Posted on 04/05/2002 3:43:19 PM PST by vannrox
Chronic lack of funds has meant that the already excavated sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum have been slowly deteriorating, creating a crisis of preservation. The villa must compete with many other projects clamouring for support. But among all the buildings of this World Heritage Site, this villa is unique because of the papyri. The will, and the money, must be found to finish the excavation properly, and so, one hopes, restore the great library to an expectant world. Herculean task for modern scholars
By Robert Fowler
ALMOST all the texts we have of the ancient classics derive from generations of scribal copies, separated by many centuries from the originals. Most works of classical literature — some 90 per cent — were not even lucky enough to be copied and survive into modern times. Very occasionally, the archaeologist’s spade turns up fragments of books written in antiquity itself, allowing us direct access to lost works and what the ancients said.
Some celebrated sites, such as Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, have yielded up splendid finds. Yet strangely, the most spectacular of sites remains to be fully explored.
Pompeii is deservedly the most famous archaeological excavation in the world. Buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79 and brought to light by generations of painstaking archaeologists, the massive site, some 100 acres, contains the heart of a bustling merchant town, whose market, public buildings, recreational facilities and residences afford the visitor a ghostly sense of antiquity, rendered poignant by the looming bulk of the distant and beautiful volcano.
But besides Pompeii there is Herculaneum, situated on the coast just west of Vesuvius and five miles south of Naples. This was a seaside retreat for the rich. Although smaller than its sister and crowded on all sides by the modern town, it is in some ways even more pleasant to visit. Instead of the pumice that crushed and burnt Pompeii, Herculaneum was first smothered in super-heated gas and ash, then volcanic mud. The first surge carbonised the contents, and the second entombed them.
Consequently, Herculaneum is in a much better state of preservation. Upper storeys, furniture, woodwork, paint and replanted gardens all give an immediate sense of life.
The most famous of Herculaneum’s buildings is not, however, excavated as yet. In 1752-54, tunnellers acting on the orders of the Bourbon King Charles III came across the only intact library known from ancient times, in the house accordingly dubbed the Villa of the Papyri. At first they did not recognise the blackened lumps for what they were, and nearly threw them away. But the chance spotting of a few letters led to the rescue of the rolls from the rubbish heap, and inaugurated the modern discipline of papyrology. Not for the only time in the history of this site, however, financial, administrative and political difficulties put a premature stop to the explorations before the rest of the books could be unearthed.
The library turned out to be peculiarly one-sided, consisting mostly of philosophical books in Greek by Philodemus of Gadara, who was virtually unknown except as the author of some very fine epigrams. But this discovery put him in a wholly new light. He was the most important Epicurean philosopher of the 1st century BC. His patron was Lucius Cal-purnius Piso, father-in-law of Julius Caesar, to whom he dedicated one of his works. In all probability this was Piso’s villa, and Philodemus’s personal library.
Deciphering the charred rolls — black ink on black papyrus — is phenomenally difficult. The books must first be unrolled. Early efforts were disastrous. A common method was to cut a roll in half vertically (which in itself caused much damage either side of the knife), to transcribe as much as could be read on the inner surface, then scrape off the first layer to get at the next one. This first layer was, of course, lost for ever, and we are now dependent on the deficient transcripts of these early scholars, working long before the age of powerful microscopes, infra-red light and digital image-enhancing techniques. It did not help that the rolls and half-rolls were often jumbled or separated, making their reconstruction a puzzle of fiendish difficulty.
In spite of these obstacles, modern scholars have made spectacular progress in the past 30 years. The driving force was Marcello Gigante, Professor of Greek at Naples, who died last November. At his instigation an international team of scholars set to work on the nearly 1,800 rolls of writings on poetry, rhetoric, theology, physics, ethics and the history of philosophy, throwing floods of light on the literary and philosophical culture of the day. The most immediate connection is with Horace’s Art of Poetry, which owes much to Philodemus. Virgil was another pupil, who no doubt studied with him in this very villa.
The library contained works by other Epicurean philosophers, including Epicurus himself. There were also some Latin books. Fragments of a Roman comedy from the time of Terence have recently come to light. Still, Epicurean philosophy preponderates. The question must be whether this was the whole of the library. It seems extremely improbable. Where is the Greek poetry? Where are the other Latin books? Perhaps the remainder has disappeared. But it may still be there, containing who knows what riches. The potential importance of such a discovery cannot be overstated.
It is thus imperative that the excavation be completed. Should the volcano erupt again, we could lose the chance for ever. Partial excavation in the 1990s has established the dimensions of the villa, which we now know stretched down towards the sea on several terraces. It has emerged, too, that during the eruption attempts were made to remove the books in packing cases, some of which could well be found on these lower levels. But, once again, the excavations were interrupted, and we now have the worst of all situations, for, partly exposed as it is, the villa is vulnerable to flooding.
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