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Edinburgh Research Explorer Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: the Library and Museum at Alexandria Citation for published version: Erskine, A 1995, 'Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: the Library and Museum at Alexandria' Greece and Rome, vol 42, no. 1, pp. 38-48.

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Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Museum and Library of Alexandria Author(s): Andrew Erskine Source: Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Apr., 1995), pp. 38-48 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/643071 . Accessed: 16/12/2013 05:40 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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Greece& Rome,Vol.xlii, No. 1, April1995

CULTURE AND POWER IN PTOLEMAIC EGYPT: THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA By

ANDREW

ERSKINE

Withinthe palacecomplexin Alexandria,the city foundedby Alexanderin Egypt,a communityof scholarswas establishedin whatwas knownas the Museum(or Mouseion);linkedto this was a library,the GreatLibraryof Alexandria. Thesetwo institutionsareoftencelebratedfor theirrolein the of history scholarship,but they were also the productsof the Hellenistic age and of the competitionwhich arose between the successorsof Alexander.In manyways these two institutionsencapsulatethe ideology andpolicyof the earlyPtolemies.It is the purposeof thispaperto explore this aspectandset themin a widercontext. In spiteof the famousintellectualswhoworkedin Alexandria,mensuch as Euclid,Callimachus,and Eratosthenes,the evidencefor the Museum andLibraryis verypoor.It is not evencertainwhetherthey werefounded by PtolemyI or II, althoughit is mostlikelythattheywereset up underthe firstPtolemyanddevelopedunderthe second.'Butpaucityof evidencehas not preventeddebate.2My concernhere is not with the form of these institutions,but ratherwith the fact of their existenceat all. It is useful, however,to beginby presentingan outlineof eachinstitution. The Museumwas a communityof scholarswhich was both academic andreligious.It was religiousin so far as it was centredon a shrineof the Muses,the Greek deitiesof artisticand intellectualpursuits,hence the name,the Museum.These scholarswere engagedin the studyof science (for instance,medicine,mathematics,astronomy)and in the study of literature(editing the major Greek texts such as Homer).As well as studyingtheyseemalsoto haveactedas teachers.The numberof members is unknown,as are most of their names.They all appearto have been supportedby the kingswho providedthemwith pay and meals.3This did writerof polemical not pleaseeveryone- Timonof Phlius,a contemporary verse,attackedthe Museumin the followinglines:4 In the populous land of Egypt there is a crowd of bookish scribblerswho get fed as they argue away interminablyin the chicken coop of the Muses.

A less prejudicedview of the Museum is found in the geographer Strabo's description of the city of Alexandria.Although brief and written almost


CULTURE AND POWER IN PTOLEMAICEGYPT

39

300 yearsafterthe establishmentof the Museum,this is still our earliest informativeaccount: The city has extremelybeautifulpublicprecinctsandalsothe royalpalaces,whichcovera fourthor even a thirdof the wholecity area.For just as each of the kings,fromlove of splendour,wouldaddsomeornamentto the publicmonuments,so at his own expensehe wouldprovidehimselfwith a residencein additionto the existingones,so thatnow in the wordsof the poet 'thereis buildinguponbuilding'.But all arelinkedwith eachotherand with the harbour,even thosewhichlie outsideit. The Museumis also partof the palace complex;it has a coveredwalkway,a hallwith seats(exedra)and a largehouse,in which thereis a commondininghall for the learnedmenwho sharethe Museum.This groupof men have communalpossessionsand a priestin chargeof the Museum,who used to be appointed by the kings but is now appointed by Caesar.5

