Scientists have successfully employed artificial intelligence and advanced imaging technologies to decipher an ancient Roman scroll damaged in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The scroll, part of a collection unearthed from a villa in Herculaneum—believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law—had remained unreadable for centuries due to damage caused by the volcanic disaster.

Discovered in the 18th century beneath layers of mud and ash, this papyrus material represents one of hundreds of scrolls preserved from the catastrophic eruption. The current deciphering effort is part of the Vesuvius Challenge, an initiative that applies AI and high-tech imaging to virtually “unroll” and read the fragile documents without physically damaging them.

Due to extensive deterioration, the text is only partially legible, with significant gaps where the papyrus surface has been lost. However, researchers succeeded in reading some sections with unprecedented clarity despite the damage. One translated passage reads: “We will inquire into something, but we will not grasp it, if in some way we depart from ourselves and from our own nature.”

Brent Seales, a founding member of the Vesuvius project, emphasized the breakthrough nature of the achievement, noting the rapid progress made by the team. “Just a year ago, it would have been crazy for any of us to believe that there would be a complete scroll read completely, with hundreds of columns of text. Today, we have shown that is possible,” Seales said.

The project aims to make all the models of the papyri publicly available online. Additionally, the Vesuvius Challenge has announced a $1 million prize to incentivize further breakthroughs, offering the reward to the first individual who can fully decipher another scroll from the collection.

This advancement marks a significant step forward in unlocking the literary and philosophical heritage of ancient Rome and demonstrates the growing role of AI in preserving and interpreting historically important artifacts.