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

✍ Scribed by John Matthews

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 263
• 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......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Abbreviations and Short Titles......Page 12
Illustrations......Page 14
The Contents of the Theophanes Archive......Page 16
Egyptian Months......Page 18
1 Introduction......Page 20
2 Hermopolis......Page 31
3 The Road to Antioch......Page 60
4 Interlude......Page 81
5 At Antioch......Page 108
6 Homeward Bound......Page 141
7 Costs and Prices......Page 157
8 Food and Diet......Page 182
Appendix 1 P.Ryl. 627: Summary of Contents......Page 200
Appendix 2 Notes on the Text......Page 204
Appendix 3 Costs and Prices in the Memoranda......Page 222
Appendix 4 Kemia and Kemoraphanos......Page 252
Bibliography......Page 256
Index......Page 260