Papyrus details spectacular criminal case in Roman Judea
A lengthy papyrus, found in the Judean Desert, sheds light on law and order in the Roman provinces of Judea and Arabia. Translated by a joint Israeli-Austrian team, and published in the journal Tyche, the papyrus dates to between 129 and 132 CE and details a gripping legal case involving forgery, tax evasion, and the fraudulent sale and manumission of slaves. According to Avner Ecker, one of the text’s translators, “This is the best-documented Roman court case from Judea apart from the trial of Jesus.”
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The papyrus, which contains 133 lines of preserved text, is the longest Greek papyrus ever uncovered in the Judean Desert, although for decades it had been misclassified as a Nabatean text and practically lost in the archives of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). It was only while perusing the archives that Hannah Cotton Paltiel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem noticed the unique document. “When I saw it, marked ‘Nabataean,’ I exclaimed, ‘It’s Greek to me!’” remarked Cotton Paltiel in a press release.
Upon translation, the team that Cotton Paltiel put together realized the papyrus preserves an incredible snapshot into the Roman legal system and life between two Jewish revolts against the Romans: the Diaspora Revolt (c. 115–117 CE) and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (c. 132–136 CE). The papyrus, which pertains to a legal case brought before a Roman court, contains the prosecutor’s trial notes and a rapidly drafted transcript of the judicial hearing itself.
The case consists of charges of corrupt dealings against two Jewish men, Gadalias and Saulos. Gadalias had a criminal history involving violence, extortion, counterfeiting, and inciting rebellion. Saulos, his collaborator, orchestrated the fictitious sale and manumission of slaves without paying the requisite Roman taxes. To conceal their activities, the defendants forged documents. “Forgery and tax fraud carried severe penalties under Roman law, including hard labor or even capital punishment,” explained Anna Dolganov of the Austrian Academy of Sciences who was part of the translation team. It is unclear what the purpose of freeing the slaves was or exactly who the slaves were, but it could have involved human trafficking or possibly reflected the biblical duty to redeem enslaved Jews. As pointed out by Ecker, “freeing slaves does not appear to be a profitable business model.”
In addition to the papyrus’s fascinating story, it also sheds light on Roman legal practices in the region at the time, showing the empire’s ability to exercise legal control and regulate private business even in remote regions. The text further suggests that both men were suspected of having been involved in rebellious activities against the Romans, during Emperor Hadrian’s visit to the region in 129. It is unclear if they participated in such activities, but the accusation highlights the suspicion of possible conspiracies during a period of increased unrest. The preserved lines of the papyrus make no mention of the trial’s outcome, which may have been interrupted by the outbreak of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt.
Due in part to the papyrus’s mistaken classification in the IAA archives, its exact history has unfortunately been lost. However, examining excavation records and other papyri in the archive, the team suggests that it was probably discovered in the 1950s or ‘60s in the caves of Nahal Hever where many similar papyri were found.
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