Graziano Ranocchia - University of Pisa
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Graziano Ranocchia
University of Pisa
Dipartimento di Filologia, Letteratura e Linguistica
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Articles in scientific journals and Book chapters by Graziano Ranocchia
E. Avdoulou-G. Ranocchia, A new reading in the 'subscriptio' of Philodemus’ first book 'On Rhetoric', «Aegyptus» 105 (2025), 3-9
by
Graziano Ranocchia
and
Eleni Avdoulou
Aegyptus
, 2025
This paper offers a new reading in the 'subscriptio' of P.Herc. 1427, which represents the midoll...
more
This paper offers a new reading in the 'subscriptio' of P.Herc. 1427, which represents the midollo of the papyrus roll containing the first book of Philodemus’ 'On Rhetoric'. By applying recent high-resolution digital microscopy, this study argues that the correct reading of the third line of the 'subscriptio' is the genitive plural of the enigmatic term ὑπομνηματικόν. This confirms that P.Herc. 1427 is the very first ὑπομνηματικόν or ‘hypomnematic book’ in a series of subsequent ὑπομνηματικά of the same treatise
Pulsed thermographic analysis of Herculaneum papyri, Scientific Reports (Nature), 15, 34466
Scientific Reports
, 2025
The Herculaneum papyri represent an exceptional cultural treasure, providing invaluable insights ...
more
The Herculaneum papyri represent an exceptional cultural treasure, providing invaluable insights into the philosophical, literary and historical landscape of the Greco-Roman world. However, their carbonization due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD poses significant challenges for both textual legibility and structural analysis. This study illustrates the first application of Pulsed Thermography to the non-destructive analysis of these unique manuscripts. By employing an experimental setup comprising a couple of flashes providing the excitation and a thermal camera for recording the infrared emission from the sample, the technique proves to be an important tool for textual recovery, revealing writing almost not discernible to the naked eye. Furthermore, Pulsed Thermography provides structural information useful for restorers, such as the papyrus texture and adhesion points to paperboard, offering a valuable advantage over other imaging techniques. The results show the potential of the adopted method not only as a powerful tool for textual recovery but also for guiding conservation strategies ensuring a deeper understanding of Herculaneum papyri.
Anna Angeli, Livia Marrone, Enzo Puglia, Enrico Renna, Costantina Romeo, Addio a Mario Capasso, «Philosophical Papyri» 2 (2024), 341-342
Philosophical Papyri
, 2024
[Filodemo], [Sulla retorica], Libro incerto, PHerc. 1004, coll. 32-85. Edizione, introduzione e commento, «Philosophical Papyri» 2 (2024), 11-162
Philosophical Papyri
, 2024
Critical edition, with introduction and commentary, of PHerc. 1004, cols. 32-85, transmitting an ...
more
Critical edition, with introduction and commentary, of PHerc. 1004, cols. 32-85, transmitting an uncertain book of Philodemus’ On Rhetoric
La rigatura del rotolo librario mediante linee di piombo e la Legge di Maas. Conferme e novità dalla macro-fluorescenza a raggi X, «Analecta Papyrologica» 35, 2 (2023), 115-138
Analecta Papyrologica
, 2023
The use of lead-drawn ruling lines by ancient scribes for the layout of Greek papyrus rolls was k...
more
The use of lead-drawn ruling lines by ancient scribes for the layout of Greek papyrus rolls was known to us only from classical authors and was postulated by a few scholars in modern times. In-situ application of noninvasive Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging (MA-XRF) to unrolled papyri from Herculaneum, dating from about 200 BC to the 1st century AD, has provided the first direct evidence of such practice in ancient book production. The key experimental proof of periodic lines drawn in lead was gathered by a highly sensitive MA-XRF mobile instrument, which allowed detection of ultra-low trace residues of metals with detection limits that rival synchrotron light instruments. Elemental distribution maps of Pb have revealed three different systems of textual layout in ancient papyrus rolls and have resolved the dispute around the so-called Maas’ Law, by delivering experimental proof that slanted text columns were a deliberate aesthetic choice of scribes.
