AND THEIR PREPARATION
perial rescripts, as a general rule, were forwarded to the prefect and published in Alexandria. In a few cases they were sent direct to a local magistrate, although it is probable that a copy was also sent to the prefect. Imperial epistulae were sent to private citizens of Greek or Roman birth. Copies of these documents are comparatively rare. The prefect also issued edicts in Greek. They were published in Alexandria and usually forwarded with an epistula to the strategi with instructions to post them in an appropriate public place[1]. In one instance local magistrates append their signatures to indicate their cognizance of the document, which seems to have been circulated for this purpose[2]. In another case the magistrate takes oath that the document had been published by him as directed[3]. It is evident that edicts of the emperor and of the prefects and their rescripts were widely known to the public, since copies are found throughout Egyptian nomes and they are frequently cited by the natives. The minor officials of the bureaucracy also issued their instructions in writing, usually in the form of epistulae or ἐπιστάλματα.
Since the bureaucracy in Egypt was highly developed and the number of secretaries very large, the task of caring for the official records must have been very serious. That the archives were not always properly handled is evident[4], and very little can be learned about the method of providing for the municipal or village records. Noone of numerous buildings or offices recorded in the papyri can with certainty be ascribed to purely municipal purposes[5]. Possibly, since the relation of state and municipality was so close, the records of both may have been combined.
[ 245 ]
- ↑ Nos. 162—165.
- ↑ Wilcken, Chrestomathie, 13.
- ↑ P. Fay. 24.
- ↑ Archiv für Papyrusforschung, 6, 100 ff.
- ↑ The more important buildings for preserving records in Egypt are the following: γραφεῖον, ἀγορανομεῖον, μνημεῖον, ἀρκεῖον, γραμματοφυλάκιον, χωρικὴ βιβλιοθήκη ἐν τῶι πρυτανέωι, δημοσία βιβλιοθήκη and βιβλιοθήκη ἐγκτήσεων. Cf. Mitteis, Chrestomathie, 188; Grundzüge, 78 ff.
