An Oxyrhynchite Education: How to Become an Apionic Scribe

Abstract

Abstract This article analyzes a group of Byzantine papyri originating from the Oxyrhynchite and containing scribal exercises, which are connected to the famous domus gloriosa of the Apiones. Most of them are written on reused documents belonging to the Apionic dossier, and consist of documentary formulas or short passages copied out of other texts related to the management of the oikos. In a few cases, exercises seem to consist of copies of whole texts such as lists or accounts, so that they can be easily mistaken for real documents. Based on all these texts and on other papyrological evidence related to this issue, it is possible to argue that the oikos of the Apiones was involved in the management of a professional school located in the city of Oxyrhynchus and aiming at the education of future clerks.