Scrittore stoico incerto, Opera incerta (PHerc. 1020), coll. 96-103. Edizione, introduzione e commento, «Philosophical Papyri» 1 (2023), 15-70
Philosophical Papyri: A Journal of Ancient Philosophy and the Papyrological Tradition
, 2023
Anonymous Stoic author, Unknown work (PHerc. 1020), cols. 96-103. Edition, introduction and comme...
more
Anonymous Stoic author, Unknown work (PHerc. 1020), cols. 96-103. Edition, introduction and commentary · Editio princeps, with introduction and commentary, of eight unedited columns of PHerc. 1020 handing down an early Stoic treatise on the cognitive, dialectical and moral virtues of the wise
Ancora sulla subscriptio di P.Herc. 1669 (Filodemo, Sulla retorica, libro XX). In margine ad un nuovo recente tentativo di identificazione del numerale del libro, «Analecta Papyrologica» 34 (2022), 101-111
Analecta Papyrologica
, 2022
In this article I argue against G. Del Mastro’s recent identification of
the book number included...
more
In this article I argue against G. Del Mastro’s recent identification of
the book number included in the end-title of P.Herc. 1669 (Philodemus’
On Rhetoric) as a stigma = 6
Intorno all’autore del trattato ercolanese adespoto [Sulla procreazione] (P.Herc. 1390/908). Non Epicuro, ma Demetrio Lacone?, «Analecta Papyrologica» 34 (2022), 71-99
Analecta Papyrologica
, 2022
P.Herc. 1390/908, which hands down a unique Epicurean text on human procreation, has historically...
more
P.Herc. 1390/908, which hands down a unique Epicurean text on human procreation, has historically been assigned to Epicurus’ masterpiece "On Nature", several books of which are preserved in the Herculanean collection. Now various arguments allow us to challenge this authorship and suggest that the author of this text can rather be identified with Demetrius Laco, an Epicurean philosopher of the 2nd/1st century B.C., several of whose treatises have survived among the Herculaneum papyri.
Layout of ancient Greek papyri through lead-drawn ruling lines revealed by Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging, Scientific Reports (Nature), 13, 6582 (2023)
by
Graziano Ranocchia
and
Gertjan Verhasselt
Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio), 13, 6582 (2023)
, 2023
The use of lead-drawn ruling lines by ancient scribes for the layout of Greek papyrus rolls was k...
more
The use of lead-drawn ruling lines by ancient scribes for the layout of Greek papyrus rolls was known to us only from classical authors and was postulated by a few scholars in modern times. In situ application of noninvasive Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging Spectroscopy (MA-XRF) to unrolled papyri from Herculaneum, dating from about 200 BC to the 1st century AD, has provided the first direct evidence of such practice in ancient book production. The key experimental proof of periodic lines drawn in lead was gathered by a highly sensitive MA-XRF mobile instrument, which allowed detection of ultra-low trace residues of metals with detection limits that rival synchrotron light instruments. Elemental distribution maps of Pb have revealed three different systems of textual layout in ancient papyrus rolls and have resolved the dispute around so-called Maas' Law, by delivering experimental proof that slanted text columns were a deliberate aesthetic choice of scribes.
Nuove acquisizioni sulla struttura del Περὶ ῥητορικῆϲ di Filodemo. Un trattato in almeno venti libri, «Aegyptus» 102 (2022), 151-174
Aegyptus
, 2022
Basing himself on some new readings of book numbers included in the endtitles of various papyri, ...
more
Basing himself on some new readings of book numbers included in the endtitles of various papyri, the author proposes a new general structure for Philodemus' On Rhetoric and shows that the treatise consisted of precisely-or at least-twenty books.
P.Herc. 1384: a book of Chrysippus’ "On Ways of Life"?, «The Cambridge Classical Journal», 68 (2022), 208-230
The Cambridge Classical Journal
, 2022
P.Herc. 1384 preserves an ethical work focusing on the wise man's lifestyle. This work, which had...
more
P.Herc. 1384 preserves an ethical work focusing on the wise man's lifestyle. This work, which had formerly been attributed to the Epicurean Philodemus, has recently been proven to be Stoic instead, and has been assigned to either an early or a second-century BC Cynicising Stoic philosopher. This article, while confirming the Stoic authorship of P.Herc. 1384, shows that it can only belong to Chrysippus or one of his immediate successors and brings forward new evidence in favour of Chrysippus himself. In particular, several arguments allow us to advance an identification with book 1 of his lost 'Peri biōn'.
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Prior to 2012, only fifteen columns of P.Herc. 1384 were known, significantly limiting scholarly interpretations.
