LACUNA is a three-year project funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (Fondo Italiano per la Scienza 2022-2023, Starting Grant SH5, FIS-2023-01833) and hosted at the Department of Humanities at the University of Naples Federico II.

LACUNA – Leveraging innovative Approaches to Comprehensively Understand Ancient epicurean texts. Towards the first AI-enhanced editions of Herculaneum theological papyri – aims at bridging the gap in our knowledge of Epicurean theological thought by integrating traditional papyrology with advanced AI models, paving the way to the first AI-enhanced study of the theological works of Philodemus of Gadara.

This unique corpus of Greek texts, transmitted by the carbonized papyri from the Library of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, explores fundamental Epicurean concepts about the gods – their nature and attributes, as well as the proper way in which human beings should relate to them in order to live serenely and without fear. Yet these works are still accessible only in partial or obsolete editions, in some cases dating back more than a century, while others have never been systematically studied. The reasons for this gap are partly due to the precarious state of preservation of the scrolls that transmit them, and partly to the challenges involved in the textual reconstruction of highly fragmentary philosophical works that lack any other tradition.

Reassembling the fragments and reconstructing the texts they transmit is a necessary step in laying solid foundations for a reliable interpretation of Philodemus’ theology, as well as for illuminating the broader landscape of Hellenistic theological debates in which the Epicurean philosopher from Gadara takes part.

At the core of the project lies the idea of addressing a gap in our knowledge from a threefold perspective – papyrological, textual, and philosophical. To this end, LACUNA pursues three interconnected objectives:

1. Virtual reconstruction and study of key works by Philodemus, which are readable only in outdated editions – On Gods Book 1 (PHerc. 26), On the Lifestyle of the Gods (PHerc. 1527/157), and selected scorze of On Piety – or are almost entirely unpublished (PHerc. 168 and 1049).
2. Development of Theion, an innovative software tool based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, designed to assist the papyrologist in the reconstruction of fragmentary papyri by generating context-sensitive linguistic predictions for textual gaps based on the author’s distinctive style, vocabulary, and syntax.
3. New research on Epicurean theology and ancient theological debates, with particular attention to Philodemus’ position within the wider framework of Hellenistic philosophies.