This Papyrus Offers Rare Insights Into Ancient Roman Criminal Cases, Particularly Tax Fraud
Recently, a papyrus was unearthed from the collections of the Israel Antiquities Authority. It offers rare insights into Roman legal proceedings, particularly financial crimes such as tax fraud.
Experts from various institutions, including the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, worked together to analyze the artifact.
The document reveals how the Roman Empire dealt with tax fraud involving enslaved peoples in the provinces of Judea and Arabia. During this time, the empire was going through a turbulent period marked by two major Jewish uprisings.
The papyrus was written in the Greek language and was made up of over 133 lines. It is the longest ever to be found in the Judean Desert.
Initially, it was mislabeled as Nabatean and went unnoticed for years until it was reclassified by a professor named Hannah Cotton Paltiel from the Hebrew University in 2014.
She realized that the document’s text was in Greek and recognized its historical significance. The papyrus was named P. Cotton in her honor and in accordance with papyrological conventions.
“I volunteered to organize documentary papyri in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s scrolls laboratory, and when I saw it, marked ‘Nabatean,’ I exclaimed, ‘It’s Greek to me!'” she recalled.
Following the discovery, she assembled a team of researchers to decipher its contents. The papyrus consists of notes from prosecutors preparing for a legal trial. The case occurred during the years that led up to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which took place from 132 to 136 C.E.
It describes a criminal investigation into tax evasion, forgery, and fraudulent transactions involving enslaved people.
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The defendants, Gadalias and Saulos, were accused of corrupt dealings, including falsifying documents and slave sales to evade Roman taxes.
The text also alleged that they participated in potential rebellious activities during Emperor Hadrian’s visit to the region in 129 to 130 C.E., highlighting the political tensions in the area.
Gadalias was the son of a notary and was likely a Roman citizen. He had an extensive criminal background, practicing activities like forgery, extortion, violence, counterfeiting, and incitement to rebellion.
His accomplice, Saulos, organized the fraudulent sale of enslaved peoples without paying the required Roman taxes.
In order to conceal their illegal acts, they forged documents. Under Roman law, forgery and tax fraud came with harsh penalties such as hard manual labor or capital punishment. The Roman Empire was strict about enforcing laws, even in its remote provinces.
The document also questioned the motives of the accused since freeing enslaved people did not seem to have been a very profitable scheme.
Some scholars have suggested that the case may have had something to do with human trafficking or the Jewish biblical obligation to redeem enslaved Jews.
Overall, the papyrus shows how far-reaching Roman governance was throughout the empire. It provides a glimpse into Roman law and life during an era of conflict. The outcome of the trial may have been interrupted by the rebellion.
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