reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia. The city was built upon a strip of land between the sea and the Lake Mareotis, and its ground plan resembled the form of a Greek chlamys, or soldier's cloak. The two main streets, 240 feet wide, left a free passage for the north wind, which alone conveys coolness in Egypt. They crossed each other at right angles in the middle of the city, which was three miles long and seven broad, and the whole of the streets were wide enough for carriages. The long narrow island of Pharos was formed into a sort of breakwater to the port, by joining the middle of the island to the main-land by means of a mole seven stadia in length, and hence called the Hepta- stadium. To let the water pass, there were two breaks in the mole, over which bridges were thrown. The public grounds and palaces occupied nearly a third of the whole extent of the city. The Royal Docks, the Exchange, the Posideion, or temple of Neptune, and man}' other public buildings, fronted the harbor. There also stood the burial-place for the Greek kings of Egypt, called "the Soma," because it held "the
ANCIENT
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Stadia.
bodv," as that of Alexander was called. On the west- ernside of the Heptastadium, and on the outside of the city were other docks, and a ship-canal into Lake Mareotis, as likewise the Necropolis, or public burial- place of the city. There were also a theatre, an am- phitheatre, a gymnasium, with a large portico, more than 600 feet long, and supported by several rows of marble columns ; a stadium, in which games were cel- ebrated every fifth year ; a hall of justice, public proves or gardens, a hippodrome for chariot races, and, tow- ering above all, was the temple of Serapis, the Sera- peum. The most famous of all the public buildings planned by Ptolemy Soter were the library and muse- um, or College of Philosophy. They were built near the royal palace, in that part of the city called Bru- chion, and contained a great hall, used as a lecture- room and common dining-room, and had a covered walk all round the outside, and a seat on which the philosophers sometimes sat iu the open air. Within the verge of the Serapeum was a supplementary li- brary, called the daughter of the former. The profes- sors of the college were supported out of the public
income. The light-house at Alexandria Mas not fin- ished till the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 284- 24G. It was built by the architect Sostratus. The royal burial-place was also finished in this reign, and - Philadelphus removed the body of Alexander from Memphis to this city, and hither pilgrims came and 1 lowed before the golden sarcophagus in which the hero's body was placed. Seleucus Cybiasactes, B.C. 54, is said to have stolen the golden coffin of Alexan- der. The Emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-55, founded the Claudian Museum ; and Antoninus, A.D. 102-S18, built the Gates of the Sun and of the Moon, and like- wise made a hippodrome. At the great rebellion of P^gypt, A.D. 297, Alexandria was besieged by Diocle- tian, when, in commemoration of his humanity in stay- ing the pillage of the city, the inhabitants erected an equestrian statue, now lost, but which, there is little doubt, surmounted the lofty column known by the name of Pompey's Pillar, the base of which still hears the inscription, "To the most honored emperor, the saviour of Alexandria, the unconquerable Diocletian." The port of Alexandria is described by Josephus (War,
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iv, 10, 5), and his description is in perfect conformity with the best modern accounts. It was secure, but difficult of access, in consequence of which a magnifi- cent pharos, or light-house, accounted one of the ' ' sev- en" wonders of the world, was erected upon an islet at the entrance. From the first arrival of Ptolemy Soter in Egypt, he made Alexandria his residence; and no sooner had he some respite from war than he bent all the resources of his mind to draw to his king- dom the whole trade of the East, which the Tyrians had, up to this time, carried on by sea to Elath, and from thence, by the way of lihinocolura, to Tyre. He built a city on the west side of the Red Sea, whence he sent out fleets to all those countries to which the Phoenicians traded from Elath ; but, observing that the Red Sea, by reason of rocks and shoals, was very dangerous toward its northern extremity, he trans- ferred the trade to another city, which ho founded at the greatest practicable distance southward. This port, which was almost on the borders of Ethiopia, he called, from his mother, Berenice, but the harbor be- ing found inconvenient, the neighboring city of Myos Hormos was preferred. Thither the products of the East and South were conveyed by sea, and were from thence taken on camels to Coptus on the Nile, where they were again shipped for Alexandria, and from that city were dispersed into all the nations of the West, in exchange for merchandise which was afterward exported to the East (Strabo, xxii, p. 805; Pliny, Hist. Nat. vi, 23). The commerce of Alexandria, be- ing so great, especially in corn — for Egypt was con- sidered the granary of Rome — the centurion might readily "find a ship, corn-laden, sail- ing into Italy" (Acts xxvii, 6; xxviii, 11 ; see Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, ii, 308, 309). The beauty (Athen. i, p. 3) of Alex- andria was proverbial. Every natural advan- tage contributed to its prosperity. The cli- mate and site were sin- gularly healthful (Strab. p. 793). The harbors, formed by the island of Pharos and the headland Lochias, were safe and commodious, alike for commerce and for war ; and the lake Mareotis was an inland haven for the merchandise of Egypt and India (Strab. p. 798). Un- der the despotism of the later Ptolemies the trade of Alexandria declined, but its population (300,000 free- men, Diod. xvii, 52, which, as Mannert suggests, should be doubled, if we include the slaves ; the free population of Attica was about 130,000) and wealth (Strab. p. 798) were enormous. After the victory of Augustus it suffered for its attachment to the cause of Antony (Strab. p. 792) ; but its importance as one of the chief corn-ports of Rome secured for it the general favor of the first emperors. In later times the sedi- tious tumults for which the Alexandrians had always been notorious desolated the city (A.D. 260, Gibbon, Declinv and Fall, c. x), and religious feuds aggravated the popular distress (Dionys. Alex. Ep. iii, xii ; Euseb. //. E. vi, 41 sq. ; vii, 22). Yet even thus, though Alexandria suffered greatly from constant dissensions and the weakness of the Byzantine court, the splendor of "the great city of the" West" amazed Amrou, its Arab conqueror (A.D. 640, Gibbon, c. Ii) ; and after centuries of Mohammedan misrule it promises once again to justify the wisdom of its founder (Strab. xvii, 791-9; Frag. ap. Josephus, Ant. xiv, 7, 2; Plut. Alex. 26 ; Arr. iii, 1 ; Josephus, War, iv, 5). Bonaparte took Alexandria in 1798, and it remained in the possession of the French till they surrendered it to the British, Sept. 2, 1801, when they were finally expelled from