Library of Alexandria  

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THEODOTUS: —What is burning there is the memory of mankind.
CAESAR: —A shameful memory. Let it burn.
THEODOTUS (wildly): —Will you destroy the past?
CAESAR: —Ay, and build the future with its ruins.”

― Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw

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The Royal Library of Alexandria or Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the ancient world.

Generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the third century BC, it was conceived and opened during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, or that of his son Ptolemy II of Egypt. Plutarch (AD 46-120) wrote that Caesar accidentally burned the Library down during his visit to Alexandria in 48 BC. However, this version is not confirmed in contemporary accounts of the visit. It has been reasonably established that the Library or parts of the collection were destroyed on several occasions, but to this day the details of these destruction events remain a lively source of controversy based on inconclusive evidence.

Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Library of Alexandria" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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