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Philosophical vs. Biographical: A New Assesment of Greek Literature "Peri biōn", «Mnemosyne» 75 (2022), 759-792
Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies
, 2022
Greek works 'On Ways of Life' have been seen to consist in either collections of biographies or p...
more
Greek works 'On Ways of Life' have been seen to consist in either collections of biographies or proper philosophical treatises. Recently, a unitary reading of this literary phenomenon has been advanced, but some fundamental evidence has escaped attention. This evidence, along with what remains of Epicurus and Chrysippus' 'Peri biōn', suggests that in antiquity this label actually encompassed two essentially different genres: a mostly biographical one, which was cultivated by fourth/third-century bc Peripatetic philosophers and imperial writers, and a moral-philosophical one, which was first developed by Epicurus and Chrysippus and then cultivated by Academic and Peripatetic thinkers in the Hellenistic period and in later centuries.
P.Oxy 5493. Plato, Laches 197AB, 200B-201B, in N. Gonis-P.J. Parsons-W.B. Henry (ed.), The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, London: Egypt Exploration Society, 85 (2020), 48-52
N. Gonis-P.J. Parsons-W.B. Henry (ed.), The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, London: Egypt Exploration Society, 85 (2020), 48-52
, 2020
Editio princeps of a new Oxyrhynchus papyrus of Plato's Laches
Un nuovo frammento adespoto della Commedia Antica (Philod. [de sup.] col. 13, 3-4 Ranocchia), «Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica» n.s., 113 (2020), 207-222
Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica
, 2020
A new fragment of the Old Comedy can be identified in Philodemus’ On Arrogance (PHerc. 1008), col...
more
A new fragment of the Old Comedy can be identified in Philodemus’ On Arrogance (PHerc. 1008), col. 13, 3-4 Ranocchia. In this fragment, an unknown fellow is told to give an ironical judgement about a drama by, most probably, Euripides, a personality whose haughtiness and scornfulness were proverbial in antiquity
La Vita di Aristone di Chio nella "Rassegna degli Stoici" di Filodemo (PHerc. 1018, coll. 10 e 33-37). Edizione, introduzione e commento, «Analecta Papyrologica», 22 (2020), 8-156
Analecta Papyrologica
, 2020
I offer here a new critical edition of the Life of the early heterodox Stoic thinker Aristo of Ch...
more
I offer here a new critical edition of the Life of the early heterodox Stoic thinker Aristo of Chios included in Philodemus’ History of the Stoa (or Index Stoicorum), with introduction and commentary
Is Ϝ-Shaped Digamma Attested as a Numerical Sign in Greek Papyri? Once more on P.Herc. 1669 and P.Oxy. 1176, «Journal of Hellenic Studies», 140 (2020), 199-205
Journal of Hellenic Studies
, 2020
T. Dorandi, who has previously proposed to read the book number included in the end-title of P.He...
more
T. Dorandi, who has previously proposed to read the book number included in the end-title of P.Herc. 1669 (Philodemus’ On Rhetoric) as a numerical ϝ-shaped digamma (= 6), has now advanced the same reading in the subscriptio of P.Oxy. 1176 (Satyrus, Lives book 6), where the editor princeps and all subsequent editors had unanimously read a stigma before. In this article, I argue not only that both readings are palaeographically untenable, but also that they historically contradict the graphic and functional evolution of digamma within the Greek alphabet. In particular, in both Graeco-Egyptian and Herculaneum papyri, ϝ-shaped digamma is always attested as a merely phonetic element (/w/ or waw) – never as a numeral symbol – whereas stigma, which represents the historical evolution of a variant of Archaic and Classical digamma, is the only form used as a numerical sign (= 6).
Scrittore epicureo anonimo, Opera incerta (PHerc. 1390/908). Edizione, introduzione e commentario, tavole, «Galenos», 13 (2019), 17-109
Galenos
, 2019
Usually referred to as ‘On generation’ or ‘On procreation’, this unique text without a title or a...
more
Usually referred to as ‘On generation’ or ‘On procreation’, this unique text without a title or an author's name, transmitted in PHerc. 1390/908, stands by itself because of its subject matter and because in the Herculaneum collection, as is well known, no medical or paramedical works have survived. Along with the final section of Book 4 of Lucretius’ On Nature, it is the only Epicurean treatment of this topic of a certain length. Here, we offer its first comprehensive critical edition, with an introduction and a commentary. This text, traditionally attributed to Epicurus, is now tentatively ascribed by us, with various arguments, to the Epicurean philosopher and writer Demetrius of Laconia (2nd century BC).
