Scientists have made a very special discovery: a charred scroll, taken from the unfortunate Roman town of Herculaneum, now reveals where Plato’s exact burial place is believed to be located.
Suddenly it was there: the exact burial place of Plato – one of the most important philosophers ever. The passage comes from a charred scroll found in the ancient city of Herculaneum. History buffs immediately know the reason why the scroll was charred; Herculaneum was buried under a thick layer of ash and volcanic material in the year 79 after an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Just like the city of Pompeii, Herculaneum is also known for the fact that the city itself has remained partly protected against the elements and possible thieves. That is why a number of exciting archaeological discoveries have been made in both cities.
Scroll
One of the well-preserved treasures of Herculaneum turned out to be an ancient scroll that focuses in detail on the history of the Academy of Athens, which was founded by Plato. As part of that description, the writer, Philodemus of Gadara, suddenly focused on the precise burial place of Plato himself. This shows that Plato should have been buried on the grounds of the Academy, in a garden reserved especially for him. The discovery was made in the context of the ‘GreekSchools‘ project, which aims to publish a renewed version of Philodemus’ work. The find was presented in Naples, in the Vittorio Emanuele III-library.
Radical change
For the research, the scientists scanned the charred scroll using infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Afterwards, the scientists used AI to make the text clearer, ultimately revealing more than 1,000 words – about 30% of the entire document. Scientist Graziano Ranocchia contributed to the research. He says: “Compared to previous versions, we now have a text that has become radically different. This text reveals a number of new and clear facts regarding many academic philosophers. Using this new edition, scientists have been able to make unexpected deductions.”
Barbarian musician
The results of the research have managed to shake up science considerably. For example, the new text contains numerous details regarding the Academy of Athens. Not only that; Philodemus also talks extensively about Hellenistic literature, himself and history in general. Philodemus even writes about an encounter between Plato and a ‘barbarian’ musician from Thrace, where Plato speaks disparagingly about the musical and rhythmic capabilities of the ‘barbarian’.
More serious facts are also mentioned. For example, scientists have known for some time that Plato was ultimately sold into slavery. For the time being, the consensus was that this probably took place in 387 BC, during his stay in Sicily at the court of Dionysus I. The new document shows that this was probably the case earlier. Two options are mentioned for this. At the earliest, Plato would have been sold in the year 404 BC. For the second possibility, researchers look at the year 399 BC, immediately after the death of Socrates.