Strabodoesnot mentionthe Libraryin his discussionof Alexandriaand ourknowledgeof the buildingis negligible.Wasit partof the Museumor a separatebuilding?Nor is muchknownof the organizationof the Library. Therewas alwaysa librarianin charge,presumablyappointedby the king, sincethe librarianoftenactedas tutorto the royalfamily.A papyrusfound at Oxyrhynchusprovidesthe namesof most of the librariansof the third and secondcenturiesB.C.6It is clearfrom our evidence,scrappyas it is, that the Ptolemiesmadea determinedeffortto obtainas manybooksas possiblefor theirlibrary.Buyingup booksin the bookmarketsof Athens and Rhodeswas one way of increasingthe collection,7but the Ptolemies also turnedto moreextrememethods.Accordingto Galenallbooksfound on boardships that dockedin Alexandriawere seized,taken away,and copied.Thenthe copies,not the originals,werereturnedto the owners.The booksacquiredin this way weremarked'fromthe ships'.The Athenians, perhaps,shouldhaveknownbetterthanto lendone of the Ptolemiestheir preciousofficial edition of the tragediesof Sophocles,Aeschylus,and Euripides,even if he did give them 15 talentsas a security.The kingkept the originalsandreturnedthe copieswith the smallconsolationthat they wereproducedon the very best papyrusavailable.8 Whateverthe truthof these storiesthe view prevailedthat the Library'sappetitefor bookswas voracious.Some even suggestedthat the Ptolemieswished to acquire copiesof all bookseverwritten,thoughtranslatedinto Greekfirst.9 Whenmodernscholarsseek to explainthe foundationof the Museum andLibrarythey oftenlook to Aristotle.Thereareseveralreasonsfor this. First, there is the explicittestimonyof Strabo,who says that Aristotle taughtthe kingsof Egypthowto organizetheirlibrary.Clearlythiscannot be literallytrue;Aristotlewas deadby the timePtolemygainedcontrolof Egypt. It is most likely that Strabo means that the organization of material


40

CULTURE AND POWER IN PTOLEMAIC EGYPT

in the Librarywasmodelledon Aristotle'sownprivatelibrary.'~Secondly, to establisha groupof scholarsas a Museum,in otherwordsfocusedround a shrineof the Muses,mightseemoddin itself,butit couldbe explainedif it weremodelledon Aristotle'sownschoolin Athens,whichwas organized as a Museum.Aristotle'sschool,the Lyceum,had a shrineof the Muses,a library,and a stress on community."There certainlyare connections betweenthe early Ptolemiesand Aristotle'ssuccessorsin what became knownas the PeripateticSchool.The firstPtolemyhad a Peripateticas a tutor for his son and this tutor Stratowent on to becomehead of the Peripatetic School in Athens.'2 But a more important Peripatetic connectionis believedto have beenDemetriusof Phalerum,who in addition to beinga Peripateticphilosopherwas alsotyrantof Athens.Afterhis overthrowin 307 the failedtyrantfled to Cassanderand aboutten years laterarrivedin Alexandriawherehe was shelteredby Ptolemy.'3At least one sourcesuggeststhat he was in chargeof Ptolemy'sbook-buyingprogramme.'4As a resultit is Demetriuswho is thoughtto providethe link betweenAristotle'sschool and the Museumand Libraryof Alexandria. Essentiallythis view holds that the Museumand Librarywere set up becauseDemetriusof Phalerumwent to Alexandriaand suggestedit to Ptolemy,who was sufficientlyimpressedto put it into action.But this Aristotelianlink only providesa partialexplanation.Ptolemy need not have acceptedDemetrius'suggestion. Furtherexplanationis found in the traditionalmonarchicpracticeof patronizingintellectualsandcreativeartists.Pindarhadbeen at the court of Hieron in Sicily, Euripidesat the court of the Macedonianking Archelaus,and Plato had visitedthe Syracusantyrants.15But Ptolemyis providingsomethingdifferent:it is an institutionfor intellectuals.It is the sponsorship of scholarly activity rather than the sponsorship of individualsand consequentlythere is less emphasison creativeartists, such as playwrightsand poets who might be expected to glorify the monarchin theirverses.16Whatthe Ptolemiesare doingis on a far larger scale than anything done before - it is institutionalpatronagethat continuesfrom generationto generation.They providenot only money but the necessaryfacilities,includinga library.Yet, the Librarybecomes an end in itself- the objectis to collectas manybooksas possible.Some sources report that the Librarycontainedas many as half a million scrolls."Such a library,whichwas in effect a state library,dwarfedthe smallprivatelibrariesof the past. AlthoughAristotelianinfluenceand traditionalmonarchicpatronage of the MuseumandLibrary,theyfail to arerelevantto ourunderstanding



