One hot AthensOne of the great city-states of the ancient world and the birthplace of democracy. night in 348 BC, a man of about 80 years lay in a fever. A slaveSomebody who is forced to work without pay and cannot leave. girl tried to entertain him by playing her flute. The man was not happy. He told the girl to work on her rhythmA strong, repeated pattern of sound or movement. . Soon after, he died.

The man was Plato, the great Greek philosopherA thinker who comes up with ideas about big questions in life. . He lived twenty-four centuriesHundreds of years. ago. But the story of his last night is a new discovery. 

The story of Plato's death was found in a scroll discovered in the Villa of the Papyri in the ruined Roman city of HerculaneumAn ancient city that was buried under volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. It is close to Pompeii. . The scroll was unreadable until recently. It had been damaged by the ash of Mount VesuviusThe mountain is 1,281m tall. It last erupted in 1944. in 79 AD.

Now, a team of papyrologistsAn expert in the study of papyruses and writing on papyrus. have used new techniques to make the text readable for the first time.

Plato was one of the most important thinkers of all time. He was born into a wealthy family but later sold into slavery.

He is best known for promoting the dialectic: a friendly discussion in which two or more people try to arrive at the truth.

Plato thought dialectic was better than debate. In debates there is a winner and a loser. Debaters want to score points rather than come to agreement. Take a look at the debates of the UK House of CommonsThe democratically elected house of the UK Parliament. It consists of 650 Members of Parliament. , for instance.

Yet others think that debate teaches valuable skills. Journalist Somebody who writes about the latest news for newspapers and magazines or explains the news on television. Alex Clark writes that it involves learning "the willingness to hear others' arguments, and to respond to them".

Dialectic assumes a right answer exists to every question. But sometimes it is not possible to bring two opposite ideas together.

Was he right about debates?

Yes! Debates are about scoring points, not finding truth. They rarely help anyone actually learn something.

Yes! Plato lived in a very different time. Today, most people only have discussions with those that already agree with them. We need debates to hear different ideas.

Athens - One of the great city-states of the ancient world and the birthplace of democracy.

Slave - Somebody who is forced to work without pay and cannot leave.

Rhythm - A strong, repeated pattern of sound or movement.

Philosopher - A thinker who comes up with ideas about big questions in life.

Centuries - Hundreds of years.

Herculaneum - An ancient city that was buried under volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. It is close to Pompeii.

Mount Vesuvius - The mountain is 1,281m tall. It last erupted in 1944.

Papyrologists - An expert in the study of papyruses and writing on papyrus.

House of Commons - The democratically elected house of the UK Parliament. It consists of 650 Members of Parliament. 

Journalist - Somebody who writes about the latest news for newspapers and magazines or explains the news on television.