Down to the year 256, Zeno lived a somewhat wandering life. Sometimes he was at Alexandria; then we find him travelling about Egypt in the suite of Apollonius; at another time he was despatched on his master's service to foreign countries, principally to Palestine. Not unnaturally, far fewer documents have survived from this period of constant travelling than from his later years, when he was settled at Philadelphia, but there are a fair number, and already in these earlier years he showed the methodical habits to which we owe the preservation of so many, docketing the letters he received, so that when rolled up and pigeon-holed they could be identified with little trouble. In the twenty-fifth year of Ptolemy he was, as I have said, in Palestine or en route for it, and he spent a great deal of time there in the following years. Thus in the twenty-seventh year we find him buying a slave girl in the land of Ammon.

Slaves seem to have been at this time among the chief articles of export from Palestine, and numerous letters of this period in Zeno's career refer to the slave trade. Thus one papyrus contains drafts of several letters written from Alexandria by Zeno, probably in the summer of 259 B.C., with reference to some slaves whom he had bought of an Idumæan, at Mariza, but who had escaped during the journey to Egypt, and were being sheltered by the very man who had sold them. A memorial addressed to Zeno by a coachman recounts the misdeeds of two picturesque ruffians who made it their business to buy slave-girls in Palestine and dispose of them at a handsome profit. Altogether, as Mr. Edgar points out, we get from these letters the idea that Palestine was a much less settled country than Egypt; and travel there was probably more adventurous than comfortable. A very amusing letter to a certain Oryas tells the issue of a rash attempt to recover money from a Jew, and is worth quoting :

I received your note enclosing Zeno's letter to Jeddou with instructions that, if Jeddou did not deliver the money to Zeno's agent Strato, we should obtain securities for it. It so happened that I was indisposed, having lately taken medicine, but I sent some of my young men with Strato and wrote a letter to Jeddou. When they got back they informed me that he paid no attention to my note, but laid hands on them and flung them out of the village. I therefore write to you.

One of the Cairo papyri is an account of flour obtained during a journey through Palestine, and it supplies us with the route

followed. The journey began at the seaport of Stratonos Pyrgos, the later Cæsarea, and took the travellers, who probably included Zeno, through Jerusalem, Jericho, Abella, Lachish, Kedesh and other places, ending at Ptolemais on the coast. An unpublished account in the British Museum relates to the same journey. It is a statement of provisions, probably wine, issued to members of the expedition, the staff of which was apparently large, since one entry notes a distribution to " clerks, mule-drivers, coachmen, grooms, attendants, bakers and cooks." The insertion of dates enables us in part to follow the journey; thus on the 28th of an unnamed month the travellers were at Abella, east of Jordan, and on the 29th they were entertained by the powerful sheikh Toubias.

This Toubias, a member of a Jewish family, mentioned both in the Bible and by Josephus, appears several times in the correspondence. He had, no doubt as the principal chieftain in his district, been nominated to command the military settlers east of the Jordan, and found it worth while to win the favour of Ptolemy and his minister by sending gifts of slaves and livestock. One letter is worth quoting :

Toubias to Apollonius, greeting. In accordance with your instructions I have sent on the roth of Xandicus [Aeneas ?]* our agent in charge of two horses, six dogs, one half-wild ass, the foal of an ass, two white Arabian sumpter beasts, two colts of a half-wild ass, and one colt of a wild ass, all of them domesticated. I send a letter written by us to the King concerning these gifts, enclosing also a copy of it for your own perusal. Farewell. 29th year, 10th Xandicus. (Copy) To King Ptolemy greeting, Toubias. I send you two horses, six dogs, one half-wild ass, the foal of an ass, two white Arabian sumpter beasts, two colts of a half-wild ass, and one colt of a wild ass. Hail.

On the back is the address " To Apollonius " and the following docket by Zeno, showing that the letter passed through his hands: "Toubias on the gifts to the King and a copy of his letter to the King; 29th year, 16th Artemisius, at Alexandria."

The letter is of interest as illustrating a well-known trait of Philadelphus, his fondness for strange animals and his experiments in cross-breeding. The animals here mentioned were probably destined for the king's zoological garden at Alexandria.

Palestine was however not the only country outside Egypt with which Zeno, in the capacity of confidential agent to

* The name, probable on other evidence, is lost here.

Apollonius, had dealings. One very interesting letter, with several enclosures, relates to various sums of money, the proceeds of taxes at Halicarnassus, which were apparently advanced to defray the expenses of a vessel of the Egyptian navy, supplied by a certain Xanthippus as trierarch. The money was to be repaid by the trierarch to the finance minister, and was drawn from the proceeds of the Crown-tax, paid by the city treasurers into the local bank and no doubt destined for the Treasury at Alexandria. Transactions of this kind cannot well have been carried out without an elaborate international banking system.

Zeno also kept up relations with his native city of Caunus and with the neighbouring Calynda, where an aunt of his was living. Naturally, any Caunian or Calyndan who desired influence at court or an opening for himself or a relative would turn first to Zeno. Zeno's father Agreophon was still living at Caunus, and an interesting but unfortunately undated papyrus in the British Museum shows that he once at least visited Egypt. A certain Demetrius writes to Zeno, evidently from Alexandria : "You must know that your father and Acrisius have got home safely; for some people who have arrived from Rhodes bring word that the ship of Timocrates was at Rhodes already, having come in from Caunus."

