P.
LETTER OF CLAUDIUS TO THE ALEXANDRIANS
H. I. Bell, Jews and Christians in
(Please note
that the translator
has attempted to reproduce the flavour of
the scribal curiosities of the
Greek text. The reader may wish to supress stray letters by surrounding them with brackets { }
or adding between
< > what the scribe has omitted. Roman names have been Romanized and Claudianisms
maintained.)
Lucius Aemilius Rectus says:
Since all the city was not abele to
be present at the revelation of the
most sacred and beneficial letter
5 ta the city
because of its size,
I thought it nesessary to
publish
the letter that man by man each
understanding the letter you may
wonder at the majesty of our god Caesar
10 and for
his [[agree]] goodwill toward the city
be grateful. L 2 of Tiberius Claudius
Caesar Sebastos
Germanicus autokrator,
month of Neos Sebasto<s>
14.
(Column) 2
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Sebastos
Germanicus autokrator archiereus
15 supreme,
having the tribunician power, consul designate, to
the city
of the Alexandrines, greeting. Tiberius Claudius Barbillus Apollonios son of Artimidoros,
Chairemon son of Leonidas, Marcus Iulius Asclepiades, Gaius Iulius Dionysio<s>,
Tiberius Claudius Phanias, Pasion son of Potamon, Dionysios son of Sabbion,
Tiberius Claudi<u>s, Apolloni<o>s son of Ariston,
Gaius Iulius Apollonios, Hermaļskos
20 son of Apollonios, tha ambassadors from
you, after delivering the
decree to me,
went on extensivley about the
city drawing my attention to the goodwill
towards us, which for some time, as you should know well, has
been held in
trust with me; for you are eusebeis
(respectful) in regard to the Sebastoi, as has
become evident to me from many things, especially how you are both eager about my
25 house
and how eagerness is returned, of which ‑ I mention the lat‑
est, passing over others ‑ the greatest witness is
my own brother,
Germanicus Caesar, when he spoke to you publicly in a
most genuine voice.
Therefore, I did happily accept the honours granted me
by you
even though I am not prroneto
such things. Furst of all I leeave
it to you to
30 treat
my birthday as sebaste in the manner
that you yourselves pro‑
posed, also to the erection in several places of statues of
me and my kin I agreee; for
I seae
you are
towards my house. Of the twin g[old]en
statues, however,
35 the one
of the Claudian‑Sebastan Peace, as was
suggested
and as my most hon[our]ed
friend Barbillus entrea[t]ed
while I demured
on account of s[ee]min[g] too
arrogant, shall be set up at
3
the other, moreover, in a manner you see fit shall
process on eponymous
days among you; moreover, a throne shall accompany [[and i]] it
40 adorned
with any decoration you wishe. It might, then, perrhaps be silly
after accepting such honours as these to refuse the
establishment of a Claudian
tribe
and groves according to the custom of Egyp;
therefore, I
also grante these things to
[[us]] you; moreover, if you wish
you may erect an equestrian statue of Vitrasius
Pollio my procurator. Moreover, regarding the
45 erecti[o]n of the four horse chariots trance into the chora
you wishe to set up for me,
I agreee to setting up one
near the place called Taposiris in Lybia,
another near Pharos in
in Egyp . But my own high
priest and the building of a temple
I deprecat , not wishing to be arogant to
min of my own day,
50 for
sacred things and the like are granted by every
age to the gods alone as special honors
in my opini[o]n.
About the requests, however, which you have been eag‑
er to get from me I deciede as
follows: all who became epheboi up to
my leadership I cun[[fir]]firme, and I protecte for them
the citizenship of the
55 Alexandrines
with the prevliges and indulginces
of the polis,
to all except any who have escaped your notice as born from slaves
while becoming epheboi;
and no less with respect to other matters I wishe to
be
confirmed everything graciously granted you by leaders before
my time
and kings and prefects just as [the] god Sebastos had confirmed.
4
60 The neokoroi
of the the temple in
Sebastos I wishe to be chosen by lot
in the manner as thos in Kanopos
of the same god Sebastos are
chosen by lot. About the polit‑
cal offices becoming triennial you seam to me [[y]] to
have planned
quit well; forchons out of fear
of rendering account of governing badly
65 well
behave more moderately
with uss for the duration of their
offices. About the boule, however, whatever may have been your
situation under the old kings I would have nothing to say;
that, however, under the
Sebastoi before me you haad none
you know clearly. As a novel
business now set before me for the furst
time and as unclear if it
70 will be
useful to the polis or my affairs I wrote to Aemilius Rectus
to investigate and to informe
me if it is necessery that the institution be
established,
and, if it should be rite to draw one together, the
manner to do it.
But for the riot and uprising against the Judaeans (=Ioudaioi), rather, if the
truth be
told, the war, which of the two sides was responsible,
even though
75 your
envoys strove for great honour from the confrontation,
and especially Dionysios son of
The[o]n, still
I did not want to have a strict investigation, while
storing up in me
unrepentant rage against the ones starting again.
But I announcee frankly that,
unless you put a stop to this
des‑
80 tructive, relentless rage against each other, I shall be
forced
to show whot a benevolant leader is when turned toward righteous rage.
For this I yet again still beare
witness that
Alexandrines, on the one hand,
behav gently and kindly with the Judeans, the
inhabitants of the same city from a long time ago,
5
85 and not
be disrespectful of the customs used in the ritual
of their god, but
let them use ther customs
as in the time of the god Sebastos
even as I myself, after hearing
both sides, have confirmed; to the Judians
I geive strict orders not to
agitate for
90 they
had before, nor as though dwel‑
ling in two cities to send in future two delegations,
whych had not ever been
done before; nor intrude in the
gymnasiarchic or kosmetic contests
reaping the fruits of their households while enjoing
95 the
abundance of benfits without envy in a foreign polis;
nor to introduce or bring in Judaeans
from
or sailing down from Egyp, from
which I shall
be forsd to have serious
suspicions; or else I
shall take vengence on them in
every way as though
100 rousing up some common plague on the world. If
after you stand aside from these things you both should
wish to live together with gentleness and kindnes towards each other,
I shall send
forth to the hihest degree providence for the city
as belonging to or household from bygone times.
105 I bear
witness to my companion Barbillus always showing regar[d]
for us (you ?) before me, and who just now with complete
zeal
for honour has consult[ed] about the contest about you,
and to Tiberius Claudius Archibios
my compan[ion.]
Farewelle.