The library was later destroyed, possibly by Julius Caesar who had it burned as part of his campaign to conquer the city.I heard he did it to protest the late fees ...
bump
The idea of destroying knowledge to defeat one's enemies is an amazing thought process. Conquer them and access the knowledge. Don't destroy it.
>> auditoria<<
Every once in a while, something the BBC says makes me smile. Auditoria. What a great word.
"The library was later destroyed, possibly by Julius Caesar who had it burned as part of his campaign to conquer the city."
I understood that it happened when Cesar was in Egypt, making time with Cleopatra, and there was an uprising within his legions. Caesar burned his fleet to prevent the insurgents from capturing them, and therefore being able to use them against Cesar, and unfortunately much of the library also caught on fire.
However I am not positive if that was the only fire that ever occurred at the Alexandria library.
Actually, I believe that it was the muslims who destroyed the library, around the middle of the 7th century AD when they conquored Alexndria, while Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria (later St. Cyril), burned Hyapatia (one of the greatest "librarians" of Alexandria) in the early 5th century.
I could be wrong about this. It's been about 20 years since I looked into this stuff.
Mark
Now Bobbie "Sheets" Byrd will have to cough up the $12.8 million in overdue fines he owes the library for the books that he read to become the eloquent orator and statesman whom we all have come to love and admire.........
read later
I've been under the impression that Socrates left no writings. If so, that name should have been Aristotle, some of whose works are known to have been lost.
Sheesh. What's with all the dumping on Julius Caesar lately?
The library might have been damaged when Caesar's troops got caught up in the nasty little civil war between Cleopatra and her little brother. But there are historical references to it beyond that time, so it wasn't destroyed until later.
This is very exciting news!
well, except that whole 1 Euclid 5 thing.
Guess I have to return that book now ...
So it took 2000 years to find a library, and we knew what city it was in. But they expect Bush to find WMDs in a place where they were deliberately hidden, and we don't know where?
bttt
awesome
5005 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22304-2903
The Library, the lighthouse, and the Great Pyramid(s).
3 ancient wonders all built within mere miles of each other. The rest of the ancient world combined only managed to cobble together 4 more comparable wonders.