Klio 2018; 100(1): 242–287

Theodoros Mavrojannis*
A Study on the Monumental Center of
Ancient Alexandria: The Identification of the
Ptolemaic Mouseion and the Urban
Transformation in Late Antiquity
https://doi.org/10.1515/klio-2018-0009

Summary: Among the whole burden of the written sources dealing with the urban
appearance of Ptolemaic and Roman Alexandria, five or six ancient authors give
us precious information which could finally offer a lead to the reconstruction of
the monumental center of Alexandria: 1) Strabo, 2) Diodorus, 3) Zenobius, 4)
Achilles Tatius, 5) Pseudo-Libanius and 6) Pseudo-Callisthenes. Nowadays, the
written testimonia concerning the historical topography of Alexandria are se-
verely withstanding to a hypercritical treatment, to a disapproval instead of a
reappraisal.1 Yet, there is no other way to solve the puzzle of the monumental
center of Ptolemaic Alexandria, but to explain the thinking behind what the an-
cient authors, principally Strabo, may have seen in Alexandria as eyewitnesses.

Keywords: Strabo on Alexandria, Sêma, Ptolemaic Mouseion, Komm El-Dikka,

Aspendia plateia, Ptolemy I as Danaos

The description of Alexandria by Strabo

The description devoted in 25/4 B. C. to Alexandria by Strabo (XVII 1, 6–10 = C
791–795) is not a continuous series of monuments in a set order, as it was very
often believed, though A. Adriani put emphasis on the criteria for this selection.2
It is, indeed, true that the first part of the description, divided into two sections,

1 Tkazcow 2013, 687: The reconstruction of the topography of the city in the Ptolemaic and Early
Roman Periods was, for a long time, based exclusively on Straboʼs description (sometimes sup-
plemented with information provided by Diodorus, Polybius and Caesar); the critic is moved
against Adriani 1966 and Fraser 1972, 13–34; McKenzie 2007.
2 Adriani 1966, 16–17, where he refers to XVI 1, 8 and not to XVI 1, 6: „Questa parte dellʼesposi-
zione si svolge come una vera e propria descrizione di uno che osservi dal mare o che segue la
costa procedendo da E verso O. Vengono poi un accenno al sobborgo occidentale di Necropolis,

*Kontakt: Theodoros Mavrojannis, Nikosia, E-Mail: [email protected]

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 243

depends on a topographical order suggested by the most evident monuments

which were observed from the point of view of the seafarers, the navigators en-
tering the harbour: 1) Pharos – promontory Lochias – harbour of Eunostos –
Heptastadion (XVII 1, 6). After a synopsis of the economical advantages of the two
harbours of Alexandria, resulting in a major volume of exports compared with the
imports, Strabo closes the paragraph with some remarks on the climate (XVII 1, 7).
2) There follows a general view on the ground plan of the city, which was made at
the desk and not on the spot. Strabo gives the extreme measurements and notes
the hippodamian grid (XVIII 1, 8). 3) After that, by putting aside the previous
background of description, comes a relative description of the cradle, the focal
point of the urban structure, which is determined by the preeminence of the
Palaces: Royal Palaces – Mouseion – Sema, without any particular care to localize
them strictly with respect to each other. Nevertheless, Strabo offers here two or
three remarkable features; 1) that what he will describe, Mouseion and Sema,
belong to the „common and most beautiful precincts“; 2) that there was a se-
quence in the location side by side of the basileia – Royal Palaces permitting the
use of such an expression which committed at interconnected orthogonal blocks:
„between them and what lies outside the limits of the harbour“: ἅπαντα μέντοι
συναφῆ καὶ ἀλλήλοις καὶ τῷ λιμένι καὶ ὅσα ἔξω αὐτοῦ (XVII 1, 8); 3) that both the
Mouseion and the Sema were „parts of the Basileia“.3 4) Afterwards, Strabo re-
turns to overview concretely a line of constructions depending on orienting
someone distant from the quay who could safely acknowledge a set of related
buildings according to an E–W direction: The Interior Palace at the promontory of
Lochias – the small island of Antirrhodos – the Theater „pending over this island“
(facing the seashore and the navalia)4 – the Poseidion and Emporion and the

esattamente ubicato dopo un ultimo tratto della città, oltre il canale, e un accenno a Rhakotis e al
Serapeo. Qunidi la testimonianza di Strabone perde, purtroppo lʼandamento“; Tkaczow 2013; cf.
Mavrojannis 2003, 439 and note 26.
3 Strab. XVII 1, 8: „The Museum is a part of the Palaces. It has a walkway [περίπατον], a semi-
circular auditorium [ἐξέδραν] and a large house, in which there is the eating hall for the men of
learning [φιλολόγων ἀνδρῶν] who share the Museum. They form a community with property in
common and a priest in charge of the Museum, who was formerly appointed by the kings but is
now appointed by Caesar“; Hölbl 1984, 64–66; Gehrke 1990, 87; Mavrojannis 2003.
4 Wachsmuth 1880, 450, note 3. „Ein Theater lag in der Nähe der königlichen Paläste an der
Küste, wie aus Caesar de bello civili III III 112 und Strabo XVII, 794 hervorkommt“. There was a
considerable difference in the altitude of the different parts of the city but the arx was not far
away from the navalia: Caes. civ. III 112: Reliquis oppidi partibus sic est pugnatum, ut aequo
proelio discederetur et neutri pellerentur (id efficiebant angustiae loci), paucis utrimque interfectis
Caesar loca maxime necessaria complexus noctu praemuniit. In eo tractu oppidi pars erat regiae
exigua, in quam ipse habitandi causa initio erat inductus, et theatrum coniuctum domui quod arcis
tenebat locum aditusque habebat ad portum et ad reliqua navalia; FGrHist632 = Athen.620D: ἐν

