Part of the left-hand portion of a diptych containing the opening of a letter from a person called Claudius Popa. Despite the fact that the half-diptych appears to be intact at both edges there is no sign of the name of the addressee or of salutem. The writing in the second line clearly overran the fold. This suggests that the letter might possibly have been written across the whole width of the diptych (cf. [292].a.i.1-4). It is noteworthy that the second line, the beginning of the message proper, is not indented as it normally is in these letters.
Claudius Popa uacat [
memoriam tuam dom[ine
. . . . . . . .
"Claudius Popa to ... The memory of you, my lord ..."
Popa: the reading is very clear but the cognomen seems to be extremely rare (one citation in LC 319, a freedman of the Republican period, and two in RNGCL); VRR II, 67 suggests the unattested name Popio, but we do not think this reading is possible. For the large gap after the name of the sender see [347].a.1 note and the references there given.