41

accountfor the attractionof theseinstitutionsto the Ptolemies.Whatthey offerinsteadareprecedentsor at leastapproximate precedents.In orderto explainwhy the Museumand Librarywere able to developinto such an importantpair of institutions,it is necessaryto interpretthem in the contextof the Hellenisticworldandin particularin the contextof the new kingdomof the Ptolemies,its ideology,andits needs. On the deathof AlexanderPtolemyhad seizedpowerin Egypt.Lacking anybasisfor his ruleapartfromforcehe soughtto providehimselfwitha traditionby placinggreatemphasison his ownlinkswithAlexander.In this in the eyes of wayhe attemptedto legitimizehis ownposition,particularly the Greeks.InvokingAlexander'sname could also reflectaspirationsof greaterconquests.The focuswas on Alexanderfromthe verybeginningof Ptolemy'sreign,whenPtolemydramaticallykidnappedAlexander'sbody and broughtit to Egypt. The body was first taken to Memphis,the traditionalcapital of Egypt. But when Ptolemy moved the capital to Alexandria,the bodywenttoo.Therein Alexandriait wasputin a goldsarcophagus,whichwas later replacedwith a glass one. The Mausoleumin whichthe body lay was locatedwithinthe palacecomplex,thus making clearthe associationbetweenAlexanderandPtolemy.The bodyremained thereat leastuntilthe time of Octavian'svisitto Alexandria.'8 Ptolemy's guardianshipof Alexander'sbody marked him out as Alexander'sheir andmadehim special.This associationwas reinforcedin otherways,for instanceby movingthe courtto Alexandria,a city named afterAlexanderandfoundedby him.Alexanderalsobecameincorporated into the religiousframeworkof the Greeksof Egypt- a cult of Alexander was set up, whicheventuallybecamea dynasticcult,19thus firmlylinking the Ptolemaicdynastywith Alexander.Furtherpublicitywas given to Ptolemy'srelationshipwith Alexanderby the publicationof Ptolemy's memoirs,whichnot surprisinglyhighlightedhis own role in Alexander's campaigns.20It was also suggestedthat if the Ptolemaicfamilytree was tracedbackto about500 B.C.,it wouldlink up withAlexander'sfamily.21 IndeedsomestoriesevensuggestedthatPtolemy'sfatherwasnot Lagusat all but PhilipII, the fatherof Alexander.22 This focus on Alexanderwas of crucialimportanceto the Ptolemies;it gave the dynastylegitimacyand a tradition.It is in this contextthat the establishmentof the MuseumandLibraryshouldbe placed.Aristotlehad beenat the courtof PhilipII in Macedonwherehe hadactedas tutorto the youngAlexander.23 By foundingandsponsoringanintellectualcommunity in the mannerof Aristotle'sschool, Ptolemy is again emphasizingthe connectionand similaritybetweenhimselfandAlexander.It was Aristotle


