As clear as Herculaneum mud: a plea for clarity

Abstract

This article is by way of a request to experts who wish to make their expertise accessible to the non-expert. Non omnia possumus omnes, as Virgil said. In this case the deficiency is the lack of familiarity with papyrology and its conventions, in particular the papyri discovered in the library of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The article shows how expertise can hinder rather than help the understanding of information needed for the processing of crucial data by the non-expert.

Keywords

• Herculaneum
• library
• Philodemus
• papyri
• inventory of contents