1629: "The Sacking of the Libraries of Alexandria and Cleopatra"

Interesting Things with JC #1629: "The Sacking of the Libraries of Alexandria and Cleopatra" – Caesar burns ships in Alexandria’s harbor to block an enemy fleet, but the fire spreads into a city built to collect written knowledge. The damage does not end in one destruction, because war, political change, and attacks on later institutions keep breaking the system that held the libraries together until the record itself survives only in fragments. Thank you to Sofia from Greece for co-writing today's episode!