Plato and the Herculaneum papyri: important new revelations

Once again the dramatic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. that completely buried Pompeii and Herculaneum has left history with a major new discovery.

This time it was the charred papyri of Herculaneum found in the library of the impressive Villa of the Papyri that gave us this incredible revelation. Still the subject of excavation and not accessible to the public.

A sensational discovery made using innovative, state-of-the-art techniques, which made it possible to decipher part of the charred papyrus scrolls despite the fact that 2,000 years have passed since the eruption.

For the first time in the history of Herculaneum, more than 1,000 letters were read, about 30 percent of the text of the charred papyrus of Philodemus of Gadara. Corresponding roughly to the discovery of 10 new medium-sized papyrus fragments.

Consider that until now only 5 percent of the papyrus had been deciphered so a considerable step forward in understanding the text.

This is not an easy and by no means a foregone conclusion and has already been the subject of study for several years.

Indeed, the fragility of the papyri, the difficulty in unrolling them, and the difficulties in reading the multiple layers due to their carbonization, make one realize how incredible a feat the papyrologists have achieved.

Revolutionary techniques using tomography and infrared imaging that have made it possible to decipher new parts of the texts that hitherto seemed inaccessible. And to discover the exact burial place of the great philosopher Plato.

Plato’s burial site deciphered from Herculaneum’s charred papyri

It was the reading of the charred papyrus of Philodemus of Gadara that revealed the exceptional discovery of the real burial place of the great Greek philosopher Plato.

Indeed, it had always been believed that Plato was buried inside the academy in Athens.

But now thanks to the work of the University of Pisa, in collaboration with the National Research Council and the National Library of Naples, it has been possible to decipher and discover the exact location of Plato’s burial.

From reading the new papyrus text, it was discovered that Plato’s remains rest in Plato’s private garden inside the Athens Academy. Near the so-called Museion or sacred shrine to the Muses.

But not only has the Gadara papyrus also shed light on the actual date when the great Greek philosopher was sold into slavery . In fact it had always been believed that this took place in 387 B.C. in Sicily. But it was inferred from the papyrus that this occurred in 404 B.C. or perhaps 399 B.C. on the island of Aegina.

Exceptional and surprising discoveries that shed light on Plato’s past. And which have provided important new information about the great Greek philosopher’s past.

Where to find the Herculaneum Papyri

The papyri found in the library of the imposing Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum numbered more than 1,800.

They are currently kept in the Vittorio Emanuele III National Library at the Royal Palace in Naples. And precisely 1826 rolls of papyri were counted, all of them charred. Of these 340 have been opened and read, 970 are only partly readable as they are badly damaged by burning. While 500 are only charred fragments very difficult to read and decipher.

The Herculaneum papyri deal with Greek philosophical texts mostly written by the Epicurean philosopher and poet Philodemus of Gadara.

Like one of the papyri now read and deciphered by papyrologists that has shed new light on Plato’s past.

In short, important new discoveries await us from reading these very important finds recovered from the magnificent site of Herculaneum.