The idea that the loss of the Great Library set back human progress, while true, was not solely based on the size of the collection of books, but also that the unique works could not be found anywhere else in the world. Because of the loss of the vast amount of resources, the Greeks and Romans were unable to continue on their verge to a scientific revolution until two thousand years later. The fuel to their discoveries had vanished and anything that could have progressed new advances for the New World would never return. Having every book in the world disappear was difficult for scholars who visited the Great Library each day to comprehend. For example, if works from classical authors had not disappeared, scientists could possibly have explored …show more content…
With more than half a million scrolls lost in the burning , it is reasonable that scholars cannot agree on who is responsible. The most popular and well-known argument was Roman general and dictator, Julius Caesar. When the libraries were nearly three hundred years old, Caesar came to the aid of his lover, the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra in her war against young Ptolemy XIII in 48 B.C. Upon his arrival in Egypt, he found himself in the midst of another Civil War where he set fire to some ships in the harbor in defense for his city. As the fire spread throughout the docks, the Great Library was (partially) destroyed. Some forty thousand books were lost in the ensuing conflagration as well as few books stored in the warehouse. However, it seems that he is not to blame for the destruction of the Library, but rather for a partial damage of destruction to its holdings. Additionally, there is evidence of survival after Caesar’s invasion. The Library was a very large stone building and the scrolls were stored away in armaria, so it is quite difficult to see how a fire in the harbor could have affected the significant parts of its contents. However, it is clear that this had brought damage to the library. Although, this “first burning,” whether Julius Caesar’s actions were accidental or not, contributed to the overall loss of the Great …show more content…
Alexandria had long been known for its violent and volatile politics. With Christians, Jews, and Pagans living in one area, it was conclusive that there were surely disputes between the peoples. In 391 C.E, Christianity had been declared the official religion of the Roman Empire. It quickly spread throughout the empire after the emperor, Constantine, converted in the early fourth century. In 379, another Christian became the emperor and did not tolerate the cults and temples of paganism. That being said, he declared the temples of Alexandria be destroyed and thus, the Christians threatened Alexandria’s scholarly culture and were ordered to set fire to the pagan temples. They struck their first blows without suspicion and relief of any precautions previously taken towards the building. Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, desired the site of the temple of Serapis for a church and was the individual to set loose the mob of Christians who destroyed the temple and, perhaps, the books of its library as well. The mob went wild as they witnessed the pagan temples burn down, along with the last remnants of the Library of
From 300-600 CE The Roman Empire allowed new religions to be formed and universalized. The Religion that was associated with The Roman empire was Christianity. Christianity became the religion of Rome because of a man named Constantine who allowed Christianity to spread and flow throughout the empire create a harmony throughout the people. Constantine allowed for the Roman officials to adopt Christianity and this led to the building of the Constantinople. Christianity had basilicas which were opulent churches that were open to all which meant any person could go there allowing Christianity to be very universal. Christianity was also very appealing because the worshiped deity walked on land with the people. Christianity split and became the Roman Catholic church which consisted
Caesar, a strong and powerful man that doesn’t appear to have any fears. With only revealing slight fears to very trustworthy followers Caesar seemed to be invincible. “But I fear him not. Yet if my name were liable to fear, I do not know the man I should avoid so soon as that spare Cassius.” (I, II, 208-211). The Conspirators saw this as a threat and from that moment planned vengeance on Caesar. While intimidating and harsh the people of Rome adored him. The lines of Flavius when Caesar returns to Rome “Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get you home! Is this a holiday? What, know you not, being mechanical, you ought not to walk upon a laboring day without the sign of your profession?” (I, I, 1-5). They treated his return like a holiday, a festival. Even with this in mind, the Conspirators worries worsened that Caesar would become an overpowering dictator that put Rome at risk. In this situation most citizens would say spare Caesar, but the Conspirators were set on killing him. In the end the Conspirators did what they thought was right and killed Caesar in the senate, but were they right?
Julius Caesar -- Britannica School. Then he began to climb the ladder of power in the Roman government and eventually was elected as a consul. While consul, he was sent to govern the province of Gaul and set out to conquer the entirety of Gaul.... ... middle of paper ... ... Julius Caesar did cause the downfall of the Roman Republic because he changed the way they governed.
Maybe Caesar did something that put Rome in danger? However, in Source Three it says ‘Last week Caesar fired me along with the rest of his bodyguards.” This was a testimony from one of Caesar’s bodyguards. Again, this had to do with his actions and he fired people. Julius made many people drop to lower classes..
