Oxyrynchus in Egypt is the best documented city of the Roman empire. This book uses the thousands of papyrus documents found there to examine how its urban landowning class derived its wealth from the outlying rural lands, and the relationships they held with their tenants. "Essential reading for all scholars interested in the social and economic history of Roman Egypt."-- Choice "...Jane Rowlandson has written a book that is both thorough and indispensable for those who wish to understand the Egyptian economy in the Roman period. Rowlandson has an astute and consistent understanding of how the patterns of land tenancy functioned in rural Egypt on both the economic and social levels."-- Bryn Mawr Classical Review Oxyrhynchus in Egypt is the best documented provincial city of the Roman empire. This book uses the thousands of papyrus documents found there to examine how its urban landowners derived their wealth from the rural hinterland. After an introductory chapter discussing the topography and agricultural conditions of the region, the book analyses the conditions of tenure under which land was held; the social status of landholders (who included both men and women) and the nature of their holdings; the transmission of ownership by inheritance and sale; and finally the role of short-team leasing among methods of land management. Together with social convention, the system of land tenure, rules of inheritance, and the law of sale and lease formed an immensely complex web articulating the social relationships between landowners and tenants. The papyri from Oxyrhynchus, by illustrating in detail how individuals negotiated their way through this web, provide an unparalleled insight into the character of landownership in a Roman province. Jane Rowlandson is Lecturer in Ancient History at King's College London.