This is a collection of nine essays focused on military and administrative institutions in the ancient world, and supplemented by a presentation of thirty texts in Greek and Latin written on papyrus and wooden fragments, some unpublished. The essays and textual editions are contributed by a host of distinguished international scholars in honour of Professor J. David Thomas’ 70th birthday. Professor Thomas (formerly at the University of Durham) has edited a large number of ancient texts over the last 50 years, and his work has been important to the understanding of subjects as diverse as the military strength on Hadrians Wall and the chain of command in the Egyptian civil service.