The Roman Emperor Who Had Books about “Chemeia” Burned in Alexandria

Gloria Romanorum ^ | May 5, 2021 | Florentius

[Antoninus]

Next time you hear someone say that Christianity was responsible for the destruction of ancient science, show them this.

[PGalt]

Very interesting history. Thanks for posting.

[Red Badger]

Chemistry........................

[Red Badger]

[bhive]

How do you post those pictures in your article replies?

[Rurudyne]

The destruction of the Alexandrian library likely happened in stages, with some public spaces being destroyed as early as under Julius Caesar.

But there is a difference between destroying a public building and destroying the books.

It should be noted though that many Muslims themselves hold that the destruction of scrolls that occurred under Umar starting in 641 had them being used as fuel for fires for the baths years.

[PIF]

The fanatical Christians that burned books were led by Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498 who later became Pope.

Whatever survived until 620 AD was destroyed by the Muslims because it either contradicted the koran, or was already mentioned in it. What was preserved by a few muslims were works that interested them. All else they destroyed.

The muslims are single handily responsible for the destruction of Classical Western Civilization, Classical Christianity and the majority of written works that survived until the 620-661 AD period.

The Roman Diocletian 284 - 305 AD book burning was long preceded by burning of the Library of Alexandria of which various people are blamed from Julius Caesar in 48 BC to Mark Antony to Theophilus to the muslims in 640 AD.

[Antoninus]

The fanatical Christians that burned books were led by Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498 who later became Pope.

That's an inauspicious beginning to your post, so I didn't bother reading the rest. No, Savanarola never became Pope--not even close. In fact, he was excommunicated (he called the Church "a whore") and later executed and burned by ecclesiastical and civil authorities in Florence.

Good grief.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Personally I think much of the library would have been destroyed by the great Earthquake and Tidal Wave that covered Alexandria about 35 years before the library was “burnt”.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tsunami-hits-alexandria-egypt

[coloradan]

< i m g s r c = [[url of image, less these square brackets ]] >

And then remove the extra spaces, leaving a space between img and src at the start. But leave the angle brackets.

[BenLurkin]

Islam killed the Hellenic world.

I was doing just fine until the Muslims came along.

[Fiddlstix]

Bookmark

[Antoninus]

Islam killed the Hellenic world.

Islam killed it in the east, though some of the more enlightened Islamic states preserved some of it.

The Vandals, Lombards, Huns and Sclavenes really trashed things in the West. There's a reason they were called barbarians after all.

[Terry L Smith]

So the Romans were not in favor of alchemy.

[Antoninus]

So the Romans were not in favor of alchemy.

Uhhh, no. Diocletian apparently believed that the Alexandrians were using alchemy to create gold and silver and thus finance rebellions against him.

[Boogieman]

Right, he became kind of an unofficial “Doge” of the Florentine republic for a while, not the pope.

[PIF]

Well then that must have been some docudrama I was remembering - you were right. Not reading the rest is just shows your lack of respect. Ashame, because you were so wrong blaming Diocletian when he was just one in a long line of manuscript burners in Antiquity; and letting the Muslims off the hook is just a huge distortion of reality.

[minnesota_bound]

Diocletian was the Facebook and Twitter Google and Apple of his time.

[Antoninus]

Diocletian when he was just one in a long line of manuscript burners in Antiquity.

Go ahead. Name a few others for me from antiquity, and provide documentation. Psychos from the Middle Ages like Savanarola don't count.

And the point of the post wasn't to signal that Diocletian was somehow unique. It was to refute the notion that Christianity was responsible for the destruction of Classical scientific knowledge, such as it existed at all.

[Antoninus]

Diocletian was the Facebook and Twitter Google and Apple of his time.

I'll agree. They learned a lot form him.