The Villa of the Papyri is a private house of ancient Roman city of Herculaneum (current commune of Ercolano).^[1] Situated north-west of the township, the residence sits half way up the slope of the volcano Vesuvius without other buildings to obstruct the view.^[1] The abode was owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus.^[2] In 79 AD, the eruption of Vesuvius covered all of Herculaneum with some 30 m of volcanic ash over the site. Its remains were first excavated in the years between 1750 and 1765 by Karl Weber by means of underground tunnels. Its name derives from the discovery of a library in the house containing 1,785 carbonized papyrus scrolls.^[1] Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... Ercolano is a town and commune in the province of Naples, Campania (Italy). ... Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Monte Vesuvio) is a volcano east of Naples, Italy, located at 40°49′N 14°26′ E. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland, although it is not currently erupting. ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus was a statesman of ancient Rome and the father-in-law of Gaius Julius Caesar. ... Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Monte Vesuvio) is a volcano east of Naples, Italy, located at 40°49′N 14°26′ E. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland, although it is not currently erupting. ... Karl Jakob Weber (12 August 1712 — 1764) was a Swiss architect and engineer who was in charge of the first organized excavations at Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae, under the patronage of Carlo III of Naples. ... For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ...

Plan of Villa drawn by Weber showing the ancient structures and the tunnels that were made in order to recover the works of art.^[1]

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 307 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,791 × 688 pixels, file size: 716 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This is an excavation map made in 1965 published in an Italian pamphlet on the Villa of the Papyri. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 307 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,791 × 688 pixels, file size: 716 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This is an excavation map made in 1965 published in an Italian pamphlet on the Villa of the Papyri. ...

Layout and Artwork

The villa's front stretched for more than 250 meters parallel to the coastline. It was also surrounded by a garden closed off by porticoes, but with an ample stretch of vegetable gardens, vineyards and woods down to a little harbor. Sited a few hundred metres from the nearest house in Herculaneum, Piso's home had four levels disposed in a series of terraces on the sloping site and was one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The Villa of the Papyri also housed a large collection of eighty sculptures of magnificent quality, many of them now conserved in the rooms of the Large Bronzes at the Naples National Museum.^[1] Under the portico of the Pantheon Temple diagram with location of the pronaos highlighted A portico is a porch that is leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. ... Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... For other uses, see Pompeii (disambiguation). ... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ...

The villa remains faithful in its general layout to the fundamental structural and architectural scheme of the suburban villa in the country around Pompeii. The atrium functioned as an entrance hall and a means of communication with the various parts of the house. The entrance opened with a columned portico on the sea side. Around the bowl of the atrium impluvium were eleven fountain statues depicting Satyrs pouring water from a pitcher and Amorini pouring water from the mouth of a dolphin. Other statues and busts were found in the corners around the atrium walls.^[1] Looking up inside the 32-story atrium of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt, part of the Jin Mao Building. ... The impluvium is the sunken part of the atrium in a Greek or Roman house. ... Satyrs (Satyri) in Greek mythology are half-man half-beast nature spirits that haunted the woods and mountains, companions of Pan and Dionysus. ... Amoretti or Amorini is an Italian term used to describe the small, winged babies who accompanied Cupid in the classicizing art of the Renaissance and late. ...

The first peristyle had ten columns on each side and a swimming bath in the center. In this enclosure were found the bronze herma of Doryphorus, a replica of Polykleitos' athlete, and the herma of an Amazon made by Apollonios son of Archias of Athens.^[3] The large second peristyle could be reached by passing through a large tablinum in which, under a propylaeum, was the archaic statue of Athena Promachos. A collection of bronze busts were in the interior of the tablinum. These included the head of Scipio Africanus.^[1] In Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden. ... The Doryphoros of Polykleitos The Doryphoros (Greek δορυφόρος, lit. ... Polykleitos (or Polycletus, Polyklitos, Polycleitus, Polyclitus) the Elder was a Greek sculptor of the 5th century BC and the early 4th century BC. Next to famous Phidias, Myron and Kresilas he is the most important sculptor of the Classical antiquity. ... Amazon can refer to The Amazon River Amazon Rainforest Amazon (people) Ancient women warriors A female gladiator. ... In Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden. ... In Roman architecture, a tablinum (or tabulinum, from tabula, board, picture) was a room generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear on to the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain. ... An entrance or vestibule to a temple or group of buildings. ... The Athena Promachos (she who fights in the front line) was a colossal bronze statue which stood between the Propylaia and the Parthenon on the acropolis of Athens. ... Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (Latin: P·CORNELIVS·P·F·L·N·SCIPIO·AFRICANVS¹) (235–183 BC) was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic. ...

