An ancient manuscript believed to be "The History of the Academy" by Philodemus of Gadara has revealed new information about Plato's last hours and burial place.
The manuscript, deciphered using advanced technologies like optical coherence tomography, hyperspectral infrared imaging, machine learning, and CT scans, suggests that Plato was buried in the private garden of the Platonic Academy in Athens, near the sacred altar of the Muses.
Italy's National Research Council announced the new findings June 23. According to the announcement more than a thousand words were deciphered from a Herculaneum scroll carbonized by volcanic ash.
It claims that on his deathbed, while suffering from fever, Plato criticized the slow rhythm of a Thracian slave's music.
The text suggests that Plato believed death was a transition of the soul to the eternal world of forms.
It offers clarity on the circumstances under which Plato was sold as a slave, either after Socrates' death in 399 BC or after the conquest of Aegina by Spartans in 404 BC, challenging the previous belief that he was sold in 387 BCE during his time in Sicily.
The Platonic Academy, where Plato was buried, was destroyed in 86 BC by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla, according to the manuscript.
Sources: Greek Reporter, Popular Mechanics, HotNews, Archaeology, Sify, DC News, El Confidencial, Historia
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.