42


who taughtAlexanderand,as Strabosays,it was Aristotlewho taughtthe kingsof Egypthow to organizetheirlibrary. Not only did the Libraryand Museumhelp to providea politicaland dynasticlink with Alexander;they also gave the Greek inhabitantsof Egypt a culturallink to their own Greekpast. One effect of the newly createdHellenistickingdomswas the impositionof Greekcitiesoccupied by Greekson an alien landscape.In Egyptthere was a native Egyptian populationwith its own culture,history,and traditions.The Greekswho cameto Egypt,to the courtor to live in Alexandria,wereseparatedfrom theiroriginalcultures.Alexandriawas the mainGreekcity of Egyptand withinit therewas an extraordinary mix of Greeksfrommanycities and all withdifferentcivic,social,andreligioustraditionsbehind backgrounds, Therewouldbe no onetraditionto lookbackto, a traditionwhich them.24 would unite the people.A contrastcan be made here with colonies,for instancethose sent out from Greekcitiesin the eighthto sixthcenturies B.C.A mothercity sendsout a colonyof its own citizenswho establisha new city - but becausethe colonistsall comefromthe samecity they can continuethe traditionsof the mothercity.25 So a Graeco-Macedonian surface was imposed on Egypt, but this surfacelacked a unifyingtradition- except for a commonGreekness. Settingup the MuseumandLibraryis the settingup of a centreof Greek cultureand intellectuallife in the city.It helpsto fill the culturalvacuum that exists within the city. Adoptingthe practicesof Aristotle'sschool, studyingthe text of Homer,acquiringthe officialtexts of the Athenian tragediesall help to establishsome senseof continuitywith a Greekpast. The averageAlexandrianGreekmay have hadlittle knowledgeof this or indeedmuch interestin what went on in the Museumand Library,but these institutionswouldstill be importantsymbolsof this continuityand Greekness.26 So the Ptolemaickingdommay appearabruptlyin Egyptwithoutroots, but the Museum and Librarylink the new kingdom and its Greek inhabitantsto Alexanderandto a Greekpastandpresent.It is becausethey help to supplythis need that they surviveand strengthen.And the more they survivethe moretheythemselvesactnot as linkswitha traditionbut as the traditionitself.Consequentlythese institutionscan gain still more strength. The Ptolemaicemphasison Greek cultureestablishesthe Greeksof Egyptwithan identityfor themselves.It alsoenablesthisGreekidentityto be projected outwards to a wider Greek world, all the more important if

there is a feeling that Macedoniansare not real Greeks.27But the emphasis



43

on Greekculturedoes even morethanthis - these are Greeksrulingin a foreignland.The moreGreekscan indulgein theirown culture,the more theycanexcludenon-Greeks,in otherwordsEgyptians,the subjectswhose landhas beentakenover.The assertionof Greekcultureservesto enforce Egyptiansubjection.So the presencein Alexandriaof two institutions devotedto the preservationandstudyof Greekcultureacts as a powerful symbolof Egyptianexclusionand subjection.Texts from other cultures couldbe keptin the library,but onlyoncetheyhadbeentranslated,thatis to say Hellenized. Yet, at the sametime,thisneedfor separatenessalsoreflectsa fearthat the Egyptiansmightpose a threatto the Greeks'own culturalidentity.A reading of Alexandrianpoetry might easily give the impressionthat Egyptiansdid not exist at all; indeed Egypt itself is hardlymentioned exceptfor the Nile andthe Nile flood,bothof whichhadbeenwell-known This omissionof the amongGreekssinceat leastthe time of Herodotus.28 a and from masks fundamental Egypt Egyptians insecurity.It is no poetry coincidencethat one of the few poetic referencesto Egyptianspresents themas muggers.29 A dramaticexpressionof Greek identity came in the form of a spectacularreligiousprocessionwhichtookplacein Alexandriain the early third century B.C. The only source for this processionis a lengthy descriptionin Athenaeus,who foundhis informationin a bookcalled'On Alexandria'by a certain Callixinusof Rhodes.30It is not known how commonsuch events were in Alexandria.The emphasisin the surviving accountof the processionis on Dionysusbut it is evidentthat he was not the only god honouredin the celebration.The visualimpactwouldhave been tremendous,as some exampleswill demonstrate.Therewas a fourwheeledfloat,21 ft long on whichwas a 15 ft statueof Dionysus,dressed in purple,saffron,and gold and surroundedby gold objects.It took 180 men to dragthis float along.It was followedby an extraordinary statue, whichwas drawnby 60 men.This statuesurprisedthe crowdby standing up mechanically,pouringa libationof milk,and then sittingdownagain. On anotherfloatpulledby 300 mentherewas an enormouswine pressin which 60 men dressedas Satyrstrampledon ripe grapesand sang.The processionalso consistedof numerousanimals:there were 2,400 dogs includingIndian,Hyrcanian,and Molossiandogs, sheep from Ethiopia, Arabia,andEuboea,cowsfromIndiaandEthiopia.Thenthereweremore exoticanimals:leopards,cheetahs,lions,a giraffe,anEthiopianrhinoceros, andcagesof all sortsof birds.The processionconcludedwith a displayof Ptolemaicmilitaryforces, consistingof over 57,000 infantryand over


