BAGNALL, ROGER S., Flavius Neaptius: Ghost-"Comes Aegypti" , Greek, Roman and
Byzantine Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.83
Flavius Neaptius: Ghost-Comes Aegypti
Roger S. Bagnall
A MONG THE PERSONS registered in PLRE II figures, on p.773,
one Flavius Neaptius, known only from P.Bon. 46 as a comes.
PLRE suggests a date "V IVI" (the editor of p.Bon. gave
simply "ep. bizantina"), and remarks "he was perhaps the comes Ae
gypti or the comes et dux Thebaidis." The name, however, is remark
able enough (I have not found another instance) to excite suspicion.
The sole source for Neaptius is described as follows by its editor,
O. Montevecchi: "si tratta di una lettera di un sottoposto al padrone.
11 senso non e chiaro per Ie irregolarita morfologiche, sintattiche e
grafiche. In so stanza rra7Tvov8tO~ annuncia al padrone di aver assi- ~.
curato alIa giustizia un tale {3ap{3apo~ 'E7Taya8o~." A reference in
lines 8-9 to TOl) KVPWV f.WV 'Aa/-L7TpOTaTov KWJLYJTOV W~ TqJ KP.WJ.,/-LEWVt 7TEptK( )
K ' , \. ' 'Sl' ..... ov Kat a7TO(TTa",EVTa KaTa 7TatuaTovpav
lnrO TWV 'K"a"VWV ..;,,.,;vv"aSE'AqXJv 7TPat7T(O(T"TO~) llavwx(ov)
/-LETa K[a] t avacpopas" ypacpun~ 7TEpt aVTWv "
8 7TPO~ T~V ego~(Tiav TOl) ~PWV f.WV Aa/-L7TpOTaTOV
KWJ.UTc!~ 10 1TEPL/3. ~~OV· Cx1TOXPT1[U]EWI; ed. pr.;
read 1TEPL{30AaWV 11 TWV U . • o[ hJC!~!, ed. pr.; read inrESE-
~ciJ.LTJ V 13-14 1ToulciJ 0l-«!LUK .. ed. pr. . . . . . . ... .
Flavius Abundantius (1) is listed at PLRE II 3 as comes Aegypti in
412, on the basis of Socrates HE 7.7, where as <> TOV UTpaTtwTC.KOV
Ta'YJ.LllTO~ T,'YEJ-UfJV he is recorded as supporting one episcopal candi
date in late 412. While palaeography is not a very precise argument, I
see nothing in the lettering of P.Bon. 46 to contradict the natural
conclusion that we may identify the comes here with the FI. Abun
dantius of A.D. 412. The fasti for comes Aegypti (PLRE II 1297) are
full of only vaguely dated characters, and we cannot secure either end
of Abundantius' tenure in that position.
I add some remarks on the individual lines and an attempt at a
translation on the basis of these notes.
3 An accusative participle would be expected if the syntax were
perfect, but I do not believe that an alpha can be read at the end
of the line. It seems preferable to read the genitive singular (as if
a genitive absolute had been attempted) than a nominative plural,
which would make the reflexive meaningless.
4 I take Tef) KPOJ.A,J.l,EWVt, to be equivalent to Tef) KPOJ.A,J.A,Vwvt" "in the
onion field." I do not find the word as a common noun else
where, but it is known as a place name (in which epsilon and
upsilon also interchange) in the Corinthia (see Pieske, RE 9
[1922] 1973). 1TEpt,K( ) could be 1TEpi K(WWrlll) but it could also
be 1TEpt,K(Et,,uVCf!) (and perhaps other things as well); at all events,
I expect a village name at the start of line 5, though it is mostly
effaced.
5 The suggestion of 1Tat,ooTovpa, Latin pedatura, as the reading
here comes from K. A. Worp. The term has not appeared hitherto
in published papyrus texts,2 but Worp has identified it in two
other papyri where it was not recognized by the editor: (1) P.Flor.
III 384.18, where for the editor's [ . ]EB.TovpauKad he reads (on
a photocopy kindly provided by R. Pintaudi) 7!~8aTovpa~ OlK[;
2 c.r. the absence of attestations in the lists of S. DaTis, II lessico latino nel greco
d'Egitto (Pap.Castr. 3 [I 971]), and H. Zilliacus, Zum Kampf der Weltsprachen im ost
romischen Reich (Heisingfors 1935) 230.
BAGNALL, ROGER S., Flavius Neaptius: Ghost-"Comes Aegypti" , Greek, Roman and
Byzantine Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.83
ROGER S. BAGNALL 85
and (2) P.Mil. inv. 74.01,3 where in line 5 instead of n£AaiTov pK£
one should read 1T£BaTovpa~. (The latter reading, which elimi
nates a date to the Oxyrhynchite era year 125 = 94 [A.D. 448/91,
also removes the only criterion for an exact date; Worp suggests
"V-VI. ")
Pedatura refers to a delimited area of land. In ancient (as opposed
to later mediaeval, for which see Du Cange s. v.) Latin it referred
mostly either to the land surrounding a (funerary) monument and
enclosed by a maceria (wall), or to an area "assigned in a camp to
an individual unit" (Oxford Latin Dictionary 1317 s. v. b). It is the
latter sense which appears to be involved here, given the military
context, i.e. the camp or fort (cf CIL XIII 6548, with a castellum)
of a particular unit. The several occurrences of the term in the
Greek authors seem likewise to have the military application.4
6 The praepositus Paniskos is not elsewhere attested, so far as I am
aware.
10 1T£pL/3oAatOll is used for a variety of coverings, cf LSJ s. v. For
(17TO XPT,(J"£w~ see S. Daris, ZPE 53 (1983) 239-40.
Translation
To my lord Glykarion, Papnouthios (sends greetings).
A certain barbarian Epagathos, who brought himself
to the light at the onion field located at (?) K ... and
who was dispatched to the camp by our common
brother the praepositus Paniskos, with a written report
concerning them (him?) to the might of my lord the
most illustrious Comes Fl. Abundantius, and having
with him a used covering of theirs, I received from
the tentmates . .. (Second hand) I pray for you to
be well for many years, my lord. (Verso) To my
lord.5
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
February, 1984
3 Published by C. Balconi in Scritti 0. Montevecchi (Bologna 1981) 32.
4 Jo. Mal. 351.8 Bonn; Maur. Strat. 10.3 (246 Scheffer), whence Leo Tact. 15.56;
Const. Porph. Caer. 482.8, 490.4 Bonn.
5 I am indebted to K. A. Worp for a number of suggestions and to A. F. Van Gernert
for some helpful remarks about the language of the papyrus.