Are there extant any second temple period circular letters from the rulers in Jerusalem?

Question

This article in the Jewish Encyclopedia indicates that the rulers of Jerusalem in the first and second centuries had delegates called "Apostoloi" that would be charged with carrying about circular letters:

...Apostle (Greek ἀπόστολοσ, from ἀποστήλλειν, "to send"), a person delegated for a certain purpose; the same as sheliaḦ or sheluaḦ in Hebrew, one invested with representative power. "Apostoloi" was the official name given to the men sent by the rulers of Jerusalem to collect the half-shekel tax for the Temple, the tax itself being called "apostolé." See Theod. Reinach, "Textes Grecs et Romains, etc.," 1895, p. 208, and also Grätz, "Gesch. der Juden," iv. 476, note 21, where Eusebius is quoted as saying: "It is even yet a custom among the Jews to call those who carry about circular letters from their rulers by the name of apostles"; Epiphanius, "Hæreses," i. 128: "The so-called apostoloi are next in rank to the patriarchs, with whom they sit in the Sanhedrin, deciding questions of the Law with them." The emperor Honorius, in his edict of 399, mentions "the archisynagogues, the elders and those whom the Jews call apostoloi, who are sent forth by the patriarch at a certain season of the year to collect silver and gold from the various synagogues" ("Cod. Theodos." xvi. 8, 14, 29. Compare Mommsen, "Corpus Inscr. Lat." ix. 648. See Apostolé).

Might there be any examples extant of such circular letters?

Answer 1

The Talmud, Sanhedrin 11a-b, quotes the texts of several such letters.

From Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel:

מהודעין אנחנא לכון דגוזליא רכיכין ואימריא דערקין וזימנא דאביבא לא מטא ושפרת מילתא באנפאי ואוסיפית על שתא דא תלתין יומין

We are notifying you that the fledglings are tender, and that the lambs are thin, and time for the spring has not yet arrived. And consequently, the matter is good in my eyes, and I have therefore added thirty days onto this year.

From Rabban Gamliel:

לאחנא בני גלילאה עילאה ולאחנא בני גלילאה תתאה שלומכון יסגא מהודעין אנחנא לכון דזמן ביעורא מטא לאפרושי מעשרא ממעטנא דזיתא

To our brothers, the people of the Upper Galilee, and to our brothers, the people of the Lower Galilee, may your peace increase. We are informing you that the time has come for eradication of tithes [that had been separated from produce but not yet given to their designated recipients, as is to be done in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical-Year cycle], to separate the tithe from the vat of olives, [because most of the local olives were grown in the Galilee].

לאחנא בני דרומא שלומכון יסגא מהודעין אנחנא לכון דזמן ביעורא מטא לאפרושי מעשרא מעומרי שיבליא

To our brothers, the people of the South, [meaning the area of Judea and its environs], may your peace increase. We are informing you that the time has come for eradication, to separate the tithe from the mounds of stalks of grains, [because most of the local grain was grown in the Judea region].

לאחנא בני גלוותא בבבל ולאחנא דבמדי ולשאר כל גלוותא דישראל שלומכון יסגא לעלם מהודעין אנחנא לכון דגוזליא רכיכין ואימריא ערקין וזמנא דאביבא לא מטא ושפרא מילתא באנפאי ובאנפי חביריי ואוסיפית על שתא דא יומין

To our brothers, the people of the Diaspora in Babylonia, and to our brothers who are in Media, and to the rest of the entire Jewish Diaspora, may your peace increase forever. We are informing you that the fledglings are tender, and the lambs are thin, and time for the spring has not come. And consequently, the matter is good before me and before my colleagues, [i.e., in our estimation], and I have consequently added thirty days to this year.

(In Jewish history, there were several Rabban Gamliels, and two Rabban Shimon ben Gamliels, who served as nesi'im (presidents of the Sanhedrin). It's a bit uncertain which ones are referred to here. Rashi ad loc identifies them as Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh (in office about 70-110 CE) and his son Rabban Shimon (about 110-150), while others identify the first one as Rabban Gamliel the Elder (about 10-50), in which case Rabban Shimon might be his son (about 50-70).