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244 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Timonium of Marcus Antonius – the Kaisareion – the Apothekai (storehouses and

depôts) – the Neôria (shipyards) – finally the Heptastadion, once again (XVII 1, 9).
5) Only after having finished with what lies beyond the main harbour, thus
westwards of the Heptastadion (the harbour called Kibotos – the Necropolis and
before that the Sarapeion), will he mention the Gymnasium with the Dikasterion
and the Paneion, by taking as point of reference the Canobian Street as it runs
from the one terminal to the other, from the Necropolis to Nicopolis. Thus, he
reaches the very opposite area of Alexandria (the Amphitheater and the stadion of
Nicopolis, as parts of the new city added by Augustus) and he will conclude with a
sketch of the history of the conquest of Alexander by Augustus, in fact the defeat
and the death of Cleopatra and Antonius. Consequently, it is not true that the very
same principle rules over the entire description, in order to mention monuments,
according to a precise coherent order. The description is twofold: 1) Autoptical for
one entering the harbour; 2) At the desk, as for the „parts of the Basileia“, hinting
at the re-entrance into the town through the Canobian Gate. In fact, it is to be
underlined that in the last part of the description, after having mentioned Cape
Lochias, Antirrhodos and Poseidion, Strabo changes orientation and touches
upon Nicopolis. Only at the end of this curious excursus which obliged him to
move outside the historical center, will he return to it, by quoting „dedications“
and „sanctuaries“, as it was necessary to add something that was missing, since
he „reenters“ the city through the plateia of the Canobian Gate, moving from East
to West. Thus, now he took the opportunity to quote the Gymnasium, the Di-
kasterion – „Lawcourtyard“ and the artificial high ground of Paneion, a sanc-
tuary dedicated to Pan. These two „sanctuaries“ are not connected to the previous
description: they are isolated. Nevertheless, there is a clear evaluation of the size

τῷ μεγάλῳ ϑεάτρῳ ὑποκρίνασϑαι Ἡγησίαν τὸν κωμωιδὸν τὰ Ἡσιόδου, Ἑρμόφαντον δὲ τὰ Ὁμήρ-

ου. Adriani 193–1934, on the Governmentʼs Hospital – Tabiat el Yahoidieh; Adriani 1966, s. v.
Teatro, 247–248; Fraser 1972 I, 23; IIa, notes 148–151, 63–66; ibid. note 149, with reference to Botti
1902, 119–121, ascertaing that in 1892 „on retrouva des restes dʼescaliers en hémicycle taillés en
marbre grec et marqués par des lettres dʼassemblage. Cʼétaient les restes des scalae (κλίμακες)
dʼun cuneus du théâtre grec“; cf. Fraser 1972 IIa, note 149, p. 64: „The precise location of this
discovery is not clear, and it may have been on the north or the north-east slope of the hill, and
not on the south.“ In BSAAlex 4, 1902, 119–121 he preferred the site north of the Ramleh tramline
already discussed, above n. 43 [Fraser IIa, p. 23–24], opposite the British consulate […] where
early foundations, a Doric architrave, numerous painted Corinthian columns, and other objects
were found. In the southern part of the hill, that is now occupied by the Shallalat (Cromer)
Gardens, between Boulevard Sultan Hussein and the Hospital, […] also recorded scattered finds“;
cf. note 43, 23 (2): „The excavation carried out by Adriani in 1932 some 200 m. to the east of the
Union club site, underneath the Hospital, where he uncovered parallel stretches of Ptolemaic
foundations at a depth of 5 m. 80, which he tentatively identified with the portico leadind from
the palace to the theatre“: Adriani 1932–1933, 11–18, Saggio, 74, no 30; cf. McKenzie 2007.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 245

and magnitude of the monuments, their scale and beauty. Morever, what was not
understood by A. Adriani and many others is that the Gymnasium and the Di-
kasterion formed an entity, from which the Paneion was not to be separated. To
conclude, Strabo does not always mention monuments shared in topographical
sequence with other monuments. In other words, he does not always place in line,
one behind the other, at some regular intervals, the monuments of Alexandria.
This is mainly true for the monuments of the interior space facing the Canobian
Street. There is, however, a good arrangement and reasoning, even if Strabo does
not respect the series of the interconnecting monuments. The seashore is well
described from East to West, the front line of the Canobian Street is only hinted at.
That is why it is astonishing that Strabo praises among all the monuments the
Gymnasion, which covered the interior line, not the external front side.

The location and the measurements of the

gymnasium of Alexandria (Fig. 1, 3)
It is quite certain, after the study of F. Burkhalter5, who confirmed the position of
the Gymnasium as it was already proposed by Mahmoud Bey-El-Falaki, that the

5 Burkhalter 1992; cf. Caruso 2011, 114, where she refers to the erroneous impression of I. Nielsen
„the gymnasium of Alexandria […] may have been placed nearby, or was perhaps even connected
with the Mouseion“. Caruso, however, points out some clues: „una serie di elementi, tra cui
statue di Eracle e di Hermes, resti architettonici e soprattutto numerose iscrizioni risalenti al III
sec. a. C. da Kom el-Dikka [n. 154: there are two inscriptions, Breccia (1911), no 528, no 532]
inducono a considerare la sua sede più probabile la collina o il settore più ad est, prossimo a
Porta Rosetta, da dove proviene la dedica con la menzione di un ginnasiarca [n. 155: Breccia
(1911), no 90; Breccia (1914), no 44 b, 150–151: ‚Base dʼune statue […] érigée par la ville dʼAlexan-
drie en lʼhonneur de Lycarion, fils de Noumenios, frère de Ptolémée et oncle dʼun autre Noume-
nios […] Lycarion avait les titres de parent de roi doyen honoraire des anciens officiers de la cour,
ministre des finances, exégéte […] recreur du gymnase. Le document quʼon peut dater du Ier
siècle av. J.-Ch.‘]. Nonostante lʼiscrizione rappresenti un documento significativo, la Tkaczow
aveva constestato che potesse valere per rintracciare il ginnasio in questa parte della città.“
Hence the textual critic put forward by Tkaczow to Adriani: Tkazcow 1993, 268–269; cf. Adriani
1966, s. v. Ginnasio, 222, with the remarks of Th. Legh: „quando nel 1818, sotto lʼevidente influsso
del testo straboniano, affermava che fra le poche cose degne di esser viste ad Alesandria, fossero
le rovine di un ginnasio presso la porta Canopica“. Nothing to do with „in the general area of the
Kom el-Dikka hill“. Caruso, therefore, takes stand in favour of A. Abd el Fatah: „Recenti indagini
a sud-est del kom, nella zona compresa tra R2 e R3, e più esattamente tra lʼodierna via Soliman
Yousri a nord, Huseion Fahmy a sud e la stazione di polizia a sud (vicino allo stadio), hanno
portato alla luce numerose evidenze di una frequentazione dellärea inetà ellenistica. Tra queste
[…] una statua femminile acefala in marmo, con peplo e himation (una Musa?). A. Abd el Fatah ha

