THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT
What do they have in common towards the history of the
library of Alexandria in Egypt: Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor Aurelian,
Pope Theophilus of Alexandria and
the Muslim Rashidun? The answer is: They all made attempts to damage the famous
library of Alexandria. Among them all,
Julius Caesar is the very person who is remembered in connection with the
famous library. The reason is his love affair with Cleopatra. The love story
between the twenty- one year old girl Cleopatra and Julius Caesar who was about
the age of fifty, has been a subject for many books and movies. The Roman Emperor Aurelian is a man
remembered only by scholars working with the history of the Roman Empire but
not a man known to most of us. The question asked by some or taken for granted
by historians, is the statement that the library was destroyed by Julius Caesar
only. The experts in the field of ancient history have different opinions about
the matter. Let me quote some of the statements about the attempts to damage the library:
Christian Meyer: Caesar. 1982.
” … He also set fire to the Egyptian men of war in the
harbour. The fire destroyed not only the granaries and naval arsenals by the
harbour, but Alexandria’s famous library; More than four hundred thousand
papyrus rools were burnt…”.
The number of destroyed papyrus rolls which have been
reported by Christian Meyer is also a number stated as a fact by the
Major-General J.F. C. Fuller in his
book: Julius Caesar. Man, soldier, and tyrant. 1965.
”… so as to prevent Caesar from being supplied and
reinforced, Achillas planned to seize them(ships)… to prevent Achillas from
seizing the Alexandrian galleys, Caesar ordered them to be burnt. Swept by the
wind, the flames ignited the warehouses along the quays in which 400 000
books, apparently belonging to the Library, perished …”. In a note Fuller add
further information to the discussion about who destroyed the Library: ” …The
Library was destroyed by Amrou, Lieutenant of the Caliph Omar, in A.D 651…”. So
far Fuller and his opinions about the matter.
Was the damage of the library an action of the military
strategy of Julius Caesar or was the event an accident only?
Tom Holland is of the opinion that it was only an accident.”
The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic” is the title of a book witten by
Tom Hollland and published in 2003.
”… burning the Egyptian fleet in the harbour, the
bibliophile Caesar accidentally set fire to the warehouses crammed with
priceless books – or possibly the entire Library of Alexandria, a disaster for
which Christians and Muslims have been blamed…”.
The entire library was burned down by Julius Caesar? The
statement is not accepted by other experts in the field of the history of the
Library of Alexandria.
Philip Freeman is dealing with the subject in his book: ” Julius Caesar. 2008.”
”… but his troops acted with such haste that the fire soon
spread beyond the ships to the docks, warehouses, and uphill to the great
Library. Scholars still argue whether or not the fire completely destroyed this
treasury of ancient literature, but even if the flames consumed only a fraction
of the scrolls, the loss to scholarship remains immeasurable…”.
Adrian Goldsworthy is not so sure that the damage of the
library made by the soldiers of Julius Caesar was of any importance for the activities of the library and the
collection of books.
The Alexandian Museum and Library was a home to the greatest
scholars of the age. The museum was a research center for scientists and
writers. Lectures were held for students and visitors during the day in an
impressive lecture hall. The evenings were filled with dinners and drinking
parties brimmed with learned conversation and biting wit. The fire of the
library did not put an end to the social life of the library and to the work of
scholars and students.
The information published about the damage of the entire
library was made by Plutarchos in his book. ” Caesar ” according to Peter
Ørstad in his book: ” Gaius Julius Cæsar- politikk og moral i det romerske imperium.
1998.
Plutarchos as a main source for the correct information
about the damage of the library, has been doubted by more than Peter Ørstad.
Allan Klynne is the author of the book : ”Kleopatra. Liv och Legend”. 2009. He
is sceptical about the information given by Plutarchos about the total damage
of the library. Let me quote from his book written in Swedish about the issue:
” …Att också biblioteket i Alexandria med sina 700 000
bokruller blev lågornas rov vid det har tilfallet ar en missuppfatning, som går
tillbake till Plutarchos. Det handlade snarare om 40 000 bokrullar, som av
någon anledning låg instuvade i magasinen nere
i hamnen, kanske i vantan på transport till Rom. Biblioteket fanns kvar
nar Strabon besøkte Alexandria några decennier efter branden, och verksamheten fortsatte av alt
att døma annu flera sekler in i vår tiderakning…”.
The damage of the library is also a matter of concern for
the Australian author, Collen McCullough.
A reconstructed, fictional, conversation between Julius
Caesar and Cleopatra about the library and the burning of the books is to be
found in her book: ” The October Horse ”. 2002. The author is supporting the
opinion of the misunderstanding of information of the library published by Plutarchos.
The fictional conversation between Julius Caesar and
Cleopatra is worth being quoted:
” …Oh, the book repository has gone!” she cried, wringing
her hands, very distressed. ” There is no catalogue, we’ll never know what
burned!”….” But the library is in the museum,” he said, ” and the museum is
perfectly safe.”….” Yes, but the librarians are so slow that the books come in
far faster than they can be catalogued, so for the last hundred years they’ve
been piling up in a special warehouse.It’s gone!”…” How many books are there in
the museum?” he asked…” Almost a million”.
