SE-Ed: What Really Happened to the Library of Alexandria?

It's often described as the greatest library of the ancient world.

它常被稱為古代世界最偉大的圖書館。

And it's usually said to have vanished in a single, terrible fire.

人們通常說，它毀於一場可怕的大火。

It makes for a dramatic story.

這故事確實很有戲劇性。

The trouble is, it's almost certainly not what happened.

問題是，事實幾乎肯定不是這樣。

Alexandria was founded in Egypt by Alexander the Great.

亞歷山大城是亞歷山大大帝在埃及建立的。

After his death, his general Ptolemy took control of Egypt,

他死後，他的部將托勒密掌控了埃及，

and his family set out to turn the city into a centre of learning.

他的家族立志把這座城市打造成學術中心。

Their ambition was breathtaking: to collect every book ever written!

他們的雄心令人驚嘆：收集世上所有寫過的書！

Ships arriving in the harbour were routinely searched for books.

抵港的船隻都會被例行搜查，看有沒有書。

Any scrolls on board were copied,

船上的卷軸都會被抄錄下來，

and, rather cheekily, the library kept the originals.

而且，圖書館還頗為厚臉皮地留下了原件。

Athens once lent the king its official copies of great Greek plays,

雅典曾把一批希臘名劇的官方抄本借給國王，

in return for a huge deposit of silver.

換來一大筆白銀作押金。

He simply kept the scrolls and let Athens keep the money.

國王乾脆留下了卷軸，把錢讓給了雅典。

What made the place remarkable, though, was its people.

不過，真正讓這裡非凡的，是這裡的人。

Scholars there worked out how big the Earth was,

這裡的學者算出了地球有多大，

and drew up one of the earliest library catalogues.

還編出了最早的圖書目錄之一。

Nobody knows exactly how many scrolls it held.

沒人確切知道那裡藏有多少卷軸。

Estimates range from forty thousand to several hundred thousand.

估計從四萬卷到幾十萬卷不等。

So what about the famous fire?

那著名的那場大火呢？

In 48 BC, Julius Caesar set fire to ships in the harbour.

西元前48年，尤利烏斯·凱撒放火燒了港口的船隻。

The flames spread to the docks,

火勢蔓延到了碼頭，

and thousands of scrolls stored there may well have burned.

存放在那裡的數千卷書很可能被燒毀了。

Yet the library carried on.

然而，圖書館依然在運轉。

Scholars were still working there decades later.

幾十年後，學者們仍在那裡工作。

Had it burned down in a single night, the story would be simpler.

要是它在一夜之間燒光，故事倒還簡單些。

What really happened was slower, and arguably sadder.

真實的經過更緩慢，也可以說更令人惋惜。

As early as 145 BC,

早在西元前145年，

a new king drove many scholars out of the city.

一位新國王就把許多學者趕出了城。

Over the following centuries, funding and interest gradually dried up.

在之後的幾百年裡，資金和關注都漸漸枯竭了。

And papyrus doesn't last forever: scrolls had to be recopied,

而且莎草紙不能永久保存：卷軸必須重新抄寫，

or they would simply crumble away.

否則就會慢慢碎成粉末。

In the 270s AD, fighting in the city destroyed the palace quarter.

西元270年代，城內的戰火摧毀了王宮區。

You may also have heard that it was burned in 642 AD.

你可能還聽說過，它是在西元642年被燒毀的。

That story first appears over five hundred years later,

這個說法最早出現在五百多年之後，

and most historians consider it a legend.

大多數歷史學家認為它只是傳說。

The truth is, great libraries rarely die in flames.

事實是，偉大的圖書館很少葬身火海。

They fade away when people stop caring for them.

當人們不再珍惜它們時，它們就會慢慢消逝。

So next time your local library needs support,

所以，下次你家附近的圖書館需要支持時，

it might be worth showing up.

也許值得去走一趟。