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246 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Gymnasium is to be placed on the upper side of the Canobian Street, at the cross
section of the two main roads (L1 – R1). On the plan elaborated by Mahmud Bey-
El-Falaki, the Canobian Street and the road running down from the Cape Lochias
intersect vertically. Strabo XVI 1, 10 is eloquent about the fact that the Gymnasium
was set along the length of the Canobian Street going on towards the Canobian
Gate: ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Νεκροπόλεως ἡ ἐπὶ τὸ μῆκος πλατεῖα διατείνει παρὰ τὸ
γυμνάσιον μέχρι τῆς πύλης τῆς Κανωβικῆς. This means that two out of the four
sides of the porticos of the Gymnasium were running according to the section
between R1 and L1, which is upside down T-shaped. We get from Strabo the in-
formation that the length of each portico of the Gymnasium was „more than one
stadium“. We did not have any confirmation about the measurement of the sta-
dium used in Alexandria by the architect of Alexander Deinocrates, while making
his routes project in 332 B. C., although Mahmoud Bey-el Falaki applied a stadium
of 165 m. After the discovery of the Macedonian tumulus at Amphipolis, which
may be a work of the architect who traced the hippodamian grid of Alexandria,
Deinocrates, as the Architect M. Lefantzis suggested,6 we can get a better picture
of the early Macedonian patterns applied in public architecture, something that
seemed to be missing before this discovery. Since the tomb –tumulus of Amphi-
polis has a diameter of 158.40 m, we have tried to implement this precise mea-
surement on the entire blocksʼ system resulting in the overlapping of the ancient
grid upon the modern map as undertaken by Achille Adriani in the plan of the
very center in the „Annuario del Museo Greco-romano 1, 1932–1933“. The mea-
sures of this block of the Gymnasium correspond exactly, as far as the length is
concerned, to 158.40 m. There is no other space but for a ‚temenos‘, a stadium by
side, alongside the Canobian Street. Thus, we are authorized to apply this stan-
dard measurement to other blocks. In any case, the description of Mahmud Bey-
El-Falaki as regards the presence of a „stylobat, running in a length of more than
150 m“, from the plot no95 of the ‚Saggio‘ 1932–1933 of Adriani, deserves to be
quoted in order to enhance this conjecture, that we are, at least, in the external

ritenuto di collegare i risultati di questi scavi con le iscrizioni in cui si nomina un ginnasiarca, che
provengono da una zona poco più a nord, vicino porta Rosetta, per ipotizzare la sede del ginnasio
in questo punto.“ This would mean that the Gymnasium occupied the lower part of the Canobian
Street which is really impossible.
6 Mavrojannis 2015 : the monument was ordered by Alexander himself to be the tomb of He-
phaestion in the spring of 323 B. C. For the architects, cf. Pseudo-Kallisthenes, I 31, 9: ἐσκέπτετο
δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους ἀρχιτέκτονας τῆς πόλεως, ἐν οἷς Κλεομένην Ναυκρατίτην καὶ Κρατερὸν Ὀλύνϑιον
καὶ Ἥρωνα Λιβυκὸν τῷ γένει, ὅς εἶχεν ἀδελφὸν όνόματι καλούμενον Ὑπόνομον.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 247

limits of the Ptolemaic Gymnasium.7 It is the Gymnasium itself which became the
seat of the Roman administration during the Empire, because the Dikasterion, in
fact the Greek translation of the Latin term Tribunal of the praefectus Aegypti, may
have been in the middle of the open space, as it is said for C. Caecina Tuscus, on 4
September 63 A. D.: ἐν τῶι μεγάλωι ἀτρίωι, ἐπὶ βήματος. Besides, the Atrium
Magnum was the place where the birth of legitimate Roman sons was officially
declared.8 Thus, the sense of what Strabo ascertains is explained, in a more
complementary manner than that attributed to the passage by E. Breccia, un-
fortunately accepted by A. Adriani, who thought that the Dikasterion was a dis-
tinct monument near the Agora.9