44


23,000 cavalry.Ptolemy'scontrolover both the humanand the natural worldis forcefullydemonstrated.31 Thisprocessionis veryrevealingaboutPtolemaicEgypt.In essenceit is a religiousprocession,but its magnificenceand its contenttransformit into somethingmore than this. For anyonewatching,whetherthey are foreigners,whomightbe payinga visitor thereon a diplomaticmission,or AlexandrianGreeksor nativeEgyptians,the processionhammersout the message of Ptolemy'senormouswealth and power.32For Alexandrian Greeks,boththosewatchingandthosetakingpart,it willbe a celebration and affirmationof Greekness.But it is even more than this; it is also a processionshoutingout Greeksuperiorityto any nativeEgyptianswho happento be in the vicinity.Thusin a popular,visualformthe procession embodiesthose sameelementswhichwere observedabovein the case of the LibraryandMuseum. But the processionalso reflectsPtolemaicaspirationsto rule.On one level these aspirationsare representedby the very fact of the procession, but they are alsovisiblein the detailof the imagesusedin the procession. There was a float on which statues of Alexanderand Ptolemy stood together, thus emphasizingthe association between Alexander and Ptolemy.AlongsidePtolemywas placeda statuerepresentingthe city of Corinth.This is ratherenigmaticbut it is mostlikelythatit representsthe Leagueof Corinth,the Leagueof Greekcitiesset up by Philipof Macedon andusedby Alexanderfor the waragainstPersia.The implicationhereis thatPtolemywasnow heirto Alexander'sleadershipof the Greekcitiesof the mainland.Thus the next float containedexpensivelydressedwomen, who are saidby Athenaeusto represent'thecitiesof Ioniaandthe rest of the Greekcities of Asia and the islandswhichhad been subduedby the Persians'.As this cart followedAlexanderand Ptolemy,it againsuggests the leadershipof Alexanderand his heir Ptolemy,this time over Greeks won by Alexanderfromthe Persians.So Ptolemyis emphasizinghis claim This claimor even assertionof leadership to leadershipoverthe Greeks.33 can be found in the reignsof both PtolemyI and PtolemyII. The first Ptolemyannouncedhimselfto be the championof Greekfreedom,the secondis praisedby the courtpoet Theocritusfor the extent of his rule outsideEgypt,andpraisedby the Leagueof the Islandsof the Aegeanfor At the all the benefitshe hasgiventhe islandsandthe restof the Greeks.34 time of the ChremonideanWar the AtheniansdescribedPtolemyII as followingthe policy of his ancestorby showinghis enthusiasmfor the In these statementsthey wereechoing commonfreedomof the Greeks.35 the imagePtolemyII was himselfprojecting.



