Aurelian and the Library of Alexandria. A History of a certain misunderstanding
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Keywords

Library of Alexandria
Aurelian
3rd century crisis
Alexandria
Ammianus Marcellinus

How to Cite

Suski, R. (2018). Aurelian and the Library of Alexandria. A History of a certain misunderstanding. Bibliotekarz Podlaski, 38(1), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.36770/bp.131

Abstract

Our knowledge about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria is incomplete. It often gets attributed to the reign of Aurelian and conflicts that took place in Egypt at the time. It is a fact that the centre of Alexandria had been moved west from its eastern seaside districts.
However, the testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus – on which the entire current hypothesis is based - seem to be rather questionable as this author’s knowledge about topography and history of Alexandria leaves much to be desired. There is no way to specify during exactly which of the internal struggles in the 3rd and 4th century was the Library of Alexandria destroyed, and whether the forces behind it were of human or natural origin.

https://doi.org/10.36770/bp.131
PDF (Język Polski)

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