7 Adriani 1932–1933, 87; Falaki 1872, 56–57: „Du côté de la rue canopique et de la rue transver-
sale R1 nous en avons découvert nous-même plusieurs sous les décombres: lʼon en voit encore
aujourdʼhui quelques unes jetées aux environs du premier bastion; lʼétendue de ces restes de
monuments a plus de cent cinuante mètres de chaque côté; enfin tout dans cet emplacement,
nous prouve que ce fut là le plus beau monument de la ville dʼAlexandrie, qui ne peut être que le
Gymnase avec son Tribunal, ses jardins et ses portiques longs, de chaque côté de plus dʼun stade
ou 165 mètres.“
8 Burkhalter 1992, 348 and notes 8–9; 349 and note 13: P. Oxy. 3019, ll. 2–13, 4–10 (9, March 200
A. D.): Καῖσαρ κατίσας | ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ με | τὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶ<ν> | εἰς τὸ συμβούλειον κε |
κλημένων ἐκέλευ || σεν εἰσκληϑῆναι πρέ<σ> | βεις Αἰγυπτίων τὰς | κοινὰς ἀξιώσεις προ |
φέροντας; P. Strasb. 5, 17; P. Oxy. 705; P. Col. 123, 2 s (14, March 200 A. D.): ἀντίγραφα
ἀποκριμάτων τεϑέντων ἀεν τῇ στοᾷ τοῦ γυμνασίου; l. 21: κ[αὶ] ὁμοίως προετέϑη ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ
στοᾷ; P. Flor. 382, ll. 15–16: [προετέϑη] ἐν Ἀλ[ε]ξ[α]νδρ[είᾳ π]ρὸς τῶι ἡγουμένῳ πυλῶνι τοῦ [γ]
υμνασί[ο]υ; ibid. p. 349–350 and note 15: [Ἔ]τους δεκάτου Νέρων[ο]ς Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος Σεβασ-
τοῦ | Γερμανικοῦ α[ὐ]τοκράτορος, μηνὸς Σεβαστοῦ ζ΄ || ἐν τῷ μεγάλῳ ἀτρίῳ, ἐπὶ βήματος,
παρόντων ἐν συμβου | λίω[ι Ν]ωρβ[α]νοῦ Πτολεμαίου δικαιοδότου κτλ.; SB 8247 = Negotia 171a
+b: Καὶ τῆι | [ζ΄ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς ήσπασάμεϑα αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἀτρείωι, | [κα]ϑημένου αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῶι
βήματι; cf. C. P. Lat. 150; 152–157: Alexandrae ad Aegyptum. | Descriptum et recognitum ex tabu |la
professionum quibus | liberi nati sunt, quae tabula | proposita erat in Atrio Magno, | in qua scriptum
erat id quod in | fra scriptum est; cf. the different opinion of Balty 1991, 287–288 and notes 165,
who attributes the ‚affichage‘ to the Caesareum.
9 Adriani 1966, 26, by following E. Breccia, between the L1 and R5: „Ora, se la città si arrestava,
in origine, verso Oriente, poco oltre la linea Est del promontorio Lochiàs se non prima, tale centro
cadrebbe allʼincirca allʼincrocio fra la L1 e la R5, più propriamente delle corrispondenti strade di
età ellenistica, laddove il Breccia à, per lʼappunto, collocate il Dikastérion, che come vedremo,
egli identifica con lʼagorà […] Cʼè ora, il fatto che Strabone non menziona lʼagorà e colloca invece
al centro della città (XVII 1, 10), sul percorso della grande longitudinale, il Dikastèrion con i
giardini e il belvedere del Pàneion e che dellʼagorà nemmeno Diodoro fa menzione. In tali con-
dizioni o si pensa, poco verosimilmente ad una dimenticanza di Strabone e ad una di Diodoro, o
si prospetta lʼipotesi che lʼagorà fosse considerate come un settore (il settore central) della c.d. via
Canopica e che ivi si trovava il Dikastèrion“; cf. McKenzie 2007.

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248 Theodoros Mavrojannis

The Four-Porticated Areas Strabo Intended for

Temene
Strabo starts by praising the Gymnasium after he had noticed that the city pos-
sesses „many and most beautiful precincts – temene“. Indeed, the word he uses
to express a ‚precinct‘ is temenos. Now, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion
that a four-sided porticated area might be registered also under the meaning of
temenos, though in the specific case of the Gymnasium this is called a ‚sanctuary‘.
In order to solve this discrepancy, we have to take into consideration once again
the description of the Sema of Alexander given by Diodorus, XVIII 28, 4:

„When Arrhidhaeus had spent nearly two years in making ready this work, he
brought the body of the king from Babylon to Egypt. Ptolemy, moreover,
doing honour to Alexander, went to meet it with an army as far as Syria, and,
receiving the body, deemed it worthy of the greatest consideration. He
decided for the present not to send it to Ammon, but to entomb it in the city
that had been founded by Alexander himself, which lacked little of being the
most renowned of the cities of the inhabited earth. There he prepared a te-
menos worthy of the glory of Alexander in size and construction. Entombing
him in this and honouring him with sacrifices such as are paid to semigods
and with magnificent games, he won fair requital not only from men but also
from the gods.“ 10

This exceptional size of a four-sided porticated temenos, as it is to be perceived

through the text, is repeated in the case of the Kaisareion, in the description of
Philon, although it is a later development, in fact a temenos for the worship of
Julius Caesar and of Augustus11 Legat. Ad Gaium 151:

