the imitation hypothesis 209
the little girl three times a day, so that it seems that I am near you. I will
send you the earring soon, for it has not yet become mine. If you find a
price... Thermouthas, sell. at the same time... receive from me... cocks.
There are twelve dried fish and twenty-two sesame cakes for the little girl,
and give them to her one by one.25 gaius sends you his best regards, and
Thermouthas, and Isidoros, and diogenas, and we greet apollonarion.26 we
send regards to ammia and her child. all send regards to you. farewell.
I send regards to hera and her children. Tybi 3.27
Both the first and the last request in this very personal letter (ll. 8–9
and 21) show the combination ἐρωτῶ σε καὶ παρακαλῶ. Both deal with
the health and wellbeing of her mother and of the little girl and show in
the context of the letter that this is the true concern of the sender. The
other two requests for information take the simple request formula ἐρωτῶ,
which again—as we have seen above—fits perfectly into the familial and
personal context of the letter. Both the close relationship between sender
and recipient (daughter and mother) and their direct involvement and
care are obvious throughout the letter, not least because of the double
combination of ἐρωτῶ and παρακαλῶ.
Requests with παρακαλῶ in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles
The undisputed pauline epistles provide 16 occurrences of παρακαλῶ to
express a request.28 This number alone shows that—as in documentary
25 roger s. Bagnall and raffaella cribiore, Women’s Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300
BC–AD 800, with contributions by Evie Ahtaridis (ann arbor: university of michigan press,
2006), 261, suggest a different understanding of the fragmentary parts (ll. 23–30). “Think
that I am near you. I will send you the earring now, for mine hasn’t been made yet. If
esas the son of Thermouthas finds you a (good) price, sell (it). also pay us a visit. receive
from... ktor a salotion, in which there are twelve dried fish and twenty-two sesame cakes
for the little girl, and give them to her one by one.”
26 for the use of the greeting ἀσπάζομαι at the end of family letters cf. arzt-grabner,
Philemon, 264–67; francis X. J. exler, The Form of the Ancient Greek Letter of the Episto-
lary Papyri (3rd c. B.C.–3rd c. A.D.): A Study in Greek Epistolography (washington: cath-
olic university of america, 1923; repr. chicago: ares, 1976), 116; heikki koskenniemi,
Studien zur Idee und Phraseologie des griechischen Briefes bis 400 n.Chr (suomalaisen
Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia B/102,2; helsinki: finnish academy, 1956), 148–51; Jeffrey a. d.
weima, Neglected Endings: The Significance of the Pauline Letter Closings ( JsnTsup 101;
sheffield: sheffield academic, 1994), 39–45; John l. white, “epistolary formulas and
cliches in greek papyrus letters,” in paul J. achtemeier (ed.), SBL 1978 Seminar Papers
(vol. 2; missoula: scholars press, 1978), 298–99.
27 The translation follows roger s. Bagnall, Timothy T. renner and klaas a. worp in
p.col. VIII pp. 94–95.
28 These are rom 12:1; 15:30; 16:17; 1 cor 1:10; 4:16; 16:15; 2 cor 2:5.8; 6:1; 10:1; phil 4:2;
1 Thess 4:1, 10; 5:14; phlm 9, 10.