ABSTRACT
The texts on the Papyrus Vindobonensis G 408221 will be remem bered as the most significant evidence related to IndoRoman trade published in the twentieth century and the better we understand them, the more important they appear. As far as the text on the verso, two papers published recently, one by Federico Morelli and the other by myself, proposed an almost complete reconstruction of the cargo of the Hermapollon, emphasizing, if in a very different measure, the predominant share of the two main Muziris’ exports: pepper and malabathron. Both Morelli and I came to recognize that the 771
1 P. Vindob. G 40822 verso = SB XVIII 13167 verso. First edition by H. Harrauer, P.J. Sijpesteijn, Einneues Dokumentzu Roms Indienhandel. P. Vindob. G 40822, ‘Anzeiger der phil.hist. Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften’ 122 (1985), pp. 12455; G. Thür, Hypothek enUrkunde eines Seedarlehens für eine Reisenach Muziris und Apographefür die Tetarte in Alexandria, ‘Tyche’ 2 (1987), pp. 22945; L. Casson, P. Vindob. G 40822 and the Shipping of Goods from India, ‘BASP’ 23 (1986) p. 233; ‘New Light on Maritime Loans: P. Vindob. G 40822’, ‘ZPE’ 84 (1990) 195206, p. 201; F. De Romanis, Commercio, metrologia, fiscalità. Su P. Vindob. G 40.822 verso, ‘MEFRA’ 110 (1998), 14. D. Rathbone, The ‘Muziris’ Papyrus (SB XVIII 13167): Financing Roman Trade with India, ‘BSAA’ 46 (2000) (Alexandrian Studies II, in honour of Mostafa elAbbadi): 3950; F. Morelli, Dal Mar Rosso ad Alessandria: il verso (ma ancheil recto) del ‘papiro di Muziris’ (SB XVIII 13167), ‘Tyche’ 26 (2011), pp. 199233; F. De Romanis, ‘Playing Sudoku on the Verso of the ‘Muziris Papyrus’, Journal of Ancient Indian History 27 (2010/1) [2012], pp. 75101.