10 Diod. XVIII 28, 3–4: ἔκρινε γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἰς μὲν Ἄμμωνα μὴ παρακομίζειν, κατὰ δὲ
τὴν ἐκτισμένην ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πόλιν, ἐπιφανεστάτην οὖσαν σχεδόν τι τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην,
ἀποϑέσϑαι. Κατεσκεύασεν οὖν τέμενος κατὰ τὸ μέγεϑος καὶ κατὰ τὴν κατασκευὴν τῆς
Ἀλεξάνδρου δόξης ἄξιον, ἐν ᾧ κηδεύσας αὐτὸν καὶ ϑυσίαις ἡρωικαῖς καὶ ἀγῶσι μεγαλοπρεπέσι
τιμήσας οὐ παρʼ ἀνϑρώπων μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ ϑεῶν καλὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἔλαβεν; Jacoby 1903, 461–
462; cf. Abd el-Raziq 1984; cf. temenos in Herondas, Mim., I 2, 26–33: κεῖ δʼ ἐστὶν οἶκος τῆς
ϑεοῦ·τὰ γὰρ πάντα | ὅσσʼ ἔστι καὶ γίνετʼ, ἔστʼ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ | πλοῦτος, παλαίστρη, δύναμις, εὐδί
[η, δ]όξα, | ϑεοί, φιλόσοφοι, χρυσίον, νεανίσκοι, | ϑεῶν Ἁδελφῶν τέμενος, ὁ βασιλεὺς χρηστός, |
Μουσῇον, οἶνος, ἀγαϑὰ πανϑʼ ὅσʼ ἂν χρῄζης | γυναῖκες; Kaerst 1897; Pfeiffer 2008.
11 Phil. legat. ad Gaium 151: Οὐδὲν γὰρ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι τέμενος, οἷον τὸ λεγόμενον Σεβαστεῖον,
ἐπιβατηρίου Καίσαρος νεώς, <ὅς> ἀντικρὺ τῶν εὐορμοτάτων λιμένων μετεωρος ἵδρυται μέγιστος
καὶ ἐπιφανέστατος, καὶ οἷος οὐχ ἑτέρωϑι κατάπλεως ἀναϑημάτων, […] τέμενος εὐρύτατον
στοαῖς, βιβλιοϑήκαις, ἀνδρῶσιν, ἄλσεσι, προπυλαίοις, εὐρυχωρίαις, ὑπαίϑροις, ἅπασι τοῖς εἰς

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 249

„There is no other temenos like the so-called Sebasteion, in fact the temple of
the ‚Embarking Caesar‘ which is erected as if it was pending in front of the
best equipped harbours, the greatest and most celebrated [temple], no other
in other place so plenty of dedications […] a large temenos including porticos,
libraries, triclinia, groves, propylaea, open squares, open spaces.“

Besides, with regard to the seashore view, there is sustainable reason to believe
that there must have been a front line of temene. Thus, a continuous arrangement
in a single line cannot exist according to the view of the seashore on entering the
harbour, as it was the erroneous assumption of Grimm, who has located the Sema
almost on the quayside. Rather than a front line on the quay, there was a sequence
of temene one following another along the length of the Canobian Street, starting
from the crossroad of the Gymnasium. What was not clear enough until now were
the dimensions of these temene, because we did not take into account the detail
„one stadium by the side“ given by Strabo for the Gymnasium. Therefore, we
would have to expect other four-sided porticated areas following the Gymnasium
westwards. We are faced with the problem of the ‚center of the town‘.

The ‚Center of the Town‘ of Alexandria (Fig. 2, 3)

Achille Adriani and I were led to an error, because of the difficulty to translate the
passage of Achilles Tatius (160 A. D.) and to convey it into practical terms in the
town-planning scheme. Achilles Tatius enters the city through the Gates of the

πολυτελέστατον κόσμον ἠσκημένον; Brit. Museum Pap. 1912, 24 and 28: τοὺς δὲ νεοκόρους τοῦ
ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ναοῦ ὃς ἐστιν τοῦ ϑεοῦ Σεβαστοῦ; Ioh. Mal. 217, 5; 338, 19; Plin. nat. XXXVI 69: et
alii duo Alexandrae ad portum in Caesaris templo. Pliny uses the term templum – ‚enclosed sanc-
tuary‘ and not aedes – ‚temple building‘; Sud. s.v. ἡμίεργον·ἡμιτέλεστον·Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ ᾠκοδόμει
νεὼν μέγαν, ὅσπερ οὖν ἡμίεργος ἀπελείφϑη·τῷ Σεβαστῷ δὲ ἐτελέσϑη; ILS III 2, 9059 (military
diplom, 94 A. D.): in Caesareo Magno escendentium scalas secundas sub porticum dexteriorem
secus aedem Veneris marmoreae in pariete; Adriani 1966, s. v. Cesareo, 214–216; Merriam 1883,
8–35; Cf. Ti(berio) Caesari [[Augu]]sti f(ilio) Imp(eratori) trib(unicia) pot(estate) | [M(arcus] Su
[fenas Pr]oculus f(aciendum) c(uravit), dated between 6 B. C. and 14 A. D.; cf. Sjøqvist 1954 ac-
cording to whom C. Iulius Caesar began the construction of two Caesarea, the first at Alexandria
during his stay (June 48–April 47) and the second when he visited Antioch on the Orontes (June–
July 47 B. C.); Perkins – Ballance 1958, 137–194; Balty 1991, 286–292 and notes 153–155; he is right
that the Forum Iulium on the Obelisk of Vatican (AE 1994, 1815: iussu Imp(eratoris) caesaris Divi f
(ilii) | C(aius) Cornelius Gallus | praef(ectus) fabr(um) Caesaris Divi f(ilii) | Forum Iulium fecit) may
be the Kaisareion, but I cannot see why the Agora of Smyrna was the Kaisareion on the grounds
on the public archives; Empereur 1998, 111–122; Dörner 2014; Fraser 1972 I, 24–25; McKenzie
2007, 78–79 and Fig. 111.

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250 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Sun, he moves along the Canobian Street and gives the distance of the „topos
Alexandrou“12 from the point he had reached and not from the Gates of the Sun,
thus the starting point, as A. Adriani and I have assumed, because we had taken
the expression „proelthôn“ literally – „he came from“ and not „he came for-
ward“.13 This can only mean a prolonged process, two different position vectors
through stopping and making further steps. The archaeological result was to
move on the plan more eastwards to identify the Sema, to the East of the great
crossroad, and thus in the area of the ‚Alabaster Tomb‘, which is clearly wrong.
‚Alabaster Tomb‘ has definitely nothing to do with the Sema of Alexander. Thus
we should consider the text of Achilles Tatius: it now becomes clear that the ‚to-
pos Alexandrou‘, which can only be identical with the Sema of Alexander, was
located moving further to the west after the great crossroad:
Ach. Tat. V 1, 3:

