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blueiskewl · 3 days

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Herculaneum Scrolls Reveal Plato's Burial Place

Researchers used AI to decipher an ancient papyrus that includes details about where Greek philosopher is buried.

The decipherment of an ancient scroll has revealed where the Greek philosopher Plato is buried, Italian researchers suggest.

Graziano Ranocchia, a philosopher at the University of Pisa, and colleagues used artificial intelligence (AI) to decipher text preserved on charred pieces of papyrus recovered in Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town located near Pompeii, according to a translated statement from Italy's National Research Council.

Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was destroyed in A.D. 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, cloaking the region in ash and pyroclastic flows.

One of the scrolls carbonized by the eruption includes the writings of Philodemus of Gadara (lived circa 110 to 30 B.C.), an Epicurean philosopher who studied in Athens and later lived in Italy. This text, known as the "History of the Academy," details the academy that Plato founded in the fourth century B.C. and gives details about Plato's life, including his burial place.

Historians already knew that Plato, the famous student of Socrates who wrote down his teacher's philosophies as well as his own, was buried at the Academy, which the Roman general Sulla destroyed in 86 B.C. But researchers weren't sure exactly where on the school's grounds that Plato, who died in Athens in 348 or 347 B.C., had been laid to rest.

However, with advances in technology, researchers were able to employ a variety of cutting-edge techniques including infrared and ultraviolet optical imaging, thermal imaging and tomography to read the ancient papyrus, which is now part of the collection at the National Library of Naples.

So far, researchers have identified 1,000 words, or roughly 30% of the text written by Philodemus.

"Among the most important news, we read that Plato was buried in the garden reserved for him (a private area intended for the Platonic school) of the Academy in Athens, near the so-called Museion or sacellum sacred to the Muses," researchers wrote in the statement. "Until now it was only known that he was buried generically in the Academy."

The text also detailed how Plato was "sold into slavery" sometime between 404 and 399 B.C. (It was previously thought that this occurred in 387 B.C.)

Another part of the translated text describes a dialogue between characters, in which Plato shows disdain for the musical and rhythmic abilities of a barbarian musician from Thrace, according to the statement.

This isn't the first time that researchers have used AI to read ancient scrolls that survived Mount Vesuvius's eruption. Earlier this year, researchers deciphered a different scroll that was charred during the volcanic eruption at a nearby villa that once belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law.

By Jennifer Nalewicki.

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dankomaksimovic · 5 months

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ph. Danko Maksimovic - Athens, Greece (2022)

Film: Kodak Portra 800

#film photography #analog photography #danko maksimovic #35mm #liminal #athens greece

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absolute-1nsanity · 3 months

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#mine #greek #greece #γκρικ ποστ #greek posts #γκρικ #γκρεεκ #γκρεεκ ποστς #ελλαδα #αθηνα #αθήνα #ακρόπολη #ακροπολη #athens #acropolis #athens greece #athina #ath

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athens-burns · 2 years

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christinakroft · 3 months

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See through, the old staircase

#old athens #old door #athina #greece #athens greece #photography #colorful #beautiful door #architecture #downtown #weekend

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mcversipellis · 2 months

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Her heart wears wisdom skin and wit warmed splendor, the echoes of a war cry holding its four chambers together. She rises like Athena on a night of victory dancing. She rises like the blood moon in a night sky of a thousand nebulae bursting.

-Athena Girl by Nikita Gill

#illustration #reading #vintage #vintage aesthetic #quotes #mythologyart #greek mythology #athena #athens greece #ancient greece #nikita gill #Greek goodness #greek gods

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beneaththemooon · 2 months

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#me #athens greece

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mrwhitehaven · 2 months

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pottering around the Med, 2013. Athens.

#travel #photography #architecture #europe #street photography #greece #athens greece

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arthurdrakoni · 8 months

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Flags of the Athenian Empire

These are the flags of the Athenian Empire. I couldn’t decide which I liked better, so I went with both of them. They come from a world where Athens won the Peloponnesian War. Following the defeat of Sparta, the Delian League was expanded to include the Greek colonies in Italy, the city-states in Anatolia and all of Greece. All of this new territory meant more treasure for Athens' coffers. Athens used much of this new-found wealth to expand its military and navy. The unification of the Greek city-states meant that the Macedonian Conquest never occurred, and Alexander the Great never came to power. Though it was still known as the Delian League, in reality, all of the city-states knew that they were now part of the Athenian Empire.

The threat of Persia was an ever-looming concern. Athens funded many rebellions against Persia in regions such as Egypt and the Levant. Eventually, Athens declared war on the Persian Empire and conquered it in short order. However, most of the territory was lost within a few generations. Athens also went on to conquer Carthage, the fledgling Roman Republic and expanded its territory into Gaul. Athens also expanded into Hispania and the British Isles, but never for too long.

Following this series of conquest Athens began to focus more intellectualism and the acquisition of knowledge. Many libraries and centers of learning were founded across the Athenian Empire. The Athenian Empire never truly fell, but over the years it did lose territory; at its smallest, it was comprised of Greece and Anatolia. However, Greek influence on language, art and culture is felt throughout its former empire and the world at large. In many ways, the Athenian Empire can be seen as the Western world's equivalent of China in terms of influence and culture.

The flags feature an owl clutching an olive branch, symbols of Athens patron goddess Athena. The colors of the flags are black and orange in reference to Ancient Greek pottery. The black on the first flag is also a reference to the black sails of Theseus, mythical king of Athens.

Link to the original flags on my blog: http://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2017/09/flags-of-athenian-empire.html?m=1

#alternate history #flag #flags #alternate history flag #alternate history flags #vexillology #Athens #Athenian Empire #Flags of the Athenian Empire #Greece #ancient greeks #ancient greece #peloponnesian war #Delian League #athens greece

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taylorz-nicholasg · 7 months

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