Marcus Aurelius Betrayed (5 page)

Severus and his group started their sight-seeing at the central intersection of the two main streets where the
Soma
-- the ‘body’of Alexander the Great -- was preserved and entombed. The embalmed body of the Greek world’s most renowned hero and founder of the city lay enclosed in a crystal coffin, where every day lines of tourists filed by. The central square had been made even more impressive by the Roman Emperor Vespasian with the addition of a Tetrapylon, a square pavilion incorporating four arches, each one spanning one of the entrances to the square.

The body of Alexander had been brought to Egypt by Ptolemy I, one of his Royal Companions from youth in Macedon, who had later become one of Alexander’s trusted generals during the conquest of the Persian Empire. After Alexander’s untimely death at the age of 33, several of his generals divided up the conquests between them. Ptolemy chose Egypt and while the body of Alexander had been slated to go back to Macedon for burial, Ptolemy had hijacked it on route, brought it to Alexandria and entombed it in a golden coffin as a centerpiece to the city. A later Ptolemy, short of money, sold the gold coffin and replaced it with the crystal coffin, still honorable, but less costly. When the great Caius Julius Caesar came to Alexandria and began his liaison with Cleopatra, he came to the
Soma
to pay respects and was moved to tears. Now 200 years later, Severus and his entourage merely ambled by, looking but not weeping.

After the
Soma
, the group ascended the Paneion. A sanctuary to the god Pan, it was an unusual structure, shaped like a fir-cone and resembling a rocky hill, with a spiral road leading to the top. In the clear, cloudless
day, they had a magnificent view of the city, spread out below.

To the north was the lustrous blue-green Mediterranean Sea shimmering in the sun, with the Lighthouse on Pharos Island jutting high into the air. The Lighthouse was the second tallest structure in the world, only a few feet shorter than the Great Pyramid outside Memphis. Each was one of the Seven Wonders of the World according to the list compiled by Antipater of Sidon. The Lighthouse was one Ptolemy I’s great ideas, along with Alexandria’s Great Library and the Museum.

The Lighthouse was built of white marble, limestone and pink Aswan granite. Almost 500 feet tall, its first stage rose about 300 feet from a solid square pedestal, 100 feet on all four sides. From there a second stage, octagonal in shape, rose another 100 feet and had an observation deck for tourists. The third stage was circular in shape and rose another 100 feet into the sky. This was topped by the round fire chamber where a burning flame was converted into the Lighthouse beacon by a huge bronze reflecting mirror.

The tallest building in Rome was the 10-story
insula
apartment house of Felicula in Regio IX, the Campus Martius Region of the City. But the Pharos Lighthouse was 5 times as tall.

“When are we going to climb it?” said Artemisia to her husband as they marveled at its height.

“We’ll set aside a day to climb it,” replied Severus. “After all, we promised the children to tell them what it was like from the top.”

Looking away from the Lighthouse and the harbor, the sprawl of the city below was a vision in white marble
and red roof tiles. They could pick out palaces, theaters, gymnasia, temples, stadiums and lush green garden areas.

To the west were the Egyptian quarter, Rhakotis, and the Moon Gate, while to the east were the Jewish sections, the Delta and Beta quarters, near the Sun Gate. In the center was the Brucheion, the Greek and Roman section of the city. The two obelisks the Emperor Augustus brought from Egyptian Thebes to grace the Caesareum in the Roman area rose prominently and majestically into the sky.

In the South, beyond Serapeum Hill, with its monumental rectangular temple to Isis and Serapis, were the clear blue waters of Lake Mareotis, and beyond that the fabled lands of Egypt.

Their views and walk through the city made clear the unique feel of Alexandria. It was not just that the city was crowded with life and teeming with activity. So was Rome, so was Antioch and Athens and other great cities of the Empire. Nor was it the congestion, though Alexandria wasn’t as bad as Rome even though, unlike Rome, Alexandria allowed chariots and wagons and horses on the streets during the day. Nor was it the virtual absence of togas, since the majority of the populace wore Greek style tunics –
peplos
,
chiton
– and a
himation
over the tunics. Severus and Artemisia were used to that since Artemisia grew up in Athens and Severus lived there in his student days.

