Letter of Herennius Anotoninus
Dublin Core
Title
Letter of Herennius Anotoninus
Description
Shards of clay pottery (ostraka) were the scratch paper of Ancient Greek culture – people would use them to write short messages to each other, either in ink or by carving letters into the clay. Like modern-day scratch notes or SMS text messages, this content was not intended to be permanent, merely read once and disposed of. However, many of these shards survive today, and give us glimpses into the everyday life of ancient people.
This ostracon contains correspondence in Greek text from one officer to another at a Roman military base in Upper Egypt:
Herennius Antoninus, decurion, to Amatios, greeting. Since the son of Balaneus who is in the watchtower is a boy, speak to the dekanos so that he may place a young man in his stead; for I also have sent orders to him about him. And send me the civilian who set fire to the reeds near the new outpost. Farewell.
This ostracon contains correspondence in Greek text from one officer to another at a Roman military base in Upper Egypt:
Herennius Antoninus, decurion, to Amatios, greeting. Since the son of Balaneus who is in the watchtower is a boy, speak to the dekanos so that he may place a young man in his stead; for I also have sent orders to him about him. And send me the civilian who set fire to the reeds near the new outpost. Farewell.
Date
circa 150 BCE
Relation
Greek and Latin Ostraka Collection
Language
Greek
Identifier
01/MSS 2015-012
Files
Collection
Citation
“Letter of Herennius Anotoninus,” War Stories: Soldiers' Lives In Their Own Words, accessed May 2, 2024, https://warstories.omeka.net/items/show/1.