The exact burial place of Plato it was possible to identify it, according to research by the Italian Research Foundation, which was based on papyri from the site of Hercolano, near Naples.
According to the research, led by the Italian papyrologist Graziano Ranocchia, Plato was buried in the “Academy” that bears his name in Athensin a garden near the “temple of the Muses”.
This important discovery, according to what has become known, is due to a new reading of the Philodimus papyrus of Epicureus, which contains the History of the “Academy”.
The papyri were “read” by a bionic eye, which, despite being charred by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. which also destroyed Pompeii, was able to discover this new, useful information. The whole investigation started three years ago and will be completed in 2026. The bionic eye detected a thousand new words, compared to the previous one, which was done in 1991, i.e. 30% extra text.
The Italian researchers add that from this new reading “it appears that Plato was sold as a slave already in 404 BC, when the Spartans conquered Aegina, or, as an alternative case, in 399 BC, immediately after the death of Socrates». Until now, this particular event was always referred to in 387 BC. and in the period when Plato was in Syracuse, Sicily.
The importance of the Herculaneum papyri
It is a total of over 1,800 papyri, with philosophical texts, mainly by Philodemus the Epicurean. The great majority of them are kept in the National Library of Naples and are not exposed to the public because they are considered particularly “sensitive” archaeological findings.
According to the official record, there are 1,814 papyri and fragments, 1,756 of which were discovered in 1855. Thanks to the efforts of papyriologists, so far 340 have been read, 970 are considered partially damagedwhile about 500 are charred fragments.
Tags: Platos exact burial site located study Italian Research Foundation
