tell the old story for our modern times

i’m an aspiring film watcher

I might have agreed to vampirisim just to be able to smoke with no consequences

1,900-Year-Old Papyrus Records Roman Tax Fraud Trial

The Greek document details a court case in ancient Palestine involving tax fraud and provides insight into trial preparations in the Roman Empire

Back in 2014, a researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem rediscovered an ancient papyrus while organizing a storeroom in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Unit. Once found in the Judean Desert, the document’s script had previously been classified as Nabataean—an ancient Aramaic language—but papyrus expert Hannah Cotton knew better.

“When I saw it marked ‘Nabataean,’ I exclaimed, ‘It’s Greek to me!’” the researcher says in a statement by the university.

Cotton and a team of experts spent the next decade deciphering the 133-line text, and their findings were recently published in the journal Tyche. Turns out, the document is the longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Judean Desert, and its newly translated content is particularly unique: a Roman lawyer’s detailed notes about the trial of two men accused of tax fraud.

“This is the best-documented Roman court case from Judaea, apart from the trial of Jesus,” says study coauthor Avner Ecker, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the statement.

Per the study, the papyrus was likely written on the “eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt,” a second-century Jewish uprising against Roman rule. The Roman Empire had colonized Judea—the southern part of ancient Palestine—some 200 years earlier. By 132 C.E., various Roman incursions upon Jewish life, including bans on religious practices, had taken their toll: The dwindling population of Jews in Palestine revolted. The rebellion, led by a man named Bar Kokhba, was crushed by the Romans in 135 C.E., and Jews were subsequently banned from Jerusalem.

The newly translated papyrus was written after Roman Emperor Hadrian’s visit to Judea around 130 C.E. and before the Bar Kokhba Revolt, per the study. It details Rome’s case against two individuals—Gadalias and Saulos—accused of forging documentation about selling and freeing slaves to bypass paying Roman taxes.

“Forgery and tax fraud carried severe penalties under Roman law, including hard labor or even capital punishment,” says study coauthor Anna Dolganov, a papyrus expert at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in the statement.

The papyrus was written in “vibrant and direct” language by a strategizing prosecutor, advising another lawyer about pieces of evidence and anticipating objections, per the statement. The document also contains a “rapidly drafted transcript of the judicial hearing itself.”

As Dolganov says in the statement, “This papyrus is extraordinary because it provides direct insight into trial preparations in this part of the Roman Empire.”

Significant portions of the document are missing, making conclusions about the trial’s participants difficult to draw. Still, the researchers write that the prosecutors were likely “functionaries of the Roman fiscal administration” and suggest the defendants were Jews. The papyrus also makes mention of “an informer who denounced the defendants to Roman authorities.”

As Live Science’s Kristina Killgrove writes, the papyrus sheds light on the long-debated question of whether or not ancient Jewish people owned slaves. The document mentions that Saulos’ family owns multiple slaves, but whether those enslaved people were Jewish is unclear.

The trial’s location and the case’s outcome also remain mysterious. Per the study, proceedings may have been interrupted by the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Somehow, this papyrus ended up among a collection of documents stored in caves in the Judean Desert—the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were rediscovered in the mid-20th century.

As study coauthor Fritz Mitthof, a historian at the University of Vienna, says in the statement, the papyrus showcases the Romans’ governmental reach: They regulated private transactions even in remote regions of their empire.

By Sonja Anderson.

"let men be friends" no they have to fuck each other raw

Armand name dropping the film “now ,voyager” is foreshadowing his future character arc (analysis)

You know how Iwtv is constantly references plays, films ,and paintings to foreshadow plot points or allude to character arcs or motivations ? I really hope Armand dropping the film title “now, voyager” is alluding to the Armand and Benji dynamic in future seasons . And also Armand’s character arc in general.

The main character Charlotte is paralleled to Armand on multiple occasions . Charlotte had an abusive-controlling parent that was her “companion” and who treated her like a “servant “ (cough Marius /Armand parallel). Charlotte is mistaken as a nurse ,went by a (fake) French alias, and was also called a “fledgling” .In one scene Charlotte discusses “immortality “ and jokes that she’s “immune to burns” (like she is to happiness) and says she’d be grateful to simply get “crumbs “ of romantic affection (hello, Armand ). Charlotte also says another character is a “gift “ from their ex (Armand says Daniel was a “gift from Louis”,in the books) . There’s even a scene where she shows her love interest an old (unrecognizable) picture of herself, refers to the image of herself in the 3rd person , and then mentions her past trauma.

She also mentions how she was so desperate for romantic love that she did sexual things that her romantic competition wouldn’t . She even says she really doesn’t understand romantic love (despite wanting it) so she just repeats things she’s heard in romance books. Armand also recited Romeo and Juliet ( to Louis), and didn’t understand that -that’s not love but infatuation. And of course the infatuation between the 2 led to a blood bath of those around them (the Romeo & Juliet reference foreshadowing the coven and claudeleine’s fate).

Also Charlotte starts mentally healing after becoming a foster parent to a 12 y old (who reminds her of her past self). Hmm like 12 y old Benji who was sold by his parents and exploited and abused (who Armand later fosters)?

oh this collar? no no it's not a sex thing, yeah it's not really for fashion either. yeah no it keeps my head attached. yeah my head? it's detached? yeah no it falls right off if i don't wear the collar, huge pain in the ass. the jingle bell is a sex thing though.

casquettechampignon

oh ce collier ? non non c'est pas un truc de sexe, ouais c'est pas vraiment pour la mode non plus. ouais non ça maintient ma tête attachée. ouais ma tête ? elle est détachée ? ouais non elle tombe direct si je porte pas le collier, super chiant. la clochette c'est un truc de sexe par contre.

Patches — for Allison

(By me)

Open to customs btww

thinking again about how ao3 “comment etiquette” stole “update soon!” comments from me. unexpected midweek inspiration, you will always be remembered.

only op nem left until i’ve read everything :)

“I don’t learn this in school :(“

Hey here’s a question what steps have you taken to increase your education and knowledge since graduating?

12 years is not nearly enough time to teach you everything to know about the world, especially when the starting point is “a says ah” and “1+1=2” and “rain comes from clouds.”

There are people who spend their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge and do not run out of stuff to learn. If you want to be well-informed and knowledgeable as an adult you have to actually make your continued education a priority. The library is free, thousands on online resources are accessible to all, and somewhere near you is an affordable museum or culture center or zoo or art display that can give you information you didn’t know.

𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧𝙨;

Rien. Il n’est rien… Bonne nuit, homme étrange.