Rather it was first the large in-mixture of Egyptian things: Egyptian obelisks and temples and paintings and art and Egyptian people wearing Egyptian style clothing. There were also many people from African lands
like Nubia and Ethiopia, and a large number of people from other eastern lands dressed in their ethnic clothing – Babylonians, Syrians, Jews, Indians, even people from distant parts of Asia like Bactria and even beyond. Rome had all of these too, of course, but not in nearly the numbers; in Rome they were often just oddities, in Alexandria an integral part of the city.

Everyone, for instance, was fascinated by the sight of priests from India in saffron robes; they had been trying to spread the teachings of the Buddha in Alexandria since Ptolemaic times.

Also there were the special animals on the street in Alexandria. Not just the large number of cats, which were beloved and hugely respected in Egypt, but also cobra snakes and snake charmers. And then there were the ibises, the beautiful long-legged large yellow beaked white birds who could often be seen down side streets searching for and finding garbage to eat. Rome had cats, but rarely a snake charmer and no ibises.

Judge Severus and his party contemplated and commented on the views for a long time and then returned to the Hadrianum for lunch and an after-lunch siesta.

At the 9
^th
hour of the day, they all headed to the nearby Library of Alexandria, the greatest library in the world, where the Prefect had arranged a special tour for the imperial emissary. “A Sanitarium for the Mind” said the inscription above the entrance to the Great Library. Judge Severus and his entourage gawked up at the famous phrase for a few moments. Then Proculus went inside to give the judge’s name to the library staff, and the judge was then met at the door by a distinguished
looking elderly man with a short white beard. He was impeccably dressed in a Greek style
chiton
, white with a red meander pattern on the hem. He introduced himself in Latin as Creon, one of the library staff and their tour guide “for the Most Eminent guest of the Prefect.”

Severus, speaking Greek, introduced Artemisia, Flaccus and Alexander, as Creon led them into the library’s main hall. It was magnificent -- a vast room with a high ceiling decorated with intricately carved and gilded rare woods. A beautiful white marble floor with colorful mosaics displayed the high bookcases lining the hall. Each bookcase was divided horizontally and vertically into pigeon-hole shelves, in which volumes of scrolls were arranged. Labels dangling from the scrolls announced the title of the book in bright red letters. Ladders on rollers were interspersed against the bookcases, allowing access to the higher shelves, while elegant tables and chairs were occupied by scholars, researchers and interested people who used the library.

“The Library of Alexandria,” said Creon, continuing in Greek, “is the greatest library in the world, containing more than 500,000 volumes in two buildings. This one, the ‘Mother Library’, contains most of the collection, while an additional 50,000 volumes are located in the ‘Daughter Library’ in the Serapeum Temple on Serapeum Hill, south of the city walls.”

They strolled about the hall, looking this way and that, while Creon continued his patter.

“The Library was founded 470 years ago by Ptolemy I Soter, Alexander the Great’s Royal Companion and general, who wanted to make Alexandria the rival of Athens. With the help and advice of the Athenian, Demetrius of
Phaleron, a student of Aristotle, Ptolemy invited the greatest philosophers and most learned men in Greece to settle in Alexandria and live and study and work at the Museum, an institute for research and learning. The Library was actually conceived as an adjunct to the Museum and was founded with the intention of gathering all the books in the world, both Greek and non-Greek.

“Ptolemy, as you may recall, was not only one of Alexander’s generals, but as boys in Macedon had also been one of Alexander’s designated Royal Companions. As you know, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, so Ptolemy, as one of the Companions, was a student of Aristotle along with him. It’s my personal opinion that since Ptolemy was two years older than Alexander, he got more out of being taught by Aristotle even than did Alexander. In any event, Ptolemy always said that it was Aristotle who was the real inspiration for the Museum and Library.”

The tour guide led them to a shelf and plucked a scroll from its compartment. “This hall contains the famous 120 volume catalogue of all the books in the Library. The first catalogue, a masterpiece of scholarly achievement, was compiled by Callimachus, the renowned poet and first librarian.”