„1. After a voyage lasting for three days we arrived at Alexandria. I entered it
by the Sun Gate as it is called, and was instantly struck by the splendid beauty
of the city, which filled my eyes with delight. From the Sun Gate to the Moon
Gate – these are the guardian divinities of the entrances – led a straight
double row of columns, about the middle of which lies the open part of the
town, and in it so many streets that walking in them you would fancy yourself
abroad while still at home. Going a few hundred stadia further, I came to the
quarter called after Alexander, where I saw a second town; the splendour of
this was cut into squares, for there was a row of colunms intersected by

12 Ausfeld 1900, 376: „Denn τόπος Ἀλεξάνδρου bedeutet gewiss nicht ‚Alexander-Platz‘ (we-
nigstens kenne Ich keinen Fall eines solchen Gebrauchs von τόπος), hier auch schwerlich ‚Be-
zirk‘, sondern ‚Alexandersʼs Grabstätte‘ […] Bezieht sich nun Achillesʼ Schilderung wirklich auf
die kanopische Strasse und R5, so wäre demnach das Mausolum neben oder gegenüber dem
Tempel der Isis Plousia zu suchen, den Neroutsos an der Westseite der Strasse R5, etwas nördlich
von der Kanopischen, aufgedeckt hat.“
13 Adriani 1966, 25–27: „V. Il problema del centro cittadino: ma al centro della città è collocata
una serie di costruzioni di primaria importanza: lʼagorà, il mesonpedion, la stoà, il santuario di
Agathodàimon, lʼaltare di Alessandro, il Dikastérion con i giardini, il Paneion, il Tychèion, il
Sôma, il pedion di Achille Tazio e il Tetràpylon“; Ach. Tat. V 1–5: Τριῶν δὲ πλεύσαντες ἡμερῶν
εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἤλϑομεν. ἀνιόντι δὲ μοι κατὰ τὰς Ἡλίου καλουμένας πύλας συνηντᾶτο εὐϑὺς
τῆς πόλεως ἀστράπτον τὸ κάλλος καὶ μου τοὺς ὀφϑαλμοὺς ἐγέμισεν ἡδονῆς. (2) στάϑμη δὲ κιόνων
ὄρϑιος ἐκατέρωϑεν ἐκ τῶν Ἡλίου πυλῶν εἰς τὰς Σελήνης πύλας· οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ τῆς πόλεως πυλω-
ροί. ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τῶν κιόνων τῆς πόλεως τὸ πεδίον. (3) ὁδὸς δὲ διὰ τοῦ πεδίου πολλὴ καὶ ἔνδημος
ἀποδημία. ὀλίγους δὲ τῆς πόλεως προελϑὼν σταδίους ἦλϑον ἐς τὸν ἐπώνυμον Ἀλεξάνδρου τόπον.
Εἶδον δὲ ἐντεῦϑεν ἄλλην πόλιν καὶ σχιζόμενον ταύτῃ τὸ κάλλος. (4) ὅσος γὰρ κιόνων ὄρχατος εἰς
τὴν εὐϑυωρίαν, τοσοῦτος ἕτερος εἰς τὰ ἐγκάρσια. ἐγὼ δὲ μερίζων τοὺς ὀφϑαλμοὺς ἐς πάσας τὰς
ἁγυιὰς ϑεατὴς ἀκόρεστος ἤμην καὶ τὸ κἀλλος ὅλον οὐκ ἐξήρκουν ἰδεῖν […] (5) Ὀφϑαλμοί,
νενικήμεϑα; Ausfeld 1900, 376.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 251

another as long at right angles. I tried to cast my eyes down every street, but
my gaze was still unsatisfied, and I could not grasp all the beauty of the spot
at once; some parts I saw, some I was on the point of seeing, some I earnestly
desired to see, some I could not pass by; that which I actually saw kept my
gaze fixed, while that which I expected to see would drag it on to the next. I
explored therefore every street, and at last, my vision unsatisfied, exclaimed
in weariness, ‚Ah, my eyes, we are beaten‘.“

Given that immediately after the great crossroad L1–R1 follows the Gymnasium,
the Sema must be in line after the Gymnasium, but not many stadia away from the
great crossroad: In fact not more than 2–4 stadia, ± 316–632 meters at least:
„Going a few stadia further“. Thus, we should consider the expression „in the
middle of the town“ used by Zenobius for the location of the Sema-Mausoleum or
even the ‚erection‘, indicating, at least, the ‚rearrangement‘ of the Sema by Pto-
lemy IV Philopator (221–204 B. C.): Zenob. III 94 = Paroem. I, p. 81:

διὰ τὰς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ὀνείρων ταραχὰς ἐν μέσῃ τῇ πόλει μνῆμα οἰκοδομήσας,
ὅ νῦν Σῆμα καλεῖται, πάντας ἐκεῖ τοὺς προπάτορας σὺν αὐτῇ κατέϑετο, καὶ
Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Μακεδόνα.

„Because of the turmoils due to his dreams, after having built a funerary
monument in the middle of the town, which is now called Sema, he buried
there all the earlier kings along with her [his mother Berenike II], and Ale-
xander the Macedon.“14

The Sema, in fact the Mausoleum of Alexander including the tombs of Ptolemy I
Soter (305–284/3 B. C.), Ptolemy II Philadelphos (283–246 B. C.) and Ptolemy III
Euergetes (246–221 B. C.), was not at the ‚main crossroad‘ L1–R1, where some
scholars focused or are still focusing their researches, near the Porta Rosetta and
the Byzantine-Arabic Gate, but in an approximate manner ‚at the center of the
town‘, indeed, not so far from the ‚geometrical center‘. This, in turn, is easy to
check, if we trace a vertical line from the submerged island of Antirrhodos down
to the Canobian Street, since it fits well with the center of a circle including the
whole fortified town. The choice to base the vertical axis on Antirrhodos is not
arbitrary, for the reasons and the different processes of verification are going to be
explained.

