the imitation hypothesis 207
of 2 Thessalonians, which is that παρακαλῶ can be combined with a sec-
ond formula, ἐρωτῶ, to intensify a request.24 such emphasized requests
are aimed at men, animals or personal matters.
The intensified request to take care of a child stands in p.oxy. IV
744.6–8 ( June 17, 1 bce) and p.col. VIII 215.8–12 (about 100 ce). In sB V
7600.4–8 (april 12, 16 ce) a certain akamas asks and begs the recipient
to take care of his horse. The sender of o.Berenike II 129 (about 50–75
ce), hikane, seems to be in a general situation of need. she criticizes her
son for not staying in touch with her and begs him firmly to make sail,
if he is healthy—l. 8: ἐρ<ω>τ; (l. ἐρωτῶ) σε καὶ παρακαλῶ καὶ ἐξορ̣κίζω̣ σε
(“I ask and beg and implore you”). a couple of verses later in l. 14 she uses
the combination ἐρωτῶ σε καὶ παρακαλῶ to ask on behalf of his brother,
although the context is not clear due to the fragmentary state of the papy-
rus. further examples of such double-requests concerning personal mat-
ters are Bgu IV 1141.9–11 (14–13 bce?) and p.stras. V 334b.5–8 (I–II ce).
It is worth looking at one example in detail to see how the intensifica-
tion of requests may function over a whole letter. p.col. VIII 215 (about
100 ce), quoted above, is a letter by apollonous to her mother Thermuthas
and shows many typical characteristics of personal letters, not least, the
fact that names and instances mentioned are unknown to the modern
reader. apollonous is concerned not only about her mother who has
recently been ill but also about a young girl. apollonous asks her mother
to take care of the girl by visiting her regularly, if possible. who this little
girl is remains unclear.
Ἀπλονοῦς Θερ̣[μουθ]ᾶ̣τι
τῇ μητρὶ πλεῖσ[τ]α̣ χα̣[ίρε]ιν·
πρὸ μὲν πάντων εὐχο�̣μεθά σε
ὑγενιν σ̣ὺν Ἀπλοναρ̣ίῳ. θέλω̣ [σ]εγι-
5 νώσκιν ὅτι ἤκουσα παρὰ τῶν {ο}ἡ-
κώτων μοι ὅτι ἠσθένηκος
ἐχάρην δὲ ἀκούσασ[α] ὅτι κωμ-
σῶς ἔσχηκος. ἐρωτῶ σε μεγά-
λως καὶ παρακαλῶ, ἐπιμέλου
commonly introduces requests in private letters but for the purpose of this article it can
be ignored as it does not appear in the corpus paulinum.
24 In latin similar observations are in order for rogo and oro both in literary (cicero)
and documentary (archive of Tiberianus) sources, cf. dickey, “latin Influence and greek
request formulae,” 217–18.