Ancient scrolls have been buried in Pompeii for thousands of years. Today, these texts are brought to life at BYU.
Beneath the cobblestones and dirt roads of Herculaneum, Italy, countless ancient scrolls were lost after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. These Roman scrolls lay buried for thousands of years before archeologists found a means of extracting them. With the help of scholars and technology at BYU, these artifacts are available to the academic world, and BYU students are gaining insight on this study from scholars across the globe.
Decades of Inquiry
When the scrolls were uncovered, scholars celebrated, but they still faced the challenge of reading the scrolls. The scrolls were carbonized and buried after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, which made them almost illegible. “To say that nobody could read them at all is a bit of an overstatement, but it’s not an overstatement to say every one that was recovered was very, very difficult to read,” says Professor Roger Macfarlane (Classical Studies). Macfarlane and other researchers at BYU came up with a solution: specialized imaging technology that made the scrolls discernible.
BYU has been the world leader in digitizing these scrolls, says Macfarlane, and the impact of this effort is felt worldwide. Countless scrolls have been made available to scholars who can analyze their contents. Macfarlane says, “For 25 years, really, all the study of Herculaneum papyri has passed through Provo, and in fact, through the College of Humanities, right here, through our project.”
Inspiring Passion
This revolutionary Herculaneum research provided Macfarlane a unique opportunity to teach students about his passion. During the winter 2026 semester, he led a unique seminar class which focused specifically on the history of Herculaneum and current research about the ancient papyri scrolls discovered there.
Macfarlane taught the course with a partner instructor from UVU; both BYU classical studies and UVU philosophy students were enrolled. The class prepared students for a Herculaneum conference hosted by BYU and UVU, where scholars discussed how they are merging traditional papyrological scholarship with advanced imaging, computational analysis, and AI to recover the lost Herculaneum libraries.
To help his students prepare for the conference, Macfarlane invited six colleagues from around the globe to share their research with his class, allowing students to get an inside look at the world of Herculaneum research.
A volcanologist from Naples taught students how to interpret the volcanic debris covering Herculaneum. Other scholars shared their studies on papyri scrolls, the economic impact of the eruption, and the insight discovered sculptures provide into ancient Roman life. Macfarlane says, “Students can ask questions that help the lecturers come and meet them halfway. That give-and-take with a qualified scholar is really valuable for undergraduates.”
The Herculaneum seminar also gave students opportunities for experiential learning outside the classroom. At the beginning of April, students travelled to the Getty Villa in Malibu to get an immersive view of ancient Roman culture. J. Paul Getty’s Villa is modeled after the very building where the Herculaneum scrolls were discovered, the Villa dei Papiri which was engulfed in AD 79. During their visit, students enjoyed special instruction by the villa’s curator.
Emma Dansie (Italian ’26) says the visit to the Villa was thrilling. “I loved being able to see what a villa would have looked like in ancient Rome in its most pristine state. It was so beautiful. It was so colorful. Everything was so intricate and alive. It meant something different than going to a ruin and being told about it by a tour guide.”
Most of all, Macfarlane hopes the experiences both inside and outside of the lecture hall will help students open their eyes to the world of research and learning in the classics. “These connections will really open up new vistas for students,” Macfarlane says, even if they began with something as niche as lost papyri scrolls.
Learn more about BYU’s resources for Herculaneum research here.