Data epistula: Later Additions of Latin Dating Formulae in Latin and Greek Papyri and Ostraka from the First to the Sixth Centuries AD

Abstract

A feature of the standardization imposed by Roman bureaucracy on official documents all over the Empire is the presence of a distinctive Roman dating formula written in a large number of those documents, usually indicating the presiding pair of consuls, but sometimes augmented with the emperor’s regnal year. A distinction is to be made between documents in which the date is “organic” (i.e., written as part of the document itself and inserted into the document within the writing frame during the process of drafting) and documents, either Latin or Greek, in which the dating formula has been added afterward, either in the margins or any available space outside the writing frame. This paper will survey all papyri, ostraka, and manuscripts from the first to the sixth century AD that contain additions of Roman dating formulae after the document was written and that are introduced by a specific marker (data or accepta) or are apparently unmarked, to understand the reasons for the addition and the relevance (or lack thereof) of its position within the document. Ultimately, it will try to establish the history and nature of the legal requirements (if there were any) of such a practice.