Der König und die Rebellen

vom Umgang der Ptolemäer mit strittigen Eigentumsfragen im Gefolge von Bürgerkriegen

Abstract

In the early 2nd century BCE, Ptolemy V Epiphanes implemented two amnesty laws that were intended to put an end to a longstanding conflict with Egyptian rebels that had even resulted in a Theban counter-kingdom under the indigenous pharaohs Haronnophris and Chaonnophris. The first decree, issued when Ptolemaic troops had gained the upper hand over the rebels for a time in 196 BCE, has not survived. Of the second, which finally put an end to this civil war after twenty years in 186 BCE, P.Köln VII 313 preserves at least a few sections. During this long period of conflict, property relations had changed in many cases on both sides, creating insecurities. As such, the amnesty laws must have contained references to this situation. The arrangement made can now be reconstructed from two sources: a previously misunderstood passage of the priestly decree from Memphis, the socalled Rosettana, that seems to quote the amnesty decree of 196 BCE verbatim (I.Prose I 16, G 19f.), and papyrus documents from the 180s BCE that relate to the corresponding sections of the younger amnesty law. This evidence suggests that Ptolemy V’s judgement was the same in both cases, in that the status quo at the time of the passing of the decree was respected, at least if the owner had purchased the property rightfully and filed the appropriate documentation. Apparently, acknowledging the status quo in this way seemed without alternative if reconciliation and long-term stability and peace were to be achieved. Since the ruling applied equally to all parties, however, it may also have cost people on Ptolemy’s own side dearly.