The real living and reception quarters are grouped around the porticoes and terraces so that the sun's light and view of the countryside and sea can be more directly enjoyed by the home's occupants and guests. In the living quarters, bath installations were brought to light and the library of rolled and carbonized papyri placed inside wooden capsae, some of them on ordinary wooden shelves and around the walls and some on the two sides of a set of shelves in the middle of the room.^[1]

The lands included a large area of covered and uncovered gardens for walks in the shade or in the warmth of the sun. The gardens included a gallery of works of art consisting of statues, busts, hermae and small marble and bronze statues. These were laid out between columns amidst the open part of the garden and on the edges of the large swimming bath.^[1]

Epicureanism and the Library

Calpurnius Piso established a library of a mainly philosophical character. It is believed that the library was collected and selected by Piso's family friend and client, the Epicurean Philodemus of Gàdara.^[2] Followers of Epicurus studied the teachings of this moral and natural philosopher. This philosophy taught that man is mortal, that the cosmos is the result of accident, that there is not providential god, and that the criterion of the good life is pleasure. Philodemus' connections with Piso brought him an opportunity of influencing the young students of Greek literature and philosophy who gathered around him at Herculaneum and Naples. Much of his work was discovered in about a thousand payrus rolls in the philosophical library recovered at Herculaneum. Although his prose work is detailed in the strung-out, non-periodic style typical of Hellenistic Greek prose before the revival of the Attic style after Cicero, Philodemus surpassed the average literary standard to which most epicureans aspired. Philodemus succeeded in influencing the most learned and distinguished Romans of his age. None of his prose work was known until the rolls of papyri were discovered among the ruins of the Villa of the Papyri.^[2] Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c. ... Philodemus of Gadara (in Greek ) (Gadara, Coele-Syria, c. ... Epicure redirects here. ... Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. ... For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... Philodemus was an Epicurean philosopher and poet, was born at Gadara in Coele-Syria early in the 1st century B.C., and settled in Rome in the time of Cicero. ... Philodemus was an Epicurean philosopher and poet, was born at Gadara in Coele-Syria early in the 1st century B.C., and settled in Rome in the time of Cicero. ...

Papyrus recovered from Villa of the Papyri.^[1]

At the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, the valuable library was packed in cases ready to be moved to safety when it was overtaken by pyroclastic flow; the eruption eventually deposited some 20-25 m of volcanic ash over the site, charring the scrolls but preserving them— the only surviving library of Antiquity— as the ash hardened to form tuff.^[1] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 249 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (504 × 1,212 pixels, file size: 605 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) ^ 17 U.S.C. §104A ^ http://en. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 249 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (504 × 1,212 pixels, file size: 605 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) ^ 17 U.S.C. §104A ^ http://en. ... Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Monte Vesuvio) is a volcano east of Naples, Italy, located at 40°49′N 14°26′ E. It is the only active volcano on the European mainland, although it is not currently erupting. ... Pyroclastic flows sweep down the flanks of Mayon Volcano, Philippines, in 1984 A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current) is a common and devastating result of some volcanic eruptions. ... For other uses, see Scroll (disambiguation). ... Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... Welded tuff at Golden Gate in Yellowstone National Park Tuff (from the Italian tufo) is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. ...

Excavation

There is still 2,800 m² left to be excavated of this villa suburbana, the most luxurious in the resort of Herculaneum. Beneath the excavated area, new excavations in the 1990s revealed two previously undiscovered floors to the villa, which was built in a series of terraces overlooking the sea. A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman Empire. ...