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The Ptolemiesnot only soughtto be the politicalleadersof the Greek world;the foundationof the Museumand Libraryrevealsthat they also soughtto be the culturalleaders.Beingculturalleaderswas a reflectionof theiraspirationto politicalleadership. ThescholarsofAlexandria camefrom all overthe PtolemaicEmpireandbeyond.EratosthenesandCallimachus camefromCyrene,AristophanesfromByzantium,PhilitasfromCos, and Theocritusfromas farafieldas Syracuse.So justas the Ptolemiessoughtto establishcontrolover otherGreekstates,so they also soughtto establish controloverGreekculture.Theywentaboutin justthe sameway- seizing booksfromships,trickingforeignstatesintorelinquishing them,practices suchas thesemightseemmorelikethe high-handedattitudeof an imperial power than a book collector.The aim was all Greek books, thus a monopolyof Greekculture.They wantedHomer,Aeschylus,Sophocles, Euripides,the worksof Aristotle.Andthereis somethingimperialistin the treatmentof the booksthemselves- organizingthem, cataloguingthem, and editingthem.Callimachusmust have spentmanyyears on his work entitledTablesofpersonseminentin everybranchof learning,together witha list of theirwritings or Tables(17TvaKEs) for short. It was writtenin 120 books and was dividedaccordingto subjector genre,Table of Orators, Table of Philosophers,Table of LyricPoets, etc. Each authorwas listed with a shortbiographyanda list of titlesof theirworksand alphabetically for goodmeasurethe totalnumberof lines in eachwork.36 One of the main industriesof the Museum and Librarywas the productionof definitiveeditionsof the great worksof Greek literature, especiallyHomer.The editingof Homerwas undertakenas earlyas the firstlibrarian,Zenodotus,andsuccessivescholarsworkedon newversions, most famouslyAristarchus,the librarianin the late thirdcentury.But it was not just Homer who got the editorialtreatment.Aristophanesof Byzantiumproducededitionsof Homer,Hesiod,Pindar,andhis namesake In cataloguingand editing these texts in this (comAristophanes.37 paratively)systematicway the scholarsof the Museumand Librarywere exertingtheircontroloverthe Greekculturalheritage.The newHellenistic world has an effect here too. As far as the scholarsof Alexandriaare concernedit is a Greekculturalheritage,not one dividedinto Athenian, Theban,etc. Callimachus'Tablesare dividedby genre,not by geography. This reflectsthe mixednatureof Alexandriansocietyat thistime. So the Ptolemiesnot only exertedpowerover Greekstates they also exertedit overGreekliterature.They actedas politicalleadersof Greece, bothin rulingGreekstatesand supportingthem- at differenttimesthey providedfinancialaid to both the AchaeanLeague and the Spartans.38


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to this was theirrole as culturalleaders.In this capacity Corresponding a theypresented gymnasiumtogetherwitha libraryto the city of Athens,a gift fromthe new culturalcapitalof Greeceto the old.39The Museumand Librarymade Alexandriathe focus for intellectualsfrom throughout Greece.Furthermorethe Ptolemiesgainedprestigenot simplybecause theypossessedthe MuseumandLibrarybut as a resultof associationwith the contents of these institutions.They possesseddefinitivecopies of Homer,the Atheniantragedies,andotherimportantworks. A signof the widerpoliticalsignificanceof the MuseumandLibraryin the Greekworldis the waythattheywerecopiedby the upstartkingdomof the Attalidsin Pergamum.By the second centurythe Ptolemieswere weakerthantheyhadbeenandthe Attalidsexploitedthisweaknessto gain more power for themselves. In addition to taking over Ptolemaic possessionsin Asia Minorthey acted as benefactorsof the Greeksboth Thus they offered fundingto the Achaean politicallyand culturally.40 as the Ptolemies had done beforethem, they put up public Leagueand, Again, buildingsin Athens,the famousStoas of Attalusand Eumenes.41 therefore,therewas the emphasison Athens.But theiremulationof the Ptolemieswentfurtherthanthis,becausethey alsoset up theirownlibrary and intellectualcentre at Pergamum.42 They then proceededto try and the Alexandrian scholars poach including librarianof Alexandriahimself, Aristophanesof Byzantium,a man famous for his knowledgeof the The Ptolemiesreactedfirmlyto this;Aristophanes Library'sorganization. nevergot to Pergamum,butwas put in prisonin Alexandriaandhe stayed thereuntilhe died.43 The Ptolemiestook furtherstepsto put a premature endto this new royallibrary.Theirsecretweaponin this culturalwarwas theircontrolover the supplyof papyrus.Plinythe Eldertells us that the Ptolemiesbannedthe exportof papyrus;it is unclearwhetherthis only appliedto Pergamumor was a generalban or indeedwhetherthe whole affairhas beenexaggerated.44 This drasticmeasurefailedto put an end to the PergameneLibrarywhichresortedto the use of animalskin instead. So by the secondcenturythe AlexandrianLibrarywas seen as a potent political symbol which the Ptolemies would fight to protect. One consequenceof this rivalry was the rise in the number of forged manuscriptson the market in that period and afterwards.45Original manuscriptsand previouslyunknownworks by famous authorswere much in demand.Each librarywantedsomethingthe other one did not possess. But the importantpoint is that these two kingdomswere competingwith each other for prominence and prestige in the Greek world. And these



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institutionsandtheirsuccesswere symbolsof the powerof the kingdoms. So theirestablishmentwas not a simpleacademicexercisebut had wider politicalsignificance. NOTES 1. P. M. Fraser, PtolemaicAlexandria (Oxford, 1972), i. 321-2, 469 n. 69, 475 n. 13, R. Pfeiffer,

Historyof ClassicalScholarship (Oxford,1968),pp.95-102.

