AI unlocks Vesuvius scroll, revealing ancient Stoic philosophy

A papyrus scroll preserved in ash from Mount Vesuvius's eruption nearly two millennia ago has been deciphered using artificial intelligence, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. The surviving portion of the ancient text, burnt to a crisp by the volcano's heat, was read without physical unrolling—a technique that would have risked destroying the fragile document. The recovered text discusses Stoic philosophy, touching on ethics, art and human behaviour.

The breakthrough represents a significant shift in how researchers approach the thousands of scrolls entombed in the ash that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD. For centuries, scholars have faced a dilemma: opening the scrolls risks obliterating their contents, yet leaving them sealed prevents access to the knowledge they contain. AI-assisted imaging and analysis now offer a path between these constraints, allowing researchers to read the carbonised text by examining the subtle variations in the papyrus surface without physical intervention.