A literary scholar elicits secrets from the charred remains of an exciting scroll: it is a manuscript by the philosopher Philodem, which comes from the Villa dei Papiri, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The Greek text represents parts of the work “Index Academicorum” by the ancient author. Using modern techniques for visualizing the traces of writing, the researcher has succeeded in deciphering previously unknown passages on the papyrus. As he reports, Philodem’s comments can also be seen. The papyrus thus provides insights into the creation process of a literary work of antiquity, says the classical philologist.
“It’s a gigantic crossword puzzle – time-consuming and laborious, but the newly gained knowledge makes up for everything,” says Kilian Fleischer from the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg. Since 2019 he has headed the research project “Philodems Index Academicorum”, which is dedicated to the study of a scroll from the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples. The charred fragments were discovered along with many other remains of scrolls in a building near Herculaneum, which was named “Villa dei Papiri” because of the finds. When Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, the villa, like the other buildings in Herculaneum and neighboring Pompeii, was buried in the torrents of hot ash.
The remains of the ancient estate were rediscovered as early as the early 18th century. Strange objects came to light during the excavations – it was initially not clear that it was the remains of rolled up papyri, says Fleischer. It was only when such a lump broke up that characters were discovered on the fragments and people began to examine them more closely. It finally became apparent that there was a library in the “Villa dei Papiri”. According to Fleischer, the fact that traces of writing can still be seen on the papyri is based on a lucky coincidence: “That has something to do with the location of the villa”. Accordingly, only there were the temperatures after the eruption of Vesuvius exactly such that the scrolls carbonized and not burned directly. “A few streets ahead or further back they would probably have been lost forever,” explains Fleischer.
Charred papyrus fragments in sight
A good two thirds of the total of around 1000 roles have been examined at least fragmentarily over the past 200 years. Around 5000 fragments are neatly framed in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples – sometimes more, sometimes less well developed. For two years now, Fleischer has devoted himself to deciphering and translating the remains of the “special” scroll from this collection. As he explains, the Villa dei Papiri is believed to have been a property that Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesonius owned in the 1st century BC. Was built. Caesonius was known to be a philosophically interested person. According to tradition, he was the patron of the Greek philosopher Philodem of Gadara (around 110 BC to 40-35 BC). It is believed that the scholar lived and worked in his villa. Philodem had apparently brought his extensive library with him from Greece for this purpose. Scrolls from this collection were then buried in the villa in 79 AD.
“The role I am investigating is one volume of a ten-volume work that Philodem wrote on the history of philosophy,” says Fleischer. This so-called “Index Academicorum” focuses on Plato and the academy he founded and describes their history from their beginning to the time of Philodem. The work is at least partially known from other ancient sources.
State-of-the-art technology is used so that Fleischer can study the charred papyrus remains from the Villa dei Papiri. Without it, the black fragments cannot tell what an ink line, papyrus fiber or crease is. Modern imaging methods can now show the differences: They increase the contrast of ink and papyrus and thus clarify the text. Hyperspectral images that Fleischer created together with physicists and computer scientists for the first time from Herculan papyri are particularly revealing. It is even possible to look at the back of pieces of papyrus that have been drawn up on cardboard panels.
Insight into the work of an ancient author
“With the help of these techniques, I was able to decipher around 30 percent more text than in the previous edition,” says Fleischer. As he explains, a special aspect makes the scroll particularly interesting: It is a real author’s manuscript – a preliminary working version or a project sketch of Philodem’s. Next to and below the text, which is arranged in vertical columns, but also on the back, there are numerous handwritten comments and suggestions for changes made by the author. “The papyrus thus gives us valuable insights into the process of creating an ancient book and into the way ancient authors work,” says Fleischer. It can even be compared with the final version – at least with the few remains that have survived.
As before, the scientist is now devoting himself to puzzle work, because the search for clues on the fragments of the papyrus continues. In the ideal case, a new letter could lead to completely new insights into text content in a kind of domino effect, explains the scientist. “I think the rediscovery of literature, which was thought to be lost for a good 2000 years, is one of the most exciting fields in classical philology,” says Fleischer.
He doesn’t have to fear that he might run out of “reading material” after the current project. Because of the 1,000 or so scrolls that were recovered from the Villa dei Papiri, more than 300 have not yet been examined in more detail. You could probably be spared the destructive act of unrolling: Thanks to modern fluoroscopy techniques, virtual insights into the fragile remains are now possible. In addition, there could be other literary treasures hidden in the Villa dei Papiri: There are still areas waiting to be excavated.
Source: Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, Gunnar Bartsch