When you think of ancient libraries, images of Alexandria’s grand halls or scholarly scrolls in Roman villas might come to mind. But nestled deep beneath the modern town of Ercolano, near Naples, Italy, lies a true archaeological marvel: the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. It’s often hailed as the oldest intact library in the world, and its story is as dramatic as it is fascinating.
Imagine a bustling Roman town, perched on the Bay of Naples, when suddenly, Mount Vesuvius erupts in 79 AD. Unlike Pompeii, which was buried by ash and pumice, Herculaneum was engulfed by superheated pyroclastic flows. These fast-moving, destructive waves of gas and volcanic debris solidified, preserving the town in an almost perfect time capsule – albeit one that required digging through over 20 meters of solid rock to reach!
It’s within this deeply buried ancient city that the “Villa of the Pisons” was discovered. This opulent seaside villa is widely believed to have belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, the father-in-law of none other than Julius Caesar himself. But its real treasure wasn’t gold or jewels; it was knowledge.
Related Video: Deciphering the ancient scrolls of Herculaneum | 60 Minutes Archive
The villa housed an extensive library, primarily comprising the philosophical works of Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean philosopher. Picture shelves lined with hundreds of papyrus scrolls, offering insights into ancient thought and wisdom.
That’s right, papyri! And here’s the most astonishing part: the very eruption that destroyed Herculaneum also preserved these fragile scrolls. The intense heat carbonized them, turning them into brittle, charcoal-like cylinders, but the lack of oxygen prevented them from being consumed by fire. This fortunate (if tragic) turn of events left us with the only surviving library from antiquity found with its collection still in situ.
Retrieving and unrolling these delicate, carbonized scrolls has been an monumental task for generations of archaeologists and conservators. Techniques from carefully slicing the scrolls to using multi-spectral imaging have slowly allowed us to read the ancient texts, piece by piece.
Today, Herculaneum remains a site of active excavation and profound discovery. While much smaller than its more famous neighbor Pompeii, only about one-third of the ancient city has been uncovered. The modern town of Ercolano stands directly atop the majority of the ancient city, including many of its public and religious monuments, presenting a unique challenge for future archaeological endeavors.
The Villa of the Papyri offers an unparalleled window into the intellectual life of Roman antiquity. It reminds us that sometimes, the greatest treasures are found not just in grand monuments, but in the enduring power of words, preserved against all odds.
