Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The farming of public and imperial land in Roman Egypt was the responsibility of local tenants under customary arrangements and various forms of collectivity whose details often escape notice. Yet the organization and activities of these farmers are of particular importance insofar as they highlight the contours of state power in the countryside and the customs underpinning rural society. The key instrument of this compact took the form of a cheirographia, a written oath sworn in the emperor’s name by public farmers in connection with the assumption of leaseholds and the receipt of seed loans, which “articulated their obligations and the conditions of their tenancy,” just as written contracts governed private tenancy arrangements. Few such oaths taken upon the receipt of seed have hitherto been identified and published.
Source: ReIn UW (University of Warsaw)
Authors: Claytor, W. Graham, Borelli, Bianca
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
Funder: European Commission
OpenAlex ID: W7124690568
FWCI:
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