The Herculaneum papyri reveal where Plato’s tomb is located

Graziano Ranocchia, papyrologist at the University of Pisa, claims to have identified theexact location of the tomb of the Greek philosopher Plato thanks to the analysis of the so-called Herculaneum papyria set of over 1,800 papyrus rolls carbonized during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and which were discovered in the 18th century in the Villa dei Papiri, a stately home owned by Lucius Calpurnius Piso, father-in-law of Julius Caesar, in the Roman city of Herculaneum.

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According to Ranocchia, the famous philosopher was buried in a private space in the gardens ofAcademy of Athens, the philosophy school established by Plato near the so-called Museion, a temple dedicated to the muses. This unique discovery was made possible thanks touse of artificial intelligence, computed tomography, infrared imaging and high-resolution digital microscopy.

These technological advances have made it possible for researchers to read more than a thousand words hidden on the back and inside the overlapping layers of a charred papyrus containing the History of the Academythe work of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara, discovered in 1750. In total, thirty percent more text than when it was last studied, in 1991.

Revealing data

Head portraying Plato, found in 1925 in the sacred area of ​​Largo Argentina in Rome and preserved in the Capitoline Museums

According to the researchers, this fantastic discovery, which is part of the GreekSchools research project, implemented by the National Research Council and financed with European funds, is of great importance and is unique to learn about the development of the Platonic school and its most relevant figures.

This fantastic discovery is part of the GreekSchools research project, carried out by the CNR at the National Library of Naples

During his speech in front of the media, at the National Library of Naples, Ranocchia revealed very interesting data about Plato’s life. Until now it was believed that the philosopher had been sold into slavery in 387 BC during his stay at the court of the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse, but now the new data provided seem to call this theory into question. In reality this may have happened in Aegina around the year 404 BC after the conquest of the island by the Spartansin 399 BC or immediately after the death of Socrates.

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Unexpected discoveries

The researcher reported that in other passages of the papyrus one can read, for example, a dialogue between multiple characters in which Plato expresses his contempt for the abilities of a “barbarian” musician originally from Thrace or the criticism made by the philosopher Heraclides Ponticus on the corruption existing in the oracle of Delphi. Likewise, it is offered a new version of the name of one of the students of Apollodorus of Athens and Mnesarchus, Philo of Larisawhose name is corrected to Philion of Larisa.

In other passages of the papyrus we can read, for example, a dialogue between several characters in which Plato expresses his contempt for the musical abilities of a musician originally from Thrace

‘The School of Athens’ is one of Raphael’s most famous paintings, created between 1510 and 1511

Graziano Ranocchia also stated that «this is a huge leap in quality, even if the study is only in its initial stages: the real impact on the level of knowledge will only be seen in the coming years. Compared to previous editions, there is now an almost radically modified text, which implies a series of new and concrete facts about several academic philosophers, through the new edition and its contextualization, scholars have arrived at unexpected deductions of interdisciplinary scope for ancient philosophy, biography, and Greek literature», he concludes.

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