Letter 469: Terentianus asks Tiberianus to buy goods for his mother at a low price.

Claudius Terentianus sends very many greetings to Claudius Tiberianus, his father. My mother sends you greetings and asks you, if it can be managed, to buy something for her. The papyrus is full of holes here, but she has seen a freedwoman of Germanus with a linen item and has taken a liking to it. Look, if you can, for one at a lower price, and buy it for my mother as cheaply as possible. The bedding I brought her does not seem to have met the need; the next words are damaged. So if you can, make the purchase and write back to me. She kept saying that she wanted it. She also said that she had buckets and a fork, and that you should send her the damaged items named in the letter. I told her, "I would rather not go around asking for those things, but I can write you a letter, and he will send them if he finds them." So please buy them at a low price. I ask you to satisfy her, because this matters to her and to our household. After the gods, we hold you dear, and you hold us dear as well. Greet the people who love us. Farewell. Address: to Claudius Tiberianus, speculator [a military scout or guard].

Claudius Terentianus Claụdi[o] Ṭiberiano patri suo plurimam salutem. Salutat te mater mea eṭ ọṛ[at] te, si potes fieri, ut emas illẹ[i] [lacuna]ẹrcia. Vidit Germani libertam [lacuna] alia lineo et qumqupibit illuc [lacuna] vide si potes iṃbenirẹ minore pr[etium]. Ṃẹṛc̣a mater ṃea minore bolt cụ[lcit]as quas illei [a]ttuli non [lacuna] ịḷ[lei] [lacuna] magne. [lacuna] fac ergo, si potes, ṃ[erca]ṛe et ṃiḥ[i] [tu] reṣc̣ṛeibae. [S]ẹ eni cumcupịṣc̣[e]ṛ[e] [i]lḷụm diceba[t]; ṣe eni sitlas et f̣ụr[ca] [hab]ẹṛe ṣe et uṭ mittas illei [lacuna]. [lacuna]nes dico illei: et ego nolim [pe]ṭere illas, sed posso tibi epistula scribere et mittet tibi si imvenerit. Ẹṛgo [m]ẹrca minore pretium, rogo ụṭ satisfacias ille[i], et illec enim [lacuna] im meo a domu [lacuna] caru. Eni habemụs sequndu dẹum te, et tu nos. Saluta qui nos [a]mant. Vale. Κλαυδίῳ̣ [Τιβεριανῷ] σ̣π̣εκουλ(άτορι).