canfora luciano the vanished library a wonder of the ancient world

8/11/2019 Canfora Luciano the Vanished Library a Wonder of the Ancient World

1/217

~ ~ r

of t ncient orld


2/217


3/217

T

V NISHED

LI R RY

uciano anfora

Translated

by

rtin

Ryle

UNIVERSII Y OF C LIFORNI PRESS

erkeley Los ngeles


4/217

University

of

California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

First published by Hutchinson Radius 1989

California Edition Corrected Translation) 1990

1987 Sellerio editore via Siracusa 50 Palermo

Library

of

Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Canfora, Luciano.

[Biblioteca scomparsa, English]

The vanished library / Luciano Canfora : translated

by

Martin Ryle

p. em.

Translation of: La biblioteca scomparsa.

Includes index.

ISBN

0-520-07304-5 cloth .-ISBN 0-520-07255-3 paper)

Alexandria Egypt). Library. 2. Libraries-Egypt-Alexandria

History-to 400. 3. Alexandria Egypt)-Intellectuallife.

4 Alexandria Egypt)-Antiquities. 5 Civilization, Classical.

Title.

Z7

5

C

35

1

3 199

0

026 93

2

-dC20

90-11087

CIP

Typeset by Selectmove Ltd, London

Printed in the United States of America

4 5 6 7 8 9

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences - Permanence

of

Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.


5/217


6/217

Chronology

ontents

Vll

rt

The Pharaoh s

Tomb

3

2 The

Sacred Library 8

3 The Forbidden City

3

4

The

Fugitive 16

5 The Universal Library 20

6 I leave my books to Neleus 6

7 The

Symposium

30

8 In the Cage of the Muses

37

9 The Rival Library 45

10 Reappearance

and

Disappearance of Aristode

5

I

I

I The Second Visitor

59

12 War 66

3 The Third Visitor 7


7/217

14

The

Library 77

IS

The

Fire 81

16

The

Dialogue of

John

Philoponus with the

Emir Amrou Ibn el Ass while Amrou prepared to

burn the Library 83

Part I References 1

Part

II The Sources

1 7

I

Gibbon 1 9

The

Dialogues ofAmrou

I

IS

3 Revisions of Aristeas

19

4 Aulus Gellius

12

3

5

Isidore

of

Seville 126

6 Livy

132

7

Conjectures 137

8 Hecataeus

145

9

The Elusive Library

147

1 The om of Rameses 161

I

I

Kadesh 166

12

Strabo and Neleus

173

13

Library Traditions

183

14 Conflagrations 19

0

IS

Epilogue

194

Index 199


8/217


9/217

c

335

hronolo y

Aristotle founds his school at Athens.

332

Alexander

of

Macedonia enters Egypt.

323

Death of Alexander the Great. Struggle for power among his generals,

the Diadochi : Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus, Antipater and his son

Cassander, Antigonus, Lysimachus, and Eumenes.

Foundation

of

hellenic kingdoms, among them Egypt,

by

the Diadochi.

322 Death of Aristotle.

321

Seleucus

in

power in Babylon.

317 Demetrius Phalereus, philosopher and governor

of

Athens, driven out

of

the

city

by

Demetrius Poliorcetes, son

of

Antigonus. e goes to

Alexandria.

294

Demetrius Poliorcetes becomes king

of

Macedonia.

287

Demetrius driven from Macedonia.

285 Ptolemy

I

Soter Saviour), associates his son Ptolemy Oater Ptolemy

II

Philadelphus ) to the throne

of

Egypt.

284

Lysimachus takes over ail

of

Macedonia and consolidates his position in

Greece.

283

Death

of

Demetrius Poliorcetes and

of

Ptolemy

he great lighthouse at Alexandria on the island

of

Pharos

is

built.

281

Battle

of

COTupedium. Death

of Lysimachu >.

280 Death

of

Seleucus I

of

Babylon and Syria the last

of

Alexander s

generals); Antiochus I succeeds to the throne of the Seleucid or Syrian

empire.

Erection of the Colossus of Rhodes.

277-276

Antigonus Gonatas wins the throne

of

Macedonia.

274-270

First Syrian War: Ptolemy

II

against Antiochus I

of

Syria.

272

Death

of

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus.


10/217

253

246-

2

4

1

23 9

229

22 7

22 2

223

18

7

21

9-

21

7

218 201

217

21

20

5

200

180

ca.

17

1

-

168

17 } 168

The Vanished ibrary

First Punic War: Rome against Carthage.

Second Syrian War: Ptolemy II against Antiochus

II

and Antigonus

Gonatas.

Peace between Egypt and Syria: Antiochus II marries Berenice,

daughter of Ptolemy II

Translation of the Jewish Bible into Greek at Alexandria

by

the Seventy

hence known

as

the Septuagint ).

Third

Syrian War Ptolemy III against Seleucus II).

Death of Antigonus Gonatas.

Democratic revival in Athens.

Democratic reforms

of

Cleomenes at Sparta.

Battle

of

Sellasia, defeat

of

Cleomenes by the Macedonian king:

Cleomenes flees to Egypt.

Antiochus

III,

t he G re at , on the throne

of

Syria.

Fourth Syrian War.

Second Punic War.

Victory of Ptolemy IV at Raphia over Antiochus.

First Macedonian War: Rome against Macedonia.

Death

of

Archimedes.

Antiochus

II I

of

Syria takes J udaea from Egypt.

Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaims the freedom of Greece

Foundation

of

Library at Pergamum.

Roman victory over Antiochus

II I

at Magnesia.

Peace of Apamea between the Romans and Antiochus III

Aristarchus publishes his edition

of

Homer, dividing the

liad

and

Odyssey each into

24

parts - the basis of the modem text.

Macedonian war Roman victory at Pydna): the historian Polybius

becomes a hostage at Rome.

New outbreak

of

war between Egypt and Syria Ptolemy

VI

and

Antiochus IV

Jewish revolt against Antiochus

IV

led

by

Judas Maccabaeus.

Ptolemy

VI

flees Egypt; division of the kingdom between Ptolemy

VI

and the future Ptolemy

VIII

physcon).

Ptolemy VIII bequeaths his share of the kingdom to Rome.

Third

Punic War.

Macedonia becomes a Roman province.

VIII


11/217

145

145

116

134

88

86

80-5

74

4

>7

67

8

4

8

/47

44

4

2

37/3

6

3

27

17

11

9

A.D.

33

67

canfora luciano the vanished library a wonder of the ancient world

Documents