Injured+Slave

P.Oxy. I.3555 Oxyrhynchos, 1st/2nd century CE

To Asklepi (Claudius (crossed out)) strategos, from Thermouthion, daughter of Ploutarchos, from the city of Oxyrhynchos. I loved and took care of my serving girl, Peina, a homebred slave, as though my own little daughter, in the hope that when she came of age I would have her to nourish me in my old age, since I am a woman who is helpless and alone. The incident involved crossing the city on the 19th of last month, when a certain Eucharion, freedwoman of Longinus, was escorting her as a pedagogue to her lesson in singing and other skills, who at the moment of the departure from my house led Peina in with her right hand in bandages, and when I asked her the cause, (Eucharion) told me that the girl had been dashed down by a certain slave Polydeukes, as he was driving his donkey, so that, as a result, her whole hand (or arm?) was crushed, and most parts mutilated, while the rest was a gaping wound. And because I did not then have someone in charge of the office of strategos, I did (not?) submit a petition about this matter, supposing her wound to be a superficial one, but it is incurable, and I am unwilling to endure the pain concerning my serving girl, because she is in danger of her life and because I am sorely pressed by my despair for her life; you too will feel distressed when you actually see it. Of necessity, then, I have fled to you as my defender and I ask that that I be helped and receive from you (the benefit?)....

Questions: 1. Why is this woman helpless and alone? 2. What is a pedagogue? 3. What is the office of strategos? 4. What does this mean about a her wound being "superficial"? 5. Where are the cities of Oxyrhynchos and Longinus? Relation between them? Location?

Master Timeline. 1st/2nd Century C.E. This isn't that long of a document, but I will still give a brief summary. This is a legal petition from a woman living in a city in north-west Egypt. The legal problem regards her, her slave, and another slave. The plaintiff's, Thermouthion, daughter of Ploutarchos, "serving girl" has been injured

3. To answer this question I found out that a pedagogue (at the beginning of line 4) is a teacher or a private tutor. The pedagogue's job was teach the important aspects of Roman culture, like teaching the student public speaking skills, rhetoric, and reading and writing skills. The woman of this house really put a lot of stock in her serving Peina. She genuinely card for her, even so much as she paid for a pedagogue, which I assume could signify her nobility or class level. The fact that she has a servant

5. The city of [|Oxyrhynchos] is a city in northern Egypt, south of Cairo along the Nile River. See Map. A little bit about the city of Oxyrhynchos. During the [|Hellenistic Period] it was extremely prosperous and the third largest city in Egypt. It then became known for the many churches and religious sites after Egypt was Christianized. Today what it is known for are the many excavations around its area. Archaeologists are finding huge collections of papyrus writings. As I researched the city of Longinus I came to find that Longinus was not a city or place, but it was a name of a person. So in line 3 when it says "freedwoman of Longinus" its referring to a woman who used to be a slave of Longinus, not a freedwoman from the city of Longinus.

WORKS CITED:

@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus

@http://www.bible-history.com/rome/Romerome00000165.htm

Trans: Rowlandson, Jane, ed. 1998. //Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt.// Cambridge.

=== Hi Troy!! I see this is a very short document, and there probably was not much to find to write about. What you have written is very good, but I feel like there has got to be more information if you dig a bit deeper. Maybe you could discuss why this person would be addressing this issue to Claudius, or what the typical legal punishment would be for injuring somebody else's slave. You might even be able to find information about how Romans would treat this sort of injury. Those however are just some ideas. I like the information that you already have in your explanation. Great Job! --Maggie Dewar ===


 * For having a such a short article this is great. I believe it would be beneficial to know what medical practices there were then. Were doctors prevalent or did people do things on their own. I also think it would be interesting to know about the value of singing in Roman society. Was it expensive to take these lessons? Were singers viewed in high regards? These would be more questions to look into. Great job! -Ryan Hannah **

This is good but what i want to know is what happened to Polydeukes the slave that caused her harm and what the penality is for when a slave harms another slave and had Polydeukes done this to her on perpose or was it an accident?-Mike Burke