several other documents.