2. In addition to Fraser and Pfeiffer, note recently L. Canfora, The VanishedLibrary (London, 1989, originally published in Italian, Palermo 1987), R. Blum, Kallimachus:the AlexandrianLibrary and the OriginsofBibliography(Madison,Wisconsin, 1991, originallypublishedin German, Frankfurt, 1977), M. El-Abbadi, The Life and Fate of the Ancient Libraryof Alexandria(Unesco, Paris, 1990), G.

die Rezeptionvon Zeitgeschichte an Hof der erstendrei Weber,Dichtungund hofischeGesellschaft:

Ptolemaer(Stuttgart, 1993), pp. 56-101. 3. On the Museum in general, Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 312-19; on pay, op. cit., 310-11, Athen. 11.493e-94b, Vitr. 7 Pref. 8; on meals, Strabo 17.793-4, quoted below. 4. Timon Fr. 60 W (Diels 12), Athen. 1.22d. 5. Strabo 17.793-4. 6. P. Oxy. 1241; Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 322-3. 7. Athen. 1.3b. 8. Galen, Comm. in Hipp. Epid. iii, CMG 5.10.2.1, pp. 78-9, quoted in Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 480 n. 147. Galen's views may have been coloured by the fact that he was a native of Alexandria's erstwhile rival Pergamum. 9. In general, Ps. Aristeas, 9-10, followed by John Tzetzes in G. Kaibel, Com. Graec.Frag., p. 19f. (Pb), on which Blum, op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 104-13. Pfeiffer, op. cit. (n. 1), pp. 99-102. Texts included the Pentateuch (Ps. Aristeas),probablyalso Zoroaster(Pliny, N.H. 30.4), and Egyptian texts translatedby Manetho, on all of which Fraser, op. cit., i. 329-30, 505-11. 10. Strabo 13.608. 11. Library, Strabo 13.608-9; the will of Theophrastus (head of school 322-c.286) refers to the Museum and emphasizes the communal nature of the school, D.L. 5.51-7; Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 31216 stresses the similarities though J. P. Lynch, Aristotle's School (Berkeley/Los Angeles, 1974), pp. 121-3, would minimize them. 12. D.L. 5.58. 13. D.L. 5.75-85. 14. Ps. Aristeas, 9-10, followed by John Tzetzes in G. Kaibel, Com. Graec.Frag., p. 19f. (Pb). 15. On these, Weber, op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 33-53. 16. This is not to diminish Alexandrian poetry, but it is only part of more extensive Ptolemaic patronage. 17. John Tzetzes, op. cit. (n. 9), gives almost half a million, while Aul. Gell. 7.17.3 gives c. 700,000. 18. Kidnappingand sarcophagus:Strabo 17.794, Diod. 18.26-8, ArrianFGH 156 F.9.25, 10.1, Paus. 1.6.3.Octavian visited the body and accidentallyknocked off part of the nose, Dio 51.16. 19. Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 215-19. 20. Arrian 1.1; C. BradfordWelles, 'The Reliability of Ptolemy as an Historian' in Miscellanea di Studi Alessandrini in Memoria di A. Rostagni (Turin, 1963), pp. 101-16, R. M. Errington, CQ 19 (1969), 233-42. 21. Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 45, ii. 123 n.62. 22. Pausanias, 1.6.2. 23. Plut. Alex. 7-8; F. L. Vatai, Intellectualsin Politics in the GreekWorld(London, 1984), pp. 11216. 24. Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 38-74. 25. A.J. Graham, CAH2 iii. 3, 153-5. 26. Cf. G. Zanker, Realism in Alexandrian Poetry (London, 1987), pp. 19-22, who places Alexandrianpoetry in the context of a need for cultural continuity. More recently, in Sarajevo,it was the role of the National Library of Bosnia Herzegovina as a cultural symbol that contributed to its destruction in August 1992.


