Le préfet d’Égypte démobilise des hommes âgés et impose un «sceau» (tatouage?) prophylactique

Abstract

Edition of a private letter on an ostracon, found in the praesidium of Dios (on the way from Koptos to Berenike) and stratigraphically dated to the 2^nd cent. AD (reign of Hadrian or Antoninus). The author, writing from a neighbouring fort, informs his correspondent that the prefect of Egypt has sent back 150 elder men from Kaine and has given orders that the remainder shall receive a «seal» on their left hand (or arm) resembling a wheel so that «they shall not fear the iron». What of the status of these dismissed men and the two correspondents? It is most likely that they were military men and that the seal was in fact a tattoo.