In the summer of 258 B.C. began a long period of travel in Egypt. Apollonius had received from the king, possibly on his appointment as finance minister and certainly by the 27th year of Philadelphus, one of those great estates, the so-called doreai, which the Ptolemies were accustomed to bestow on their favourites. To be exact, he received two estates, one near Memphis, the other in the Arsinoite nome, the modern Fayum. What was the extent of the former we do not know, but the latter amounted to 10,000 arourae, and it had its headquarters at the village of Philadelphia, the modern Gerza, situated on the extreme east of the nome near the Bahr Wardân, the eastern branch of the great canal now known as the Bahr Yusuf. Among the Lille papyri is a most interesting document dated in the month of Phaophi in the twenty-seventh year of Ptolemy, which consists of a plan of the estate, followed by a statement of dimensions and an elaborate estimate of the cost of the dykes and canals required to bring the land into a proper state for cultivation.

Till the year 257 B.C. the estate was under the charge of a

VOL. 243. NO. 495.

I

man named Panacestor. It was mainly with a view to inspecting the works here and on the other estate at Memphis that Apollonius, accompanied by Zeno and a large staff, left Alexandria in the summer of 258. On the 21st of Daisius (that is about the beginning of August) they were at Naucratis, from which place they passed on to Nikiou, staying there at least a week. Two months later, on the 18th of Gorpiæus, they were at Crocodilopolis, the later Arsinoe, capital of the Fayum or Arsinoite nome. They presumably inspected the estate, and in the second half of December were at Memphis, no doubt in order to visit the estate in that district. Later they were in turn at Berenices Hormos and Bubastus, places not exactly localised but possibly in or near the Fayum, then at Mendes, and again at Memphis in April of 257 B.C. From here the party returned to Alexandria; but after a stay of two months they were off again, and we find Zeno in the Fayum for two months in the same year, and later at Memphis. To this visit to the Fayum reference is made in a long papyrus roll recently acquired by Cornell University and since edited by Prof. Westermann. It is a daybook for the months of Apellæus and Audnæus recording the daily issues of lamp-oil. It gives a striking idea of the vast staff of servants employed by Apollonius and the elaborate organization of his household. This long period of travel ended in a lengthy illness about the beginning of 256 B.C.

Before we pass on to the next period of Zeno's life it will be of interest to take a look into the activities of Apollonius's household, as revealed in the letters of the period just reviewed. Being on so large a scale, the household naturally had its own politics, intrigues and rivalries, which reflected on a small scale those of Ptolemy's court. Thus one letter, from a writer whose name is lost, refers to an intrigue concerning the unauthorised opening of a palæstra in which Apollonius and Zeno were interested. In this case the ramifications of the affair extended to the court. The writer declares :

Metrodorus, you must know, is the cause of all the trouble, for his answer to the representations at court about Ptolemaeus was that it was I who first took up Ptolemaeus's cause. The matter escaped me at first, but now, having learned of it, I make this reply: that Apollonius spends most of his time in the country (that is, Egypt proper as opposed to Alexandria) and that Amyntas does not live in the house, having lately married and had a child born to him, so that no suspicion

attaches to him; hence the shaft is aimed at me who live in the house. For if the King finds out that the palaestra has been opened I shall be under grave suspicion of having brought it about, because I am ambitious.

This palæstra recurs in other letters. Two letters, one at Cairo and one in the British Museum, refer to a boy named Pyrrhus in whose education Zeno was interested. He was being trained in athletics, and Zeno was apparently doubtful whether the results were likely to justify the expense and the neglect of other studies which this involved. The trainer Hierocles endeavours to reassure him. Both letters are unfortunately imperfect, but that at Cairo is less so, and the general sense can be recovered. The relevant portion may be thus paraphrased :--

Hierocles to Zeno, greeting. If you are in good health, it is well; I too am well. You wrote me about Pyrrhus, that if I felt sure [of his success] I was to train him, but if [not it would be a pity to] incur useless [expense] and withdraw him from his studies. As for his success the gods best know that, but Ptolemaeus thinks he is far better than those now under training, who have a long start of him, and in a very short time he will surpass them; and he can [then ?] go on to the other studies also. In fact, God willing, I hope you will be crowned.

Probably Zeno's interest in the boy was largely commercial; it is to be inferred from the last sentence that he was his patron and would receive the crown if the boy were successful in the games; and he may also have betted heavily on the result.

The household evidently included a good many slaves. We have seen that one common subject in the papyri referring to Palestine was that of slaves, and no doubt some of these were destined for Apollonius's household. Amyntas, a prominent member of it, writes to Zeno :

You must know that the cook you bought has run away with 80 drachmae destined for buying hay for the horses, and was met by some people near Athribis. He is now with the Cappadocians who are encamped there. Please announce to all your servants and write to whomsoever you think expedient that our people must catch him and co-operate in sending him along to you.

In 256 B.C. an eventful change came over Zeno's fortunes. It has already been mentioned that the estate at Philadelphia was under the charge of a certain Panacestor, a man of Calynda. Apparently he was not altogether satisfactory. In a letter dated Pachon 15 of the 29th year he writes to Zeno enclosing copies of a sharp reprimand he had had from Apollonius for negligence