PREFACE

The first section of this volume continues our publication of Comic adespota anonymous comic fragments. 4301 is a scrap of Old Comedy, very likely Eupolis. 4302–5 represent later Comedy; of these, 4302 adds a new fragment to the Aischron play, 4303 gives the end of a first act in Menandrean style, 4304 introduces a miser and a gourmet (possible Middle Comedy), 4305 could be ascribed to Menander's Synaristosai. We are grateful to Dr Austin, Mr Brown and especially Professor Handley for their contributions. These pieces were made available in proof for use in Kassel & Austin, PCG VIII (1995) (items 1151–5); the texts presented here differ only in a very few amendments.

Part II (4306–9) continues the publication of mythographic texts, with editions by Professor M. A. Harder; 4306–8 contain lists related to the so-called Indices in Hyginus, and so contribute to the history of that tradition. Part III (4310–33) includes all the remaining papyri of Demosthenes I–IX so far identified in the Oxyrhynchus collection. These show, as we have come to expect, sporadic divergences from, and varying allegiances among, the medieval MSS; 4321 has a different interest, as a prose text marked up for reading with quite unusual elaboration. Dr Whitehorne has undertaken the bulk, with contributions by Dr Hübner and Professor Reeve; Dr W. E. H. Cockle cleaned 4321, and allowed us to use the revised transcript which resulted. These editions have been coordinated and partly reworked by Parsons, who takes responsibility for any errors.

The documents (4334–4351) are with one exception edited by the late Professor J. C. Shelton, whose sadly early death came as a great personal shock to us and to all who are concerned with editorial work on the Egypt Exploration Society’s Graeco-Roman Memoirs. We have valued his friendship and welcomed his collaboration for many years. He was the sole author of the fourth and last volume of The Tebtunis Papyri and contributed meticulous editions of very difficult documents to six of the previous volumes of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. We may mention as of special interest the publication of the fourth century archive of Papnuthis and Dorotheus in Volume XLVIII 3384–3429, with 3430. His contributions to this volume are very diverse: 4335 reveals an Alexandrian who owned and leased at least fifty aruras units of land measure in the Oxyrhynchite nome administrative district; 4336 refers to the Oxyrhynchite estate of the well known Alexandrian family of the Iulii Theones; several entries in a fourth-century tax schedule give the rates at which money taxes were charged in proportion to the extent of the tax-payer's holding in land (4348); two of his three sixth-century documents concern the collection of taxes through the agency of the household of the Apion family (4350–1). 4347 was prepared by Drs Coles and Rea, and has a new official somehow connected with Libya. Indexes I–XV were compiled by Rea.

We are grateful to Dr Nikolaos Gonis for compiling Index XVI and especially for his careful reading of the page proofs, which at the last moment eliminated some deplorable errors and added valuable items to the bibliography.

As usual we are deeply indebted to the staff of the Charlesworth Group for solving with great skill and good temper the many problems in the printing of our intractable material.

December, 1995

P. J. PARSONS
J. R. REA
General Editors