The inscription which follows came to light during the excavation undertaken this year, at Megalopolis, by the British School at Athens. It stood outside the house of a peasant, Βασίλєιος Πєτράκης, whose father had found it, many years previously, in a field upon the ancient site. The existence of the stone was reported first to the Ephor, Mr. Castroménos, who represented the Greek Government at our excavation. Mr. Castroménos courteously announced it to me, and both of us copied it. At that time we had no idea that it formed part of the ‘Edict of Diocletian’; this was first suggested to me by Mr. Gardner, Director of the School, on my return to Cambridge. Mr. Castroménos' copy is to appear, as I understand, in the ‘Δєλτίον.’ The text and edition which follow are from my own copy and squeeze.
The Edict of Diocletian and his colleagues, commonly spoken of either by Mommsen's title ‘De Pretiis Rerum Venalium’ or more briefly as the ‘Edict of Diocletian,’ is known to us already from a large number of fragments, Greek and Latin, found all (with one exception) in different parts of Greece or Asia Minor, and amounting together to many hundred lines. It is still however far from being complete.