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

Gloria Romanorum ^ | May 5, 2021 | Florentius

[PIF]

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.

—
Too bad you were unclear on your point. I never heard of the assertion you are refuting - must be something new.

[Antoninus]

Too bad you were unclear on your point.

LOL. My point was only unclear if you didn't bother to read the very first thing I posted under the article above.

Good grief.

[Romulus]

Diocletian’s reign was a time of runaway inflation, which he sought to control through price controls. It didn’t work. It is easy to see why he would have been hostile to an artificial expansion of the money supply. For the record, it was the Christian favoring Constantine who stabilized the economy through introduction of the gold solidus.

[PIF]

Your essay was way too wordy to make our point and it was buried in all the other crap you through in - Good grief. Back at you.

[Antoninus]

Your essay was way too wordy to make our point and it was buried in all the other crap you through in.

No worries. I'll try to dumb it down for you next time.

[Antoninus]

It is easy to see why he would have been hostile to an artificial expansion of the money supply.

Agree. He apparently took away Alexandria's traditional right to coin money after the rebellion as well. One wonders if the Alexandrians were using "alchemy" to make base-metal coins appear to be gold or silver -- that is, counterfeiting.

[PIF]

Its called clear writing some thing you obviously failed in HS and College, if you made it that far.

[Antoninus]

Its called clear writing some thing you obviously failed in HS and College, if you made it that far.

LOL. Fair enough. I think this conversation, such as it is, has reached an end-point.

[the_daug]

HTML img Tag

You can use this tutorial to learn some html.

[Antoninus]

Fall of the Roman Empire ping!

[SunkenCiv]

Alchemy or al-chema means, "the black", as in the black arts.

[SunkenCiv]

[Antoninus]

Alchemy or al-chema means, "the black", as in the black arts.

I have seen numerous derivations of the word, that being one of them. However, in Partington's A Shorth History of Chemistry, which is cited in the original post, he specifically says that chemeia, "is not a Greek word, and appears to have been derived from the native designation of Egypt, a country which Plutarch, in his treatise on Isis and Osiris, written about 100 AD, says was called chemia on account of the black color of its soil. This statement is confirmed by the Egyptian inscriptions, where the hieroglyphic form of the word is used. The name probably meant, "the Egyptian art", and never had the meaning of "black art" as applied to magic."

Not saying this is right, but it's an alternative viewpoint.