The Case of Flavia Christodote: Observations on PSI I 76

Of the three periods into which the study of the Greek papyri from Egypt has been traditionally divided – Ptolemaic, Roman, Byzantine – it has become commonplace to note that the last named receives the least attention. An assortment of reasons has been offered to explain this lack of interest, including "un préjugé défavorable aux époques dites de décadence." But whatever the reason or reasons, and despite the truth of the commonplace, it is equally true that most of the Byzantine texts and archives have attracted at least some attention (much more rarely has the whole range of the Byzantine papyri been surveyed), and have from time to time afforded the bases for distinguished scholarly research. In the course of my own investigations into the documents of this period, however, my attention has been caught by one that seems to have escaped the scrutiny it merits: PSI I 76. On its publication in 1912, this document did attract some attention, notably evidenced in con Druffel’s Papyrologische Studien zum byzantinischen Urkundenwesen (Münch. Beitr. 1 [1915]). But since then, apart from occasional use of its social and juristic details, it has been rather neglected. Its contents have been summarized in two recent articles, but the text has never been subjected to any more extensive discussion and analysis. It is therefore the simple aim of this paper to redirect attention to this important papyrus.