"Une source nouvelle sur l'annexion de l'Arabie par Trajan : les papyrus de Michigan 465 et 466", Claire Préaux, "Melanges Joseph Hombert, Phoibos", T. V, 1950-1951 : [recenzja]

SURVEY OF LITERATURE 1952—1953

₃₆₉

T h e a u t h o r p r o v e s t h a t t h e so called Pluralis maiestatis a n d Pluralis reverentiae m u s t n o t b e c o n s i d e r e d as a r e s u l t of p o l i t i c a l a n d social e v o l u t i o n . T h e e a r l i e s t i n s t a n c e s of t h e Pluralis maiestatis i n t h e e x a c t s e n s e of t h i s w o r d a r e f o u n d i n t h e l e t t e r s of H e l l e -n i s t i c k i -n g s . T h i s l e t t e r - p l u r a l t h e u s e of w h i c h w a s c o -n s t a -n t l y i-nr c r e a s i n g since t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e H e l l e n i s m t i l l t h e d a y s of B y -z a n t i n i s m , b e a r s n o m a r k of d e s p o t i s m or s e l f - e s t e e m . A s f o r t h e Pluralis maiestatis of t h e E a s t R o m a n e m p e r o r s , i t w a s n o t a H e l l e -n i s t i c l e g a c y b u t a r e s t i t u t i o -n of t h e R o m a -n p r a c t i s e .

T h e Pluralis reverentiae o c c u r s m u c h l a t e r t h a n t h e Pluralis maiestatis. T h e Pluralis maiestatis of H e l l e n i s t i c k i n g s h a d n o t g i v e n rise t o t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g Pluralis reverentiae. W e f i n d t h e f i r s t m e n t i o n of t h e l a t t e r i n t h e 4 t h c e n t u r y A . D . i n t h e c o r r e s p o n -d e n c e of t h e R o m a n i m p e r i a l c h a n c e r y . Y e t m u c h e a r l i e r a s o r t of Pluralis reverentiae c r e p t i n t o t h e G r e e k l e t t e r s t y l e . B e g i n n i n g w i t h t h e 4 t h c e n t u r y i t e x p r e s s e s a m o r e a n d m o r e s i n c e r e r e v e -r e n c e . T h e c o n n e c t i o n of t h e Plu-ralis -reve-rentiae w i t h t h e social a n d religious r e l a t i o n s is c l e a r l y o b v i o u s . T h e h i g h e s t p e r c e n t a g e of t h e u s e of Pluralis reverentiae o c c u r s i n t h e p r i v a t e l e t t e r s f r o m E g y p t , w r i t t e n i n t h e v u l g a r G r e e k l a n g u a g e .

K a t h l e e n C h r i m e s A t k i n s o n , Some Observations on Ptolemaic Rank and Titles ( A e g y p t u s X X X I I , I , 204 ff.).

F o r a b o u t f i f t y y e a r s i t h a s b e e n a n e s t a b l i s h e d o p i n i o n t h a t t h e e l a b o r a t e h i e r a r c h y of r a n k s i n P t o l e m a i c E g y p t f i r s t t o o k p l a c e d u r i n g t h e r e i g n of P t o l e m y V E p i p h a n e s ( 2 0 5 — 1 8 1 B.C.). T h e t h e o r y t h e n a d v a n c e d a n d n e v e r y e t s e r i o u s l y c h a l l e n g e d t e n d s t o s h o w t h a t t h i s i n n o v a t i o n is d u e t o t h e S y r i a c p r i n c e s s Cleo-p a t r a w h o m E Cleo-p i Cleo-p h a n e s m a r r i e d in 193 B . C . M o r e r e c e n t l y i t h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d , t h a t t h e w h o l e h i e r a r c h y w a s i n t r o d u c e d b y t h e k i n g ' s m i n i s t e r P o l y c r a t e s of A r g o s w h o g o v e r n e d C y p r u s f r o m a b o u t 202 t o 198 B.C. T h e a u t h o r e x a m i n e s t h i s t h e o r y , c i t i n g e v i d e n c e a n d p o s i n g q u e s t i o n s w h i c h m a y l e a d t o a w i d e r dis-cussion. '

C l a i r e P r é a u x , Une source nouvelle sur V annexion de Γ Arabie par Trajan: les papyrus de Michigan 465 et 466 ( E x t r a i t des

Mélanges J o s e p h H o m b e r t , P h o i b o s , t o m e Y , 1950—1951). T h e a u t h o r c o n c e r n s h i m s e l f w i t h t h e l e t t e r s w r i t t e n b y a legio-n a r y f r o m E g y p t t o h i s f a m i l y l i v i legio-n g i legio-n t h e v i l l a g e of K a r a legio-n i s , i legio-n

370

JOURNAL OF PAPYROLOGY

the northern part of the oasis Fayoum. These letters inform us that the soldiers from the garrison of Egypt were directed to Arabia Petrea for a longer stay in the new province. Probably they took part in the operations leading to the annexation of Arabia. The letters reveal also, that at the beginning of the year 107 the conn-try was at peace as many merchants would arrive here while the soldiers worked as carriers.

A n d r é A y m a r d, Tutelle et usurpation dans les monarchies hellenistiques (Aegyptus X X X I I , fasc. I, 85—96).

During the sixth Syriac war, the Seleucide king Antiochos IY became self-appointed king of Egypt, vouching that he would take care of the interests "of the young nephew, the Lagide king Ptolemy VI Philometor". This fact created a juridical situation described by W. O t t o as follows: Ptolemy who had already the royal title retained it, whilst Antiochos first acted as his guar-dian, then usurped the royal title and finally deprived his nephew of this title. For some time which cannot be exactly stated, there reigned in fact two kings in Egypt. The author of this article rejects this interpretation and believes that it is too soon to pass final judgement upon the problems and the true nature of the episode, which O t t o considered to have been fully explained. C l a i r e P r é a u x , Trébonien Galle et Hostilianus (Aegyptus,

X X X I I , I, 152)).

The ostracon No. 9709 preserved in the Musée Egyptien of Cairo furnishes evidence to prove that the 1st year of Trebonianus Gal-lus and Hostilianus, in spite of the fact that their reign was very short, must have been proclaimed and counted in the Egyptian offices.

J. L a 11 e m a η d, Le monnayage de Domitius Domitianus (Revue belge de numismatique, 97 (1951), 89—103).

The work is a survey of the testimonies for L. Domitius Domi-tianus (293—297 A.D.) proclaimed the usurperking in Egypt by the rebel Achilles.

C l a i r e P r é a u x , Le règne de Vitellius en Egypte (Extrait des Mélanges Georges Smets, 571 —578).