I had not realized that none of the knowledge in the great ancient libraries survived to this day. It’s fascinating that the scrolls from Pompeii and Herculaneum are the only ancient library to survive. It’s incredible that scientists can actually read those charred remains and that those charcoal-like scrolls can be unrolled.
I also learned that Caesar’s father in law owned the biggest, wealthiest villa on the coast. There’s nothing like marrying the right woman!
The other large pile of Roman-era scroll fragments was found in a nice dry ancient rubbish pile at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Since the library of Alexandria was copied onto parchment or vellum to address the problem of the original papyrus copies crumbling away, it wouldn’t be overly surprising to learn that the Oxyrhynchus fragments are the place where the original library scrolls were discarded after being copied.
BTW, the transfer onto parchment or vellum took place centuries after the alleged destruction of the library during the siege that preceded Caesar’s conquest of Egypt. The destruction of the library actually took place when the caliph ordered it in the 7th century muzzie takeover.