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Researchers working to decipher the contents of burned, yet rolled scrolls revealed the titles of both the author and the text, nearly two,000 years since they were buried in the Mount Vesuvius eruption.
Scroll – Named Ferco. 172 – According to the Vesuvius Challenge, he is one of hundreds from the ancient Roman town of Herculanem, where Mount Vesuvius was buried under volcanic fragments when it erupted in 79 AD.
The scroll, once preserved under the mud and ashes of a villa, once thought to have been owned by Julius Caesar’s stepfather, was discovered by Italian farmers in the 18th century.
It’s badly burned, carbonized, and very fragile. Over the years, scholars have developed a variety of methods, including using weight, chemicals, gases and grinding, but scrolls are often damaged or destroyed.
The Vesuvius Challenge was launched in 2023 and encouraged researchers around the world to effectively open up and decipher the scroll and try to decipher it.
Marcel Roth and Micha Nowak, currently graduate students at the University of Würzburg in Germany, have discovered the title and author of Pherc. 172. Vesuvius Challenge researcher Sean Johnson made the same discoveries around the same time, and both findings were reviewed independently by the competition’s dairy science team, according to a press release on Tuesday from the Bodrian Library at Oxford University, where the scrolls are housed.
According to the Vesuvius Challenge, the deciphered text identifies the scroll as “on the winding” by the Greek philosopher Philodemus. It is part of Philodemus’ ethical thesis, fully known as “evil and the opposite virtue, and who is what.” And although this is not yet clear, it is even the first book in the series.
The Bodrian Library at Oxford University suggests that the number can be read as “plausible” alpha. This indicates that the scroll is from a book in the series, but it could be other numbers such as Delta.
Scholars generally believe that the first book on Vices is a text called “on flattry,” but is Felk’s content. 172 does not support this.
Philodemus was an epic philosopher, according to the Bodleian Library, whose teachings “emphasize the pursuit of joy as the centre of a good life.” The Bodleian Library said that most of the scrolls stored in Herculaneum villa were his works.
Michael Makosker, a papirology researcher at the University of London, called it a “very exciting development,” who is also a member of the Vesuvius Challenge Papirology team.
“Other books from On vices and its opposite virtues are known from Papei, which were physically unfolded. The best known are property management (probably the opposite virtues of greed) and arrogance (probably the opposite evil of making one’s righteousness), and there are others,” Mcosker said.
“This will be a great opportunity to learn more about Philodemus’ ethical views and to see a better look at Ong’s overall view of Vis, especially if it turns out to be his first book,” Makosker said.
This discovery is the latest in the Vesuvius Challenge, when the scroll title was first read.
In October 2023, the first complete word from one of the unopened ancient papili was deciphered with the help of computer technology and advanced artificial intelligence. The word is “πορφυρας” or “porphyra” and is a purple Greek word.
And in February, the researchers will look into a column of text from PEREC. 172 identified the term “Διατροπή,” which means “disgust.”