Heraclitus' Portrait in Diogenes Laërtius and Philodemus' On Arrogance, in Ch. Vassallo (ed.), Presocratics and Papyrological Tradition. A Philosophical Reappraisal of the Sources, Boston/New York: de Gruyter [“Studia Praesocratica”] 2019, 221-247
Ch. Vassallo (ed.), Presocratics and Papyrological Tradition. A Philosophical Reappraisal of the Sources, Boston/New York: de Gruyter [“Studia Praesocratica”]
, 2019
The central core of the Life of Heraclitus handed down by Diogenes Laërtius is represented by a b...
more
The central core of the Life of Heraclitus handed down by Diogenes Laërtius is represented by a biographical-characterological portrait, in which the haughtiness and the superciliousness attributed to this philosopher are ridiculed for openly satirical and polemical purposes. Substantial analogies are detectable in the moral-protreptic letter 'On the Relieving of Arrogance', amply quoted and paraphrased by Philodemus in the closing section of PHerc. 1008 (['On Arrogance'], cols. 10-24). Significantly, at the beginning of the latter (col. 10.16-26 Ranocchia) Heraclitus is expressly mentioned, along with other philosophers and poets, amongst those who became arrogant «on account of philosophy». To the similarities formerly identified by W. Knögel and S.N. Mouraviev it is now possible to add numerous further thematic correspondences between these writings, which suggest that both originally belonged to the same philosophical tradition, whose goal was to describe, and cure, arrogance. This tradition possibly embraced both a general illustration/therapy of vice and specific exemplifications of it by means of lively portraits of ‘arrogant’ philosophers and poets like Heraclitus, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Socrates, Hippias and Euripides.
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Philodemus' treatise analyzes the genetic and ethical implications of vices and virtues, with a structure comprising at least ten books.
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Luigia Achillea Stella interprete di Alcmeone di Crotone, «Giornale Critico della Filosofia Italiana», 98 (2019), 361-377.
Giornale Critico della Filosofia Italiana
, 2019
Il presente saggio ha come oggetto l’intepretazione relativa alla figura e all’insegnamento del f...
more
Il presente saggio ha come oggetto l’intepretazione relativa alla figura e all’insegnamento del filosofo e medico presocatico Alcmeone di Crotone offerta da Luigia Achillea Stella negli anni Trenta del secolo scorso. Attraverso un’acuta analisi dell’evidenza a lui relativa, Alcmeone emerge dalle nebbie del primo pensiero greco come une delle più influenti e moderne personalità del suo tempo, le cui teorie esercitarono un enorme impatto nei due secoli a lui successivi fino a Platone e Aristotele.
This study focuses on the interpretation of the figure and the teaching of the Presocratic philosopher and physician Alcmaeon of Croton offered by Luigia Achillea Stella in the Thirties of the past century. Through her insightful analysis of the relevant evidence, Alcmaeon emerges from the shadows of early Greek thought as one of the most influencial and most modern personalities of his time, whose theories had a huge impact in the two subsequent centuries up to Plato and Aristotle.
Ancient Greek text concealed on the back of unrolled papyrus revealed through shortwave-infrared hyperspectral imaging, «Science Advances», 5/10 (2019), eaav8936.
by
Graziano Ranocchia
Kilian Fleischer
Alessia Cedola
Aurelie Tournie
, and
Michela Perino
Science Advances
, Oct 4, 2019
Only a few Herculaneum rolls exhibit writing on their reverse side. Since unrolled papyri are per...
more
Only a few Herculaneum rolls exhibit writing on their reverse side. Since unrolled papyri are permanently glued to paperboard, so far, this fact was known to us only from 18th-century drawings. The application of shortwave-infrared (SWIR; 1000-2500 nm) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) to one of them (PHerc. 1691/1021) has revealed portions of Greek text hidden on the back more than 220 years after their first discovery, making it possible to recover this primary source for the ongoing new edition of this precious book. SWIR HSI has produced better contrast and legibility even on the extensive text preserved on the front compared to former imaging of Herculaneum papyri at 950 nm (improperly called multispectral imaging), with a substantial impact on the text reconstruction. These promising results confirm the importance of advanced techniques applied to ancient carbonized papyri and open the way to a better investigation of hundreds of other such papyri.
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