However, this was different compared to Constantine who converted to Christianity and evangelized people to convert to Christianity as well. Constantine ruled as emperor from 306-337 A.D. and was the first Christian emperor of the time and credited
Afterwards, Caesar’s friends came around to pay the ransom and the pirates, they released him to go and spend their money as they wish. But that didn’t mean it was over for Caesar; after the pirates ran away they were captured and put in prison for their crime at the hand of Caesar. “Caesar [then] took the pirates out of prison and...
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
When he won the throne, similar to Emperor Han Wudi’s conversion to Confucianism in Han Dynasty China, converted to Christianity. Because of this conversion, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Christian way became very involved in government in the Roman Empire. Even though Christianity’s message is a sense of universal love, because of it intolerance of other religions, there was persecutions of pagans that lead to death. It was not until 450 CE. that a small majority of the Roman Empire was Christian. There ultimately was a split in the empire between the east and the west. The Western Empire struggled on its survival unlike the eastern Empire. The Eastern Empire strived because it stayed involved in Roman politics, administration, and armies. Because the east stayed involved within the government, they were able to last longer. The east was able to spread Christianity more effectively than that of the
Clearly, Caesar contributed significantly to preventing the destruction of Rome and therefore, he should not have been assassinated by the conspirators. Caesar should not be assassinated by the conspirators because they had personal reasons for hating him. Firstly, they hated Caesar because they were not trusted by him.... ... middle of paper ...
Constantine also sent letters around the Roman Empire to tell them about the empire’s conversion to Christianity. By 400 A.D., Christianity became the official religion practiced by almost all Romans. Clovis was not as dedicated as Constantine was to his conversion, and his actions did not show as much dedication as Constantine’s did. Though Constantine and Clovis’ effects were the same, their commitment to Christianity differed. Constantine went far beyond the Edict of Milan, which extended indulgence of Christians during the persecution.
Christianity took hold on the ancient world because it was spread exceptionally fast. Missionary journeys were made every set of to three years and teach people Christianity (Document F). Roman judges held trials for reported Christians, and executed them because they admitted that they were Christian. The trials were held to execute Christians so the Roman religion would continue to flourish and so Christian citizens won’t be more powerful than the government (Documents F and G). This shows that Christianity was gaining a lot of members, really fast, in comparison to the government.
The Fall of the Republic was more than a single man, but Julius Caesar was definitely to blame for being a large part of the destruction of the Roman Republic. Caesar was responsible for the fall of the Republic for several reasons, the the civil war from which the Republic never really recovered in January of 49 BC, Caesar 's appointment as dictator for life in 44 BC, and bringing into power the many of the men who would be important in the next set of civil wars.
As the Imperial system gained hold, it was common practice for the Emperors to accept divine honors before their deaths. These living gods, in some cases, required sacrificial rituals as signs of loyalty and ingrained themselves with the older more traditional pagan gods. The requirement of a sacrifice to the emperor, as well as the forced belief in the complete pantheon became a significant source of conflict with early Christians. As Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god, persecution of the Christians and conflict with the cult was a constant source of strife. Emperor worship would continue until late in the western Empire until the reign of Constantine. In the early 4th century AD, Constantine either converted to Christianity or made it an acceptable part of Roman religion, eliminating the emperor deification altogether. Later Emperors such as Julian attempted to revive the old ways, but the deeply rooted Mithraism, and Christian cults combined were firmly set within Roman society. By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state.
There are many stories and rumors surrounding the real destruction of such a great library. It is still unknown exactly who are what destroyed the entire library but many stories and personal accounts that were put onto historical text much later on reveal clues to its possible “real” destruction. The first person blamed for the destruction of the Library is none other than Julius Caesar himself. In 48 BC, Caesar was pursuing Pompey into Egypt when he was suddenly cut off by an Egyptian fleet at Alexandria. Greatly outnumbered and in enemy territory, Caesar ordered the ships in the harbor to be set on fire. Sup...
This movie title suggests indeed an insightful and comprehensive name of all that the movie was about, an “Agora” library where the knowledge was stocked and spread by in the context- Hypatia, with profound admiration from her students and Jews and Christians were unfair to Hypatia on the behalf of science as shown by the movie. But it is also important to remember that both parties were dogmatic in their perception of religion, they truly believed instead that they were the only ones true about what their religions dictated. The religious people never perceived religion as a personal faith, between the person and his own god. They never thought about respecting other for what they belief, leaving peacefully and respectfully with each other. It is also worth mentioning in this context, that the Bible, as the Quran, as the other “holly books” are books of values, not books of science.