Secrets of the Roman Court: Newly Unveiled Papyrus Reveals Tax Fraud and Betrayal ["A rediscovered Greek papyrus"]

SciTechDaily ^ | January 30, 2025 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem

[SunkenCiv]

A rediscovered Greek papyrus details a Roman court case in Iudaea involving tax fraud, forgery, and possible rebellion on the eve of the Bar Kokhba revolt. It provides new insights into Roman legal practices, political tensions, and financial crimes in the Near East.

Scholars from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unveiled a rare papyrus from the Israel Antiquities Authority's collection, providing valuable insights into Roman legal proceedings and daily life in the Roman Near East.

Published in the international scholarly journal Tyche, their research examines how the Roman imperial state addressed financial crimes, particularly tax fraud involving slaves, in the provinces of Iudaea and Arabia. This newly analyzed papyrus offers a rare, firsthand perspective on Roman legal practices and jurisdiction, shedding new light on a turbulent period marked by two major Jewish revolts against Roman rule.

The longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Judaean Desert, comprising over 133 lines of text, has now been published for the first time. Initially misclassified as Nabataean, the papyrus remained unnoticed for decades until its rediscovery in 2014 by Prof. Hannah Cotton Paltiel, emerita of the Hebrew University...

Recognizing the document's extraordinary length, complex style, and potential ties to Roman legal proceedings, Prof. Cotton Paltiel assembled an international team to decipher it. The team, including Dr. Anna Dolganov of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Fritz Mitthof of the University of Vienna and Dr. Avner Ecker of Hebrew University, determined the document to be prosecutors' notes for a trial before Roman officials on the eve of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), including a rapidly drafted transcript of the judicial hearing itself.

[SunkenCiv]

A newly published Greek papyrus reveals Roman legal proceedings in Iudaea, exposing tax fraud and trial strategies amid political unrest before the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

• Forgery and Fiscal Fraud in Iudaea and Arabia on the Eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt: Memorandum and Minutes of a Trial before a Roman Official | Dolganov et al | Tyche | Abstract | DOI: https://doi.org/10.25365/tyche-2023-38-5

[Red Badger]

Call I-MDCCC-DLV-MCCXII, operators are standing by to take your call!..............

[Paladin2]

The evidence looks fragmentary...

[Wuli]

OMG!!! Democracy and modern Republics have still not evaporated the evil humans do. /sarc

[Pamlico]

It’s all Greek to me.

[Petrosius]

I think that I can see the hole in the argument.

[PGR88]

10% for the Big Guy has always been a thing.

[SunkenCiv]

Years later someone in the records room had to blow his nose due to all the papyrus dust.

[SunkenCiv]

The poor guy also got scammed about Massachusetts tollway fines.

[Larry Lucido]

Look, it’s the missing evidence in the Kelner case. My God he was innocent!

Un Frank, Kelner was crucified two years ago.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

It is always interesting to see how humans basically stay the same.

[Frank Drebin]

[Ezekiel]

A rediscovered Greek papyrus details a Roman court case in Iudaea involving tax fraud, forgery, and possible rebellion on the eve of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Wow, proof that "document shredding" goes way back.

[aquila48]

“A rediscovered Greek papyrus details a Roman court case in Iudaea involving tax fraud, forgery, and possible rebellion on the eve of the Bar Kokhba revolt.”

Sounds like nothing has changed in 2000 years.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

They found this in the papyrus: “10% pro Magnus Guidone semper rem”?

[sima_yi]

Here is the English translation:

VIII. Translation 1–16 [...] 17–19 [...] it is discovered ― since the people who contrived it were Gerasenes ―that the location of the Gerasenes was substituted and over it was written the location of Gadora because it was deemed well-suited for the fraud. 20–23 Gadalias is a man who may be cheaply bought, and let not the title of “son of a chreophylax”sway the judge. That we are telling the truth is evident, since he failed to respond to summons at four assizes of Rufus and, having been entered into the list of xenokritai who were due to be fined, was pardoned on the grounds that he was without means. 24–27 As regards his committing violence and sedition and banditry, and the money that he counterfeited, and how he escaped from prison, and how during the visit of the Emperor he extorted money from many people, among them Lectus the centurion, and how he was many times convicted and banished ― if we report on this, we will give the impression that we believe we are helpless against his great power. 28–30 All in all, after the forgery was discovered at the court of Postumus, fearing punishment they took refuge with the boule, each of them giving 125 denarii as an entry-fee (or: as revenue). For they believe that they will be relieved from punishment in the name of the boule. 31–38 If it is said on behalf of Gadalias that it had been drawn up under his father and that he produced witnesses, you will argue, first of all, that no one should be made liable for the forged document at hand other than the person presenting it; furthermore, that it was sealed under him and not under his father [...] of the centurion [...] and to deny at the court of Postumus that he/they had it, and afterwards [...] of the Gerasenes, having received from them the [...] deed/copy and that which he should have presented. For if it had been [...] in good faith [...] manner, that is the [...] buyer(?) [...] 39–44 If Saulos claims that [the blame lies(?)] with Gadalias as the one presenting [the document(?)], you will say that the instigator of the fraud [...] Saulos [...] from 96Anna Dolganov — Fritz Mitthof — Hannah M. Cotton — Avner Ecker the buyer(?) [...] copy of his deed [...] not issuing from him. For it is not evident that he [...] 45–49 That Saulos became a friend and collaborator and accomplice in every [criminal deed linked with Gadalias(?)] you will establish from the fact that Saulos too produced counterfeited coins and that they were [denounced(?)] by certain persons on account of this, one at the court of the governor of Iudaea and the other at the court of the governor of Arabia. 50–53 And since, by virtue of his being without means [...] toward circumvention of the fiscus, having remitted what he owed him by way of a loan he used Chaereas, who bought the slaves in his own name, including Niko- [who] was never in the service of Chaereas but rather in that of Saulos. 54–59 In addition, (you will say) that Saulos and his father, wishing to manumit Onesimos the aforementioned slave and not fearing the fiscus,as we have already recounted,had the slave registered under the name of Chaereas with malicious intent. Without any money being paid, he was ultimately manumitted in the name of Chaereas, and he officially goes by that name, even though he was never his slave nor was ever in his service. 60–69 If someone says on behalf of Diocles and Chaereas that they committed no wrong, since they received a copy from the seller, then you will say that the fraud originated with them and is supported by the hatred of Saulos. The greatest proof of this is that they were discovered as they were coming from the place of Gadalias [...] the stealthy substitution [...] with the forged copy [...] complicity [...] Saulos [...] denounced the matter of Onesimos having been manumitted in the name [of Chaereas]. 70–72 Because, if they were not involved in the wickedness, what compelling reason did they have to appear in Gadora if they possessed the copy from Saulos?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!