He opened the scroll and showed them how to use the catalogue. “The books in the catalogue are divided into eight classes: Epic and Lyric Poetry; Laws; Philosophy; History; Oratory; Rhetoric; and finally a Miscellaneous class which is further subdivided into Medicine, Mathematical studies, Philosophy of Nature and non-Greek books.”

“How extensive is the non-Greek collection?” asked Alexander.

“A good question,” replied Creon. “The Library has always had a continuing program to translate the principal works of other peoples into Greek. It now contains the major works of the Romans, the Egyptians, the Jews, the Babylonians and the Indians, as well as a variety of works from other languages, such as Punic and Aramaic.”

Creon led the group into a second hall. It was not as large as the first, but it was no less elegantly furnished. “The Ten Halls are divided by subject matter. This is the ‘Hall of the Philosophy of Nature,’ the special creation of the great astronomer-librarians Eratosthenes and Aristarchus.”

“Can books be taken out?” asked Flaccus. “In Rome some libraries allow it and some don’t.”

“Scholars in residence at the Museum can do so, of course, and we have a circulating collection for others with a library pass.”

The tour continued through the remainder of the Halls, with Creon noting items of interest, giving background sketches of some of the books and writers whose works were preserved there. He explained that the Library’s huge collection was built up over the years by the expedient of examining every ship that came to Alexandria for books, taking whatever they found, making copies and then returning the original or a copy to the owner.

“How bad was the fire,” asked Artemisia. “The one which destroyed part of the library during the uprising against Cleopatra, when Caesar set fire to the ships in the harbor.”

“This building wasn’t touched, fortunately,” replied Creon. “Burning masts fell into the streets around the docks and burned up a very large collection of books waiting shipment from our Library to Rome. It was a disaster, of course, but as you can see, our collection is still intact.”

Artemisia added a fact from her study of Cleopatra. “Didn’t Marcus Antonius later take 200,000 volumes from the library at Pergamum and give them as a present to Cleopatra to make up for the books lost in that fire?”

“Indeed, yes,” answered Creon with slightly distasteful expression.

Judge Severus thanked Creon “for the pleasant and informative tour” and then asked if he would introduce him to Philogenes. The judge had no prejudice against mixing business with pleasure and Philogenes had been one of the guests at the Prefect’s orgy. “I understand that Philogenes is a Homeric scholar on the library staff.”

“I know him, of course,” replied Creon. “He’s not only an eminent and learned Homeric scholar but an assistant to the Keeper of the Books. However I’m afraid you won’t be able to meet him. He’s not here again today.”

“Oh,” said Severus. “Perhaps another time.”

“I hope so,” answered Creon. “No one has seen him for the past week. He hasn’t been to work or, from what I hear, at his home either.”

The judge arched his eyebrows.

“He seems to have disappeared,” said Creon.

VI

AT THE APARTMENT OF PHILOGENES

W
hile Artemisia, Alexander and Proculus headed back to the Hadrianum to rest and get ready for dinner, Judge Severus and Flaccus hired a litter outside the Library and told the bearers to take them to an address near the Temple of Bendis. According to the library staff, it was where Philogenes lived.

Philogenes lived on the second floor of a modest four-story apartment house. The slave doorman sitting at the entrance told them that Philogenes hadn’t been there for a week, but that his two slaves were upstairs. Severus and Flaccus quickly climbed the stairs, knocked on the door and were greeted by an old woman.

“The Prefect has sent me to find Philogenes,” announced Severus in Greek in a commanding tone. “I want to talk to you and whoever is living here.”

The old woman melted out of the way and the two men entered. A young girl stood inside. She was strikingly beautiful, with dark hair and dark eyes and looked no more than 15 or 16-years-old.

The room itself was modestly furnished with a table and chairs. A curtain shielded the entrance to another room and the walls were painted with scenes from Homer. A small table in the corner contained an object that caught the judge’s eye. It was a small and very old-looking statue of an Egyptian Pharaoh or nobleman, sculpted in common black basalt. Severus inspected it more closely. Although the figure was in an ordinary, stylized Egyptian pose -- one foot in front of the other, arms at the side, head framed by a headdress falling to the neck -- it was nonetheless a remarkable piece. The artist had somehow breathed life into it, and to Severus the figure seemed to be in the act of walking right off its pedestal. He thought it must have been very old and very expensive.