Il Papiro di Artemidoro, Torino e i Geografi antichi (Christian Vassallo & Luigi Silvano – UniTo)

THE 'NEW LIFE' OF ARTEMIDORUS Teubner's edition of the Ancient Geographers brings the famous Turin papyrus back to prominence Verum ipsum factum. We could reuse this famous motto by Giambattista Vico to describe the sensational comeback of the Artemidorus Papyrus over skeptics and detractors, thanks to Teubner's monumental new edition of the first volume of the Ancient Geographers (Geographi veteres vel minores vel quorum tantum fragmenta exstant. Accedunt M. Terenti Varronis Antiquitatum humanarum quae supersunt. Volumen I, Carlo M. Lucarini [ed.], Berlin 2026). This long-heralded work was presented at the University of Turin on May 28th. Since its first edition in 2008, the Artemidorus Papyrus has continued to generate interest. Although—for reasons unrelated to the controversies that have accompanied its recent history—it now lies forgotten in a vault at the Fondazione 1563 per l'Arte e la Cultura della Compagnia di San Paolo (which owns it), interest in the text and the images it conveys remains alive among the vast audiences at the exhibitions that celebrated its triumph, as well as among the majority international scientific community that believes in its authenticity and has watched helplessly as it sank into the dust. But the truth, if there ever is one (and only one), lies precisely in what we do. And the first volume of the Ancient Geographers is a factum that no one will be able to ignore in the future. In this volume, the papyrus confirms itself as one of the most important sources for the eleven-book geographical work (Geographoumena) by Artemidorus of Ephesus (2nd-1st century BC). Furthermore, the most interesting portion of the surviving scroll, approximately two and a half meters long, is published, preceded by a masterly introduction in Latin (De Artemidori papyro Taurinensi), incorporating the best corrections made in recent years to the bibliological reconstruction originally proposed by the first editors. This strengthens the hypothesis, which resolves many conflicts, that the scroll did not represent a single author, but instead contained miscellaneous content. In addition to the fragments of Artemidorus, there are also fragments of the writing of an anonymous philosopher-rhetorician, in which geography is exalted as a lived experience and placed on a higher plane than merely speculative philosophy. Then there is a geographical map, likely depicting a region of Spain. The series of curious drawings reproducing anatomical parts on the front and real or imaginary animals on the back deserves a separate mention. All of this, especially in light of unpublished pieces held in various European collections, contradicts the common belief of those who denied that illustrated books lacked particularly valuable editorial value in the Mediterranean region. On other issues, it is to be hoped that further research will help clarify the truth. For now, on a textual level (and beyond), readers of the Geographi veteres will see how the sequence of Artemidorus's fragments, and in particular the anticipation of the description of Spain over the praise of geography, enhance the value of the Turin papyrus more than ever, heralding its "new life" even to those who wished it had never been born.