Your Day in the Ancient Greek World
October 5
October 5 in ancient Greece is represented in our source-audited archive by 2 verified records spanning AD 135 to AD 569. Together, the entries below connect this calendar date with different moments in the ancient Greek world through historical and documentary evidence.
Across the centuries
On This Day
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AD 135
Life on This Day
A Donkey-Driver Is Paid for Moving State Wheat
On October 5, AD 135, Harpalus, a donkey-driver, acknowledged receiving grain as transport payment for carrying state wheat to the harbour of Kerke. His subscription survives at the end of the Greek receipt. The document shows how state grain moved through a chain of local transport workers and granary officials.
Sources
Primary evidence
- SB XII 10889 = TM 14348; British Library Papyrus 2420
Modern scholarship
- British Library Archives and Manuscripts catalogue
Public links
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AD 569
Life on This Day
A Married Couple Formalizes Their Divorce
On October 5, AD 569, Aurelius Theodorus and Aurelia Amaresia of Antinoopolis formalized their divorce in a Greek deed written by Dioscorus. Although the surviving papyrus is fragmentary, the parties and nature of the document are clear. It preserves the legal end of a marriage rather than the grand public events that dominate most historical narratives.
Sources
Primary evidence
- P.Lond. V 1713 = TM 19730; British Library Papyrus 1664
Modern scholarship
- British Library Archives and Manuscripts catalogue
Public links