The reason that the remainder of the site has not been excavated is that the Italian government is practicing a policy of conservation and not excavation, and is more interested in protecting what has already been uncovered. David W. Packard, who has funded conservation work at Herculaneum through his Packard Humanities Institute, has said that he is likely to be able to fund excavation of the Villa of the Papyri when the authorities agree to it; but no work will be permitted on the site until the completion of a feasibility report, which has been in preparation for some years. The report, the release of which was expected to occur in early 2006, has yet to emerge, to the consternation of a wide variety of scholars both for and against further excavation. An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been investigated using the discipline of archaeology. ... The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning. ... David Packard (September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was a cofounder of Hewlett-Packard. ... The Packard Humanities Institute is a non-profit foundation located in Los Altos, California, which funds projects in a wide range of conservation concerns in the fields of archaeology, music, film preservation, and historic conservation. ...

Using Multi-spectral imaging, a new technique that was developed in the early 1990s it is possible to read the burned papyruses. With Multi-spectral imaging, many pictures of the illegible papyruses are taken using different filters in the infrared or in the ultraviolet range, finely tuned to capture certain wavelengths of light. Thus, the optimum spectral portion can be found for distinguishing ink from paper on the blackened papyrus surface. Non-destructive CT scans will, it is hoped, provide breakthroughs in reading the fragile unopened scrolls without destroying them in the process. For other uses, see Infrared (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Ultraviolet (disambiguation). ... CAT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around...

J. Paul Getty Museum

The original J. Paul Getty Museum at Malibu, California is a free replication of the Villa of the Papyri, as it was published in Le Antichità di Ercolano. The Museum building was constructed in the early 1970s by the architectural firm of Langdon and Wilson. Architectural consultant Norman Neuerburg and Getty's curator of antiquities Jiri Frel worked closely with J. Paul Getty to develop the interior and exterior details. Since the Villa of the Papyri was buried by the eruption and much of it remains unexcavated, Neuerburg based many of the Museum's architectural and landscaping details on elements from other ancient Roman houses in the towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.^[4] Location of Malibu in Los Angeles County, California Coordinates: , Country State County Los Angeles Incorporated (city) 1991-03-28 [2] Government  - Mayor Jeff Jennings [1] Area  - Total 100. ...

With the move of the Museum to the Getty Center, the "Getty Villa" as it is now called, was renovated; it reopened on January 28, 2006. The Getty Center, seen from the Central Garden The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, is the current home of the J. Paul Getty Museum as well as a research institute, conservation institute, grant program, and leadership institute. ... The Getty Villa Main Courtyard of the Villa The new entrance to the Getty Villa sets the tone of entering an archaeological dig. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In modern literature

Several scenes in Robert Harris' bestselling novel Pompeii are set in the Villa of the Papyri, just before the eruption engulfed it. The villa is mentioned as belonging to Roman aristocrat Pedius Cascus and his wife Rectina. At the start of the eruption Rectina prepares to have the library evacuated and sends urgent word to her old friend, Pliny the Elder, who commands the Roman Navy at Misenum on the other side of the Bay of Naples. Pliny immediately sets out in a warship, and gets in sight of the villa, but the eruption prevents him from landing and taking off Rectina and her libaray - which is thus left for modern archaeologists to find. Robert Harris may refer to the following people: Rob Harris (curler), a Canadian curler. ... Pompeii is a novel by author and journalist Robert Harris published by Random House in 2003. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... Roman trireme, a warship, 31 BC. Note the bank of oars (two on the hidden side), the square-rigged sails, the steering oars, the tower on deck, the ram at the prow, the ballistae and the Greek fire. ... Misemen is the site of an ancient port in Campania, in southern Italy. ... Gulf of Naples is located in Southern Italy. ...

See also

• Oxyrhynchus

Oxyrhynchus (Greek: Οξύρυγχος; sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian Per-Medjed; modern Egyptian Arabic el-Bahnasa) is an archaeological site in Egypt, considered one of the most important ever discovered. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Maiuri, Amedeo. Herculaneum and the Villa of the Papyri. Italy (1974): 35-39.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Hornblower, Simon and Antony Spawforth. Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York (1996).
3. ^ Stewart, Andrew. Greek Sculpture. Yale University Press (1990).
4. ^ The Getty. 2005. J. Paul Getty Museum. 11 May 2007 http://www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/architecture.html.

External links

• The Friends of Herculaneum Society
• Philodemus Project website
• Roman Herculaneum website
• "Millionaire to fund dig for lost Roman library", The Sunday Times (London) February 13, 2005
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Henry Baumgartner, "New light on ancient scrolls" 2002
• J. Paul Getty Museum