Alexandria

BCE

• The site of Alexandria was chosen in January 330 BCE; the city was founded on 7 April (text). It replaced an older town, Rhacotis.
• This was an entirely Greek city, independent from Egypt.
• During the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, it became the capital of the Ptolemaic Empire.
• Center of corn trade; production of papyrus; glass, metal, textiles.
• The Jews and natives were second- and even third class citizens.
• At the beginning of the common era, the town had at least 300,000 male, free inhabitants; a total population of over a million is not impossible.
• Demetrius of Phaleron, Euclid, Eratosthenes of Cyrene, the translators of the Septuagint, Callimachus of Cyrene, Apollonius of Rhodes, Aristarchus of Samos.
• 168: Roman pressure forces Antiochus IV Epiphanes to retire from Alexandria
• 47: Alexandrian War: Julius Caesar puts Cleopatra VII Philopator on the throne
• 30 BCE: Captured by Octavian; death of Cleopatra; capital of Roman province; the governor is not a senator but a Roman knight.
• Diodorus of Sicily; Philo of Alexandria; Julius Alexander

CE

• c. 8 CE: Two legions at Alexandria: III Cyrenaica and XXII Deiotariana
• 38 CE: Pogrom
• Ministery of Mark?
• 68: Another pogrom
• 69: Vespasian proclaimed emperor
• 115-117: Anti-Jewish riots (more...)
• 125: III Cyrenaica replaced by II Traiana Fortis
• 130: Hadrian visits the city
• Ptolemy of Alexandria, Appian of Alexandria
• 175: Marcus Aurelius visits the city
• After 200: increasing Christian influence; Clement of Alexandria
• 215: Visit by Caracalla
• 252: Origen banished
• 269/270: Captured by the Palmyrene troops
• 298: Sacked by Diocletian; legion III Diocletiana added to the garrison
• 328-335: Athanasius bishop
• 346-356: Athanasius bishop for the second time
• 357-358 Georgios bishop of Alexandria; the relics of Andrew and Luke brought to Constantinople
• 363: Visit by Julianus Apostata
• 365: Earthquake
• 366-373: Athanasius bishop for the third time
• 389: All pagan monuments in Alexandria, including the Museum, destroyed
• 391: Destruction of the Serapeum
• 414: The last leader of the philosophical school, Hypatia, is lynched by a Christian mob
• 541 Plague
• 608-610: during the war between the emperors Phocas and Heraclius; the southern harbor is destroyed
• 619: The Sasanian king Khusrau sacks the city
• 642: Replaced as capital of Egypt by Cairo
• 645-646: Reoccupied by the Byzantine commander Manuel
• Alexandria has been called Alexander's most lasting legacy.

Monuments

• Tomb of Alexander
• Museum with a Library that held 5400,000 scrolls
• Pharos (Lighthouse of Alexandria)
• Serapeum

Literature

• Andrew Chugg, The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great (2004)
• "The End of the Library of Alexandria"