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27. Herod. 5.22, Dem. 9.31; E. Badian, 'Greeks and Macedonians'in B. Barr-Sharand E. N. Borza

andGreecein LateClassicalandHellenisticTimes(Washington, (edd.),Macedonia 1982),pp.33-51.

28. Herod, 2.19-27. On Egypt in Alexandrianpoetry, Weber,op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 369-99. 29. Theoc. 15.46-50, a passage played down by R. L. Hunter, 'Greek and non-Greek in the Argonauticaof Apollonius' in S. Said (ed.), EAAHNIEMOE (Leiden, 1991), pp. 81-99. On Greek/ Egyptian relations, note also A. E. Samuels, TheShiftingSands of History:Interpretationsof Ptolemaic Egypt (Lanham/New York, 1989), pp. 35-49.

30. Athen.5.197-203, FGH 627 F2; E.E. Rice TheGrandProcessionof PtolemyPhiladelphus

(Oxford, 1983) with text. 31. On the role of animals, see K. M. Coleman, 'Ptolemy Philadelphus and the Roman amphitheatre' in W.J. Slater (ed.), Roman Theatreand Society (Ann Arbor,forthcoming 1995). 32. Perhaps reinforcedby the presence of a 180 ft gold phallus in the procession, Athen. 5.201e. 33. Athen. 5.201d-e; on these statues and their interpretation,Rice, op. cit. (n. 30), pp. 102-10. 34. Diod. 19.62.1-2, 20.37.2; Theoc. 17.77-94; SIG3 390, esp. lines 10-20. 35. SIG3 434-5, lines 15-20. 36. Blum, op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 124-81, Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), i. 452-4, F. Schmidt, Die Pinakes des Kallimachos(Berlin, 1922). 37. On Alexandrianscholarship,Pfeiffer, op. cit. (n. 1), pp. 87-233, Fraser, op. cit., i. 447-79. 38. Plut. Arat. 41, Cleom. 22, Polyb. 2.51. 39. In general, Polyb. 5.106.6-8, C. Habicht, ClassicalAntiquity 11 (1992), 68-90; gymnasiumwith library(the Ptolemaion), Paus. 1.17.2, TheAthenianAgora, vol. 3 Literaryand EpigraphicTestimonia, ed. R. E. Wycherley (Princeton, 1957), pp. 142-4, nos. 456-63 (460, 461 on library),Habicht, Studien zur GeschichteAthens in hellenistischerZeit (G6ttingen, 1982), pp. 112-17. 40. Polyb. 32.8.5, Livy 42.5.3; Habicht, viii. 331, 376. CA-F TheAthenianAgora (London, 1992), pp. 172-5, Vitr. 41. Achaea, Polyb. 22.1; Athens,J. M. Camp,

5.9.1.

42. Pfeiffer, op. cit. (n. 1), pp. 234-51, E. V. Hansen, The Attalids of Pergamum(Ithaca, 19712), pp. 390-433. The evidence for the Library is collected in J. Platthy, Sources on the Earliest Greek Libraries(Amsterdam, 1968). Much of it stresses the rivalry between Pergamum and Alexandria. 43. Vit. Aristoph.(p. 362 West), quoted in Fraser,op. cit. (n. 1), ii. 662. His knowledge of the Library was revealed when he uncovered plagiarismin a poetry competition, Vitr. 7 Pref. 5-7. 44. Pliny, N.H. 13.70. 45. So Galen, Comm.in Hipp. De Nat Hom., CMG 5.9.1, pp. 55, 57, quoted in Fraser, op. cit. (n. 1), ii. 481 n. 150. My thanks to Kathleen Coleman, Malcolm Latham, and Theresa Urbainczykfor help and comments.


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