‘Receive (...) Four Pigs’ Pigs in the Papyri from Qasr Ibrim

Abstract

The paper presents three papyri discovered at the site of Qasr Ibrim in Lower Nubia and connected to a short-lived presence of Roman military post there in the late 20s BC. All three papyri are letters to soldiers of the Qasr Ibrim post sent by their col- leagues who remained in their permanent bases in Egypt. Their common element is that they mention shipment of pigs. The authors discuss the role of pigs in the diet of Roman soldiers as well as patterns of supplying soldiers of the Qasr Ibrim post with pork.