14 Adriani 1966, s. v. Soma; Fraser 1972 I; Hölbl 1994, 150–151; McKenzie 2007; cf. Mavrojannis
2003.

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252 Theodoros Mavrojannis

The Verification of the Topographical System

(Fig. 3, 4)
1) Only with the ‚geometrical center‘ can we put in a circle the whole of the for-
tificated surface of the Ptolemaic and Roman city which is necessary in order to
trace the Macedonian chlamys, with cut wings, since the plan of Deinocrates was
fulfilled according to this concept, as Strabo, Diodorus, Plinius and Plutarch at-
test.15
2) It may be certain that the circle, into which the whole plan of Ptolemaic
Alexandria was included, had a diameter of 30 stadia, as it is ascertained by
Strabo, as far as the length of the horizontal tracing of the Canobian Street is
concerned. The circumference of the external circle, indicating as center the
‚geometrical center‘ of Alexandria, given by the vertical of Antirrhodos, is
15.962 m and the diameter is 5.081 m. If we divide 15.962 by the value of the di-
ameter (15.962 : 5.081) we get the number π=3.14. If we now measure a stadion of
158.40 m and we divide it by the diameter we get 32 stadia (5.081 : 158.40 = 2.077
stadia) for the outside limits of the Ptolemaic town. In order to have 30 stadia
exactly, the stadium must have measured 169.36 m. There is a small difference to
be checked on the terrain, for reasons I am going to explain shortly.16

15 A military cloak, which resembled, when stretched out on the ground, a curvilinear oblong,
contracted at the two ends or corners; Plut. Alex. 26: εἰπὼν ὡς Ὅμηρος ἦν ἄρα τʼ ἄλλα ϑαυμαστὸς
καὶ σοφώτατος ἀρχιτέκτων, ἐκέλευσε διαγράψαι τὸ σχῆμα τῆς πόλεως τῷ τόπῳ συναρμόττοντας.
Καὶ γῆ μὲν οὺ παρῆν λευκή, τῶν δʼἀλφίτων λαμβάνοντες ἐν πεδίῳ μελαγγείῳ κυκλοτερῇ κόλπον
ἦγον, οὗ τὴν ἐντὸς περιφέρειαν εὐϑεῖαι βάσεις ὥσπερ ἀπὸ κρασπέδων εἰς σχῆμα χλαμύδος
ὑπελάμβανον ἐξ ἴσου συνάγουσαι τὸ μέγεϑος; Diod. XII 52; Strab. XVII C 793; Plin. nat. V 11:
metatus est eam Dinochares architectus pluribus modis memorabili ingenio XV p. laxitate insessa
ad effigiem Macedonicae chlamydis orbe gyrato laciniosam, dextra laecaque anguloso pro cursu;
Suid. s. v. Θετταλικαὶ πτέρυγες· τοῦτο εἴρηται διὰ τὸ πτερύγων ἔχειν τὰς Θετταλικὰς χλαμύδας
αἵπερ εἰσὶν αἱ ἑκατέρωϑεν γωνίαι, διὰ τὸ ἐοικέναι πτέρυξι; Eust. ad Dionys. Per. V 157; Serv. georg.
IV 287; Ptol. οf Ascalon: ἡ δὲ χλαμὺς […] ἔχει κυκλοτερῆ τὰ κάτω· Lex. Cyrill: χλαμὺς τὸ
περιφερές; Tarbell 1906; cf. Préaux 1968.
16 Adriani 1966, 18–19: Falaki 1872 adopted a stadium of 165 m, as W. Sieglin, while E. Breccia
prefered a stadium of 185 m (lenght of 4.500 m = 24 stadia – width 2.750 m = 14.9 stadia). The
problem of the length of the ground plan of Alexandreia is huge, since we do not understand the
divergences between the ancient authors: 40 stadia: Diod. XVII 52, 3; 34 stadia: Steph. Byz. s. v.
Ἀλεξάνδρεια; 30 stadia: Strab. XVII 1, 8 and Ios. bell. Iud. II 16, 4 (Agrippa in his speech to the
Jews of Jerusalem); 16 stadia: Giul. Val. I 24; 12 stadia: Ps.-Call. I 31; cf. Falaki 1872: „La longueur
de la ville est de 5,090 mètres comme lʼon voit dʼaprès le plan. Pour la largeur, lʼon voit quʼelle est
variable: elle est de l,150 métres du côté de Nécropolis, et dʼenviron 1,400 mètres du côté de la
porte Canopique.“

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 253

3) How may we be sure that this is all along the right lines to identify the
‚middle of the town‘ with the ‚geometrical center‘? We need το obtain verification
of our method. At the time of Eratosthenes as it is stated by Cleomedes in Caelestia
(I 10, 2), just around 245 B. C., there was the convinction in the Mouseion of
Alexandria that the same longitude passed over Rhodos – Alexandria – Syene
(Strab. II 1, 40: εἴπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ ἐστι κατὰ τοῦτον τῇ μὲν
Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ Καρία καὶ Ῥόδος, τῇ δὲ Καρχηδόνι ὁ Πορϑμός). That makes evident
that there must have been a ‚geometrical center‘ in Alexandria, which could not
be the great crossroad, but only a ‚central solar meridian‘ in connection to Rhodes
and Syene – Asswan. On these grounds Eratosthenes was able to measure the
circumference of the Earth. We know that the Earth is about 40 thousand kilo-
meters in diameter.17 We do not know for sure what answer Eratosthenes got. His
measurement between Alexandria and Syene was in stadia. For that, Eratosthe-
nes had firstly measured the distance between Alexandria and Syene. The dis-
tance was estimated to be 5000 stadia (Strab. II 5, 7; II 5, 24: Rhodes – Alexandria:
3725 stadia).18 There was not a universal, standard length for the stadion. So we
do not know exactly which version of the stadion Eratosthenes used and, there-
fore, we are not exactly sure how accurate his solution was19. If the stadion was

