‘Viste’ di una città seleucide: Laodicea al Mare nei papiri della Vita Philonidis

Laodiceia by the Sea, one of the cities of the Syrian Tetrapolis, was founded by Seleucus I Nicator. Although the ancient remains in modern Lattakia are to be dated to Roman times or later, archaeological excavations have shown that at least the urban structure of the city goes back to the Seleucid city. The Herculaneum papyri collection preserves portions of a biographical work on a notable man, Epicurean philosopher, and geometer, Philonides of Laodiceia by the Sea. This paper will discuss three passages from one of the papyri that preserve this work (PHerc. 1044), which shed some light on the peculiar place in the city where Philonides gave lectures on Epicurean philosophy, with the aim of trying to frame it in the landscape of Laodiceia as we know it from ancient sources and archaeological evidence.