Possible new method for reading Herculaneum scrolls

Thanks Todd. Because it is new it will continue to show up for a while in the "New Threads" views, but I will move it to the section on "Herculaneum Text Research" where it will be easier to find in the future.

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It could be exciting times for Epicureans if this is succesful!

We have been incredibly fortunate.

If Diogenes Laertius had been a less sympathetic biographer...

If Poggio hadn't laid his hands on the manuscript of Lucretius at the monastery in Fulda...

If Vesuvius hadn't buried Herculaneum...

If Cicero had been less the combative showman...

Our school seems to specialize in Resurrection .

LOL is right. That IS funny. I know they generally do the best they can but this is like some Vanna White "Wheel of fortune" game. Before long they will be reporting that he was enslaved by the charms of his Platonic lover of something!

"Fleischer also says that the text calls into doubt certain historical details about Plato — for example, it suggests that he was enslaved at an earlier date than previously believed"

My sources for this rumour are “people on the Internet”. Can one of us confirm or refute this?

Rumour: So far, only four scrolls have been scanned using the highest resolution, but – because they're stored in an unprotected room above ground – they're at risk if the Phlegraean Fields erupt. Some say something's brewing up with the Phlegraean Fields, what with the recent earthquakes in and around Naples. This is said to be a somewhat older picture of the scrolls' cabinet / storeroom:

Is this true or false, is there any substance to it? I think we'd all be quite heartbroken if they got volcano'ed a 2nd time, especially now that it's clear they can be read, and soon, and all it would take is to x-ray them all (and then simply copy the scan data all over the world).

It doesn't appear to be a rumor. Unfortunately, it sounds like preservation of the scrolls* would be the least of the worries if the volcano erupted! The last time it happened, it created a new shape to the bay! Yikes.

Naples sits on volcanic monsters - and one of them threatens to consume the city

Beneath one of Italy's most densely populated cities, there is danger brewing.

www.bbc.com

Seismic storm hits Italy’s Campi Flegrei super volcano with strongest earthquake in 40 years

Seismic storm hits Italy’s Campi Flegrei super volcano with strongest earthquake in 40 years | CNN

www.cnn.com

For those who want too much information on the Campi Flegrei caldera...

Potential for rupture before eruption at Campi Flegrei caldera, Southern Italy - Communications Earth & Environment

Unrest at the Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy, is consistent with the start of rupturing below the surface and a possible return to volcanic activity, according…

www.nature.com

*Don't get me wrong. Losing the scrolls, now on the verge of being readable, would be a tragedy!! But the scale of the potential eruption could be devastating for the entire region and possibly the world it sounds like. Yikes!!

Well, I can just about handle worrying about the scrolls, and I only did that because I thought: “Maybe I could donate a bit to help save them?” (There is a way to donate, but they focus on philanthropists, whereas I still cook my own meals.)

As for the rest: Thinking about what it would do to the people who live there or the world at large is much pain, paired with zero power to change it – so I shut that out of my mind. Focussing on what I have power over, on what I can turn into action – be that to change it or prepare for it – helps me stay sane, and completing those actions gives me a sense of accomplishment and tranquility

So in a sense, this is me, standing on a cliff, thinking with neither spitefulness nor gloating “Glad I'm not in that boat down there fighting against the storm”, and continuing to do my own thing, because that's all I can do anyway…

Well said, Julia.