17 Bowen – Todd 2004: This is wrong; the longitude of Rhodes is 28o 13´ E, the longitude of
Alexandria 29o 54´ E.
18 Prontera 2014, 214 on II 5, 24: „Eratosthenes says that this is merely the assumption made by
navigators in regard to the length of the sea passage, some saying it is 4,000, others not hesitat-
ing to say it is even 5,000 stadia, but he himself, Eratosthenes, by means of the shadow-catching
sun-dial, has discovered it to be 3,750 stadia“; Strab. II 5, 7: ὁ δὲ διὰ τῆς Συήνης μεσημβρινὸς
γράφεται μάλιστα διὰ τῆς τοῦ Νείλου ῥύσεως ἀπὸ Μερόης ἕως Ἀλεξανδρείας· στάδιοι δʼ εἰσὶν
οὗτοι περἰ μυρίους· κατὰ μέσον δὲ τὸ διάστημα τὴν Συήνην ἱδρῦσϑαι συμβαίνει, ὥστʼ ἐντεῦϑεν
ἐπὶ Μερόην πεντακισχίλιοι […] πάλιν δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας ἐπʼεὐϑείας τῇ ῥύσει τοῦ Νείλου
πάντες ὁμολογοῦσιν τὸν ἐπὶ ῾Ρόδον πλοῦν κἀντεῦϑεν δὲ τὸν τῆς Καρίας παράπλουν καὶ Ἰωνίας
μέχρι τῆς Τρῳάδος καὶ Βυζαντίου καὶ Βορυσϑένους; II 5.10: εἰ δʼ οἱ μεσημβρινοὶ οἱ παρʼ ἑκάστοις
διὰ τοῦ πόλου γραφόμενοι πάντες συννεύουσιν ἐν τῇ σφαίρᾳ πρὸς ἕν σημεῖον, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ ἐπιπέδῳ
γε οὐ διοίσει πίνακι τὰς εὐϑείας μικρὰ συννευούσας ποιεῖν μόνον τὰς μεσημβρινάς; I 4, 1:
Ἵππαρχος ἐπὶ τοῦ διὰ Μερόης καὶ Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ Βορυσϑένους μεσημβρινοῦ; I 4, 2: ἑξῆς δὲ
τὸ πλάτος τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀφορίζων φησὶν ἀπὸ μὲν Μερόης ἐπὶ τοῦ διʼ αὐτῆς μεσημβρινοῦ μέχρι
Ἀλεξανδρείας εἶναι μυρίους; cf. Ι 1, 12; cf. II1,1; II 1,10; II 1, 12–13; II 5, 4; on the parallel lines of
latitude, Strab. II 5, 34–42: ἀπέχειν γὰρ τὴν Συήνην πεντακισχιλίους τῆς Μερόης· παρὰ δὲ τούτοις
πρώτοις τὴν μικρὰν ἄρκτον ὅλην ἐν τῷ ἀρκτικῷ περιέχεσϑαι καὶ ἀεὶ φαίνεσϑαι.
19 For sure Eratosthenes knew that on a certain day each year, the Summer Solstice, in the town
of Syene in southern Egypt, there was no shadow at the bottom of a well. He realized that this
meant the sun was directly overhead in Syene at noon on that day each year. Eratosthenes knew
that the sun was never directly overhead, even on the Summer Solstice, in his home city of
Alexandria, which is further north than Syene. He realized that he could determine how far away
from directly overhead the sun was in Alexandria by measuring the angle formed by a shadow

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254 Theodoros Mavrojannis

157,5 m, we would get a circumference of 39 375 km = 250000 stadia : 1/50 (the

gnomonsʼ shadow of the longest day in Alexandria covered one-fiftieth of the
circle) = 5000 stadia the distance Alexandria – Syene (hence the latitude of Ale-
xandria 7o 12´ N of Syene), what is extremely accurate according to the measure of
40009,152 m for the circle of the Meridian. But, at any rate, Eratosthenes used a
‚geometrical center‘. This center preexisted, because the meridian Rhodes –
Alexandria retraced the sea route Rhodes – Naucratis, as F. Prontera has sug-
gested, by putting forward the new central position of Rhodes due to Timosthenes
of Rhodes, who acted as admiral of Ptolemy II before the appointment of Era-
tosthenes. Timosthenes created a ‚windrose‘ which had Rhodes „as geographical
centre in relation to the circle of the world“. In fact, if we really read the topo-
graphy of Ptolemaic Alexandria as part of the geographical representation of the
oikoumene, the demonstration that the ‚geometrical center‘ was in Alexandria lies
on the statue of the Earth crowning Alexander on the center of the Tychaion. Since
this matches the necessity to get a focal point representing the Earth, the Ty-
chaion should have been in the middle of a ‚planetary system‘ handed down on
the ground plan of Alexandria.
4) We have also had another erroneous impression: the two gates at the ex-
ternal limits of the Canobian Street were called ‚Heliosʼ Gate‘ and ‚Seleneʼs Gate‘,
as firstly mentioned by Achilles Tatius, by the time of Antoninus Pius on; and this
because the names of the Gates are still attested by Johannes Malalas in the 5th
century A. D. as being attributed to the Antonine period:20 But if there was the
Earth in the town-planning of Ptolemaic Alexandria, the Earth itself invalidates
the chronology of the Gates in Roman Imperial time. The small island Antirrhodos
cannot have received its name before 305 B. C., which is inherent in Straboʼs ex-
pression ἐκάλεσαν δʼ οὕτως ὡς ἂν τῇ ῾Ρόδῳ ἐνάμιλλον. Since Ptolemy I Soter was
recognized by the Rhodians as King and received exceptional honours „as a God“
in a Gymnasion called in his honor Ptolemaion for his help against the siege of

from a vