Library of Alexandria: The Greatest tragedy of history?

Happy Friday folks,

Welcome to the highlight of your week: The House of Wisdom.

Today, we look at a library that cemented itself into the annals of history. A famed marvel of the ancient world, which came to a catastrophic end. This is the story of history’s greatest tragedy…

Sit Back. Relax. And grab your cup of tea. Let’s dive in:

Alexandria was the center of knowledge in the ancient world, a place where scholars gathered to study and debate, founded somewhere around the 3rd century BC by Ptolemy I.

It aimed to collect every text ever written with the library as its crown jewel, drawing in scholars from across the Mediterranean.

The Ptolemaic rulers spared no expense. Ships docking in this Egyptian port were searched for scrolls. Originals were kept; copies were returned. This hunger for knowledge made it the largest library of its time, with anywhere from 400,000 to 700,000 scrolls.

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But the library wasn’t just about collecting texts — it was a research hub. Scholars like Eratosthenes (who calculated the Earth's circumference) and Euclid (the father of geometry) worked there, pushing the boundaries of science and philosophy.

In fact, it was home to Homer's epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, preserved and studied by generations of scholars. But it didn’t stop at Greek texts—works from Persia, India, and Egypt filled its shelves, representing a true diversity of thought.

One of the treasures held by the library was Euclid’s "Elements", the foundational work of geometry. It was studied there and copied for centuries, shaping the mathematical understanding of both the ancient and modern world.

Medicine and anatomy were core subjects of study. The library housed Hippocrates’ medical texts and early surgical manuals, leading to breakthroughs in understanding human physiology and disease.

This was a birthplace of scientific inquiry.

Astronomy flourished in Alexandria, too. The library contained the works of Aristarchus, who proposed the revolutionary idea that the Earth orbits the Sun, centuries before Copernicus revived the theory.

Beyond science, the library held ancient histories, from Herodotus to Babylonian chronicles, documenting the rise and fall of civilizations.

But here comes the tragedy, the Fire.

Contrary to popular belief, there wasn’t a single catastrophic fire that destroyed the library. It was damaged multiple times over centuries, by Julius Caesar’s forces and later under Roman rule. Its decline was slow.

In 48 BC, during a battle in Alexandria, the forces of Julius Caesar set fire to the city’s ships. The flames reportedly spread to parts of the library, but only a portion was affected. The library survived… this time.

Its final blow is less certain. Many attribute its decline to the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, when pagan institutions were increasingly viewed with suspicion. By the 4th century, it had fallen into obscurity.

But then there came a secondary library and temple dedicated to Serapis. After the decline of the main library, the Serapeum became the last vestige of Alexandria's intellectual life, but it too was eventually destroyed in 391 AD.

Despite its destruction, the library left a monumental legacy. It influenced the design of later libraries, such as Baghdad’s House of Wisdom and Renaissance collections in Europe.

The dream of universal knowledge lived on.

Philosophy, mathematics, astronomy—all advanced because of the scholars of Alexandria.

Eratosthenes’ map of the world, Euclid’s "Elements," and Aristarchus’ heliocentric theory all originated there. It shaped centuries of thought.

But What was lost?

Works from all corners of the ancient world—histories, sciences, philosophy. The lost plays of Aeschylus, the complete works of Aristotle.

It's not just texts that vanished, but centuries of intellectual achievement.

The mystery of its destruction fascinates people to this day. We wonder what knowledge was lost—what scientific breakthroughs, historical accounts, or works of art vanished without a trace. It haunts us because we’ll never know.

Until Next Time,

World Scholar