Julius Caesar let her know how he wants to solve the
problems of getting copies of the burned books.
Julius Caesar was a man of letter. He was well- educated.
Did the damage of the Library of Alexandra influence his policy of education
and studies in Rome later on? When he returned to Rome, he made plans to set up
a huge public library in Rome contenting the best Greek and Latin works.
THE ROMAN EMPEROR AURELINA AND THE DAMAGED OF THE LIBRARY OF
ALEXANDRIA
The Roman Emperor
Aurelina( AD 270- 275) had to suppress a revolt by the Egyptian Queen
Zenobia of Palmyra who ruled Egypt from AD 269 – 274. During the fighting, the
Royal Quater of Alexandria was burned to ground. The library was situated in
the section of the city which was destroyed by the soldiers of Aurelian. It is
assumed that the library was damaged even if the scholars are not quite sure
about the result of the burning of the buildings.
POPE THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA AND THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
The Great Library, the Library of Alexandria, or the Royal
Alexandrian Library was set up in different buildings in the city. The library
of the Serapeum Temple was one of the libraries connected to the famous
library. The Serapeum housed books of the Great Library. Theophilus of Alexandria
was a Coptic Pope . Paganism was made illegal by an edict of the Emperor
Theodosius I in AD 391. The temples of Alexandria were closed by Patriarch
Teophilus of Alexandra in AD 440. The scholars have different opinions about
how many books that were destroyed.
MUSLIM CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
Alexandria was captured by the Muslim army of Amir ibn
al`Aas in AD 642. Abd`l Latif of Baghdad (1162 – 1231) has made a statement
that the library was destroyed by Amr, by order of the Caliph Omar. The experts on ancient history differ in
opinions about the matter.
The mean reason to add the above mentioned persons is to the
list of those who might have contributed to the destruction of the library, is
to act in defence of Juilus Caesar. He was not the only one who made actions
which resulted in the destruction of the library.
INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE LIBRARY
The international attention to the burning of the Library of
Alexandria is still a matter of concern to many scholars and librarians
worldwide . With reference to the literature quoted , the conclusion of the matter is that the burning of the
books was done due to an accident, an
uncontrolled fire,and not a part of the military strategy of Julius Caesar to
occupy the state of Egypt. The information of the damage of the library is
based on misunderstanding , lack of
critical studies of sources and misinterpretations of facts – and above
all: We are all seduced by the
performance of the love story between two historical personalites who are very
concious of their power: The enigmatic queen of Egypt, Cleopatra and the Roman
general, Julius Caesar.
THE DAMAGE OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA ON MOVIES
Caesar and Cleopatra is a British film released in 1945. The
film was adapted from the play , Caesar and Cleopatra, written by George Bernard Shaw.
The damage of the library is higlighted in the film.
In 1963 the movie ” Cleopatra” contents accusations against Julius Caesar for having commited a
cultural crime destroying the Library of Alexandra.
Two movies- released in 1945 and 1963- are paying attention
to the fire and destruction of the library. Research work done on the sources
for the screenplays of the films shows that the stories are based upon studies
of histories by Plutarch and Suentonius among other ancient sources. Not all
scholars and authors who have witten books about the event do agree that the
library was burnt down.
Lucius Mesterius Plutarchus was a Greek historian,
biographer and essayist who is known for the work of two books: ” Parallel
Lives” and ” Moralia”. He lived from 46AD to 120AD.
The information about the fire and the total damage of the
library has been pulished by the release of the films mentioned.
In year 2002 a new movie about Julius Caesar was released.
The film is a TV mini-series about the life of Julius Caesar from 82BC to his
death in 44 BC. The actor Jeremy Sisto is portraying Julius Caesar, Samuela
Sardo as Cleopatra and Jay Rodan is portraying Mark Antony. Does the film
,Juluis Caesar, contents any new information about the reasons for the damaging
of the famous Library of Alexendra? The answer is: No.The dramatic event is not
mentioned at all! On the official list of historical inaccusacies of the movie,
the fire and the destruction of the library is missing.
The movie: ” Rome ” (TV series) was released during 2005 to 2007. The event of the burning
of the Library of Alexandria is not a subject of the film. The library is not
mentioned at all.
The question whether the Royal Alexandrian Library was burnt
and destroyed might be a result of an misinterpretation of two Greek words: Bibliothecas
and Bibliothea?
Bibliothecas means ,” set of books”, while Bibliothea means
” library.”
In international laws, the determination to protect artistic
and cultural heritage appeared in 16th and 17th centuries onward. In ancient
times, the right to ” spoils of war” of the victor was associated with the
destruction of cultural property remaining on the conquered site.
What about armed conflicts of the 20th century and year
2014? A paper for the annual conference of the Baltic Audiovisual Archival Council (BAAC), September 17 - 19, 2014, in the capital of Latvia, Riga, will be presented by me dealing with the issue mentioned. You are welcome to join the conference.
Tedd Urnes
The Library of Alexandria in year 2010. Photo: Tedd Urnes
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