The Journey of Theophanes: Travel, Business, and Daily Life in the Roman East

✍ Scribed by John Matthews

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 262
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In the early fourth century, a lawyer and public figure from the Nile valley city of Hermopolis made a six-month business related journey to Antioch. The day to day details are preserved on papyrus documents and offer a remarkable record of this journey, covering everything from distances traveled to daily food purchases, from medicinal supplies to fees paid for services.

In this book, the classicist and historian John Matthews translates these important documents and places them in the wider context of the social history of the Graeco-Roman world.  The memoranda relating to Theophanes’ journey are presented within a historical narrative that offers an array of revelations on diet, travel, social relations, and other fascinating topics. This book creates an unprecedented account of daily life in the years preceding Emperor Constantine’s rise to power in the eastern provinces of the Roman empire.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
list of abbreviations and short titles
list of illustrations
the contents of the theophanes archive
egyptian months
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Hermopolis: Theophanes and Friends
Chapter 3. The Road to Antioch
Chapter 4. Interlude: Travel and Topography
Chapter 5. At Antioch
Chapter 6. Homeward Bound
Chapter 7. Costs and Prices
Chapter 8. Food and Diet
Appendix 1. P.Ryl. 627: Summary of Contents
Appendix 2. Notes on the Text
Appendix 3. Costs and Prices in the Memoranda
Appendix 4. Kemia and kemoraphanos
Bibliography
Index