508 JOURNAL OF JURISTIC PAPYROLOGY
С. P r é a u x , Sur les origines des monopoles Lagides (Chronique d'Egypte X X I X , No. 58 [1954] 311—320).
I n this article except other questions t h e a u t h o r states which were t h e models of monopolies in t h e s t a t e of t h e Ptolemies. She is right w h e n stressing t h a t their origin is to he seeked beyond E g y p t . I n t h i s connection she also refers to which t h e repercus-sions were of A t t a l o s ' letter ( D i t t e n b e r g e r , Syll.3 344) on t h e fiscal
affairs of E g y p t .
M. J u n g f l e i s c h — J . S c h w a r t z Jetons de faïence et moules à monnaies ptolémaïques (Annales du Serv. des Ant. de l'Egypte L I I I (1) p p . 209—219, Le Caire 1955).
B i g i n n i n g with t h e year 266 A.D. (the date f i x e d b y approxi-m a t e l y one year) a n d within t w e n t y years we f i n d a clause in t h e p a p y r i stipulating t h a t such a p a y m e n t will be m a d e " i n silver d r a c h m a e of the old Ptolemaic c u r r e n c y " (δραχμαί αργυρίου πα-λαιού Πτολεμαικοϋ νομίσματος). I t was b y chance t h a t such docu-m e n t s h a v e been preserved only f r o docu-m Herdocu-mopolis b u t it is q u i t e evident t h a t this re-appearance of t h e old currency (which practi-cally stopped to circulate b y t h e reign of Nero or t w o centuries before) was universal for t h e whole E g y p t .
C. P r é a u x , Aspect verbal et préverbe: Γ usage de απέχω dans les Ostraca (Chronique d'Egypte X X I X , No. 57 [1954] 139—146). The a u t h o r maintains t h a t t h e simultaneousness of the usage of άπέχω a n d εχω is actual in t h e Ptolemaic era as well as t h e usage of άπέχω a n d £σχον intricated during f i f t y years among some τε-λώναι θησαυρού ιερών is clearly d i f f e r e n t i a t e d according to t h e di-stinct circles — t h e farmers on one side and the πράκτορες άργυ-ρικών on t h e other who succeeded one a n o t h e r in our d o c u m e n t s .
C, P r é a u x , L'emploi des temps de διαγράφω dans les reçus de banque thébains du 1er siècle après J.C. (Chronique d'Egypte X X X No. 60
[1955] 375—381).
I n Thebais in the I cent. A.D. and u p to t h e year 107 t h e re-ceipts of t h e principal taxes (λαογραφία, χωματικόν, βαλανευτικόν) were issued b y t h e b a n k e r s . T h e y were d r a w n u p in f o r m of a p a y
-SURVEY OF LITERATURE 1953—1955 509
m e n t record. In this period it was t h e word διαγράφειν meaning t h e act of p a y i n g . At the beginning of t h e R o m a n domination t h e s t a t e m e n t of having fulfilled such an act is p u t in the perfect ten-se as it was t h e caten-se since the Ptolomaic era w i t h all t h e analo-gous s t a t e m e n t s .
W . L. W e s t e r m a n n, Price Controls and Wages (The Age of Diocle-tian, A Symposium, p. 25·—36) (The Metropolitan Museum of A r t , New" Y o r k 1953).
This m a s t e r f u l l essay deals with the problem which will also interest papyrologists. We f i n d there interesting remarks on t h e t a x a t i o n system, reorganized b y Diocletian, on t h e f a m o u s letter w r i t t e n b y a local official Dionysios (ed. b y M a t t i n g l y, Transactions of the International Numismatic Congress [1936] 246 ff.) and on t h e f a m o u s edict u p o n prices of goods for sale.
L. C a s s o n , The Grain Trade of the Hellenistic World (extr. f r o m t h e T . A . P . A . I X X X V [1954] p. 168 ff.).
The f i n d i n g s of t h e a u t h o r are as follows: F r o m t h e t i m e of Ale-x a n d e r to t h e middle of t h e second c e n t u r y B.C. t h e key figure in the grain t r a d e of the eastern Mediterranean was Rhodes. I t was she who distributed most of the s u p p l y f r o m E g y p t , and her share of t h a t f r o m t h e Black Sea area, to t h e coastal cities of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands a n d Greece. She employed Delos as a con-venient distribution point for shipment t o t h e neighboring islands a n d as a more convenient receiving point for grain f r o m t h e west. Financing was done w i t h her own capital and m u c h of the grain traveled in her own b o t t o m s . Athens a n d Greece, as in the f o u r t h century, received in addition substantial supplies directly f r o m t h e P o n t u s . F r o m t h e middle of t h e second c e n t u r y B.C. to the anne-x a t i o n of E g y p t , Rhodes does n o t lose her position in t h e grain t r a d e a l t h o u g h other forms of her commerce suffer. Whereas in t h e previous period there h a d been enough grain available to pro-duce competition a t times, t h e situation now changes. Sicilian sup-plies are now diverted t o R o m e . N u m i d i a n grain a t t e m p t s t o re-place it b u t is soon swallowed u p b y R o m e as well. The a m o u n t available f r o m t h e Black Sea is somewhat reduced. T h e b u r d e n t h u s falls upon E g y p t . I n the f i r s t c e n t u r y B.C., because of t h e
