The Village of Theadelphia in the Second Century AD: The Archives of Aphrodisios Son of Philippos, and Ptolemaios Son of Diodoros

Abstract

This thesis investigates the papyrus documentation from Theadelphia (Fayum) to reassess the socio-administrative history of the village in the second century AD, filling a gap in the current scholarship. The core source is a corpus of fifty-two papyri, belonging to the archives of Aphrodisios son of Philippos, and descendants and Ptolemaios son of Diodoros alias Dioskoros. Starting with a papyrological reappraisal of these texts, provided with fresh editions and reeditions, the thesis evaluates their prosopographical, material, and palaeographical connections to rearrange the archives and adopts a comparative approach to their acquisition paths to reconstruct their biographies. Through a historical analysis of the surviving documentary material from second century Theadelphia, the thesis revaluates the administrative environment of the village and its role in the toparchical system of Fayum. Furthermore, it explores the main administrative institutions of the village: the state office, which was the venue of the komogrammateus and the toparch, and the grapheion. Since the documents of the two archives at the centre of this thesis are rich in information about the status, familial strategies, and financial and professional positions of middle-upper classes of the village, they provide a glimpse into the social elites of Theadelphia in the second century AD. This thesis demonstrates that Theadelphia acquired prominence over the meris of Themistos in the second century AD, as it was the capital of the sixth toparchy and the administrative centre of the area. The reorganisation of the chora implemented by the Roman government led to the rise of the middle-upper social classes of the village, who improved their socio-economic status through the performance of liturgical offices and participation in the provincial administration.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Christian Laes (Supervisor)