Philopator Apiados (meris of Themistos)

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Documentation
The evidence for Philopator Apiados consists of 23 papyri (29 references), ranging from the mid third century BC (P.Petrie III 78, 247-231 BC) to the end of the third century AD (BGU II 634, AD 275-299).

Name
The village seems to have been founded simply as 'Philopator' (Φιλοπάτωρ); it is not until the second half of the first century AD that some texts read 'Philopator Apiados' (Φιλοπάτωρ ᾿Απιάδος), probably to distinguish it from Philopator Theogenous, a homonymous village in the meris of Herakleides. In the second century AD, from which most texts on Philopator Apiados date, the element 'Apiados' is added to the village name in about half of the texts. In BGU III 973, l. 1 the editors completed a lacuna between Philopator and Apiados as Φιλο(πάτωρ) [ἡ καὶ?] ᾿Απιάδος. The reading Φιλοποταρ in BGU II 634 (AD 275-299) is merely a scribal error.
The name 'Philopator' clearly refers to Ptolemaios IV Philopator, who ruled between 222 BC and 205/204 BC. The appearance of Philopator as early as 247-231 BC (P.Petrie III 78), at least 8 years before Ptolemaios IV became king, is surprising. Ptolemaios IV apparently took the name 'Philopator' prior to his accession and the village was named after the crown prince (cf. Battaglia 1983).
The context usually allows to distinguish between Philopator Apiados and Philopator Theogenous. Philopator Apiados occurs mostly with Apias itself. There is only one doubtful text, Chrest.Wilck. 304 (BC 223/222). E. Battaglia tentatively identifies it with Philopator Apiados, Hobson 1982, p. 86 prefers Theogenes. She argues that no text of Philopator Apiados mentions public farmers , whereas Wilck. Chrest. 304 refers to οἱ ἐκ Φιλοπάτορος γεωργοί and οἱ ἐκ Φιλοπάτορος βασιλικοὶ γεωργοί. Her argument is, however, invalidated by P.Sorb. I 49. This text, from the same period as Chrest.Wilck. 304, also mentions γεωργοί of Philopator, and since it belongs to the archive of Tesenouphis, a toparches of the meris of Themistos, Philopator here must be Philopator Apiados. Moreover, the earliest document that can be ascribed to Philopator Theogenous is from 151 BC, whereas Philopator Apiados is well attested in the third cent. BC.

Location
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Philopator Apiados is situated in the meris of Themistos in P.Bingen 60 (AD 45), BGU II 644 (AD 69) and SB XXII 15705. The village name in itself suggests a location close to Apias; no doubt Philopator an independant village at first, and became gradually more and more dependant of Apias until somewhere in the third century it ceased to exist separately. This could explain the lack of documentation from later periods. BGU III 973 (AD 194-195) also points to an identification of Apias and Philopator towards the end of the second century.
In BC 222 Philopator is in the toparchy of Tesenouphis (P.Sorb. I 49). The second-century P.Gen. II 101 puts the village in the fifth toparchy.
The territory of Philopator Apiados included the so-called 'plain of Psarbatalis and Pyrros' (πεδίον Ψαρβαταλις καὶ Πύρρου), north of which was the land of Herakleia (P.Lond. III 842). This would place Philopator south of Herakleia.

Population
As many Fayum villages, Philopator seems to have received its share of cleruchic settlers in the mid-third century BC [cf. Uebel 1968, nos.450-452]. P.Tebt. III 815 (5) (223/222 BC) refers to Parmenon, a Macedonian hekatontarouros, and Andronikos, a Cyrenaean. Andronikos owns a kleros in Philopator, half of which he leases to Parmenon.
In a severely damaged letter Ptolemaios, an archiereus from Euhemereia, tells his brother Heron not to neglect the κλῆρος στρατηγικός in Philopator. The editors of P.Fay. translate this as the "ballot for strategos". They admitted that this was not wholly satisfactory as the following lines, referring to a 'μερισμὸς τῆς Φιλοπάτορος', suggest an election for praktor rather than a strategos. In his commentary on P.Brem. 42 l. 2, Wilcken interpreted this as a plot of land belonging to the strategos instead. Heron is advised to ensure the 'part of Philopator' (μερισμός), an obscure phrase probably referring to taxes. Other texts link Philopator to Theadelpheia (BGU II 634; SB XVI 12728) and Euhemereia (P.Fay. 264 descr.).

Land
In 223-222 BC, according to Chrest.Wilck. 304 , royal farmers from Philopator, organised in dekatarchiai deliver 2930 artabas of ricinus at 4 dr. per artaba. Farmers are also mentioned in P.Sorb. I 49 (222 BC).
The cleruchic land attested in the third cent. BC by P.Tebt. III 815 (5) is continued by several catoecic kleroi in the Roman period. Two of these are owned by inhabitants of Soknopaiou Nesos : 15 arouras P.Bingen 60 (AD 45) and 20 arouras in BGU II 644 (AD 69). Several small catoecic plots, amounting to about 20 arouras, are owned by the Alexandrian Alkimos alias Ammonios (P.Gen. II 101; AD II). The payment by Bellenus in P.Fay. 264 (AD 117-138) is also for catoecic land. In AD 194-195 a catoecic kleros of 11 arouras is "largely uninundated" (BGU III 973).

Economy
Economic activity in the village concentrated on agriculture. P.Lond. III 842 (AD 140) mentions a shepherd Apynchis.

Administration
For its administration, Philopator heavily relied on Apias. At the end of the third century BC it had its own komarches Chaieapis (P.Petrie III 94a). Other officials mentioned in connection with the village are mostly from Apias. Tax payments from Philopator are registered through the granary of Apias both in the Ptolemaic period (P.Petrie III 78; P.Heid. VI 370) and in the first en second century AD (cf. sitologoi). Philopator had its own praktores in this period, however, according to SB XIV 12016 (AD 128/129). A contract of lease from AD 140 (P.Lond. III 842) was witnessed by seven presbyteroi of the village.
(P.Meyer 13; AD 141) refers to a grapheion in the village; Gaius Petronius Firmus may have been grammateus of it.

Bibliography

B. Van Beek