AI Tool Aeneas is Unlocking Ancient Latin Texts

DeepMind has launched a groundbreaking AI tool called Aeneas. Built to work with ancient Latin texts, this model is helping historians decode damaged inscriptions and piece together history with incredible speed and precision.

Aeneas is more than just a translator. It can analyze both written text and visual inputs, like photos of worn-down carvings or broken tablets. This opens new doors for museums, archaeologists, and researchers who often work with incomplete historical records.

A Smart Assistant for Ancient Research

What makes Aeneas stand out is its ability to do three major things. First, it restores damaged or missing parts of a text. Even when big chunks are gone, Aeneas can suggest likely words or phrases to complete the passage. Second, it can guess where the text came from. Using a trained dataset, the AI can identify one of 62 Roman provinces and estimate when the inscription was made — sometimes with a margin of just 13 years. Third, it finds similar inscriptions from a massive archive, helping experts link texts and compare meaning across time and place.

This tool builds on DeepMind’s earlier models, Pythia and Ithaca, which focused on ancient Greek. But Aeneas goes further. It’s faster, supports image inputs, and connects multiple layers of historical data.

Real Results from the Field

To test Aeneas, DeepMind involved 23 professional historians. In 90% of cases, the tool gave useful insights that improved their work. Even better, it boosted their confidence by nearly half when interpreting texts. One key test involved the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, a famous Roman inscription. Aeneas helped narrow the dating — an area of long academic debate — giving scholars a stronger starting point.

Who Can Use It?

Aeneas is free for the academic world. Historians, archaeologists, curators, and students can use it to speed up their research. The tool is also open-source, so anyone can build on it or adapt the model for other ancient languages.

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Final Thoughts

Aeneas is more than a clever tool. It’s a step forward in how we protect and understand human history. With its speed, accuracy, and depth, it gives both new and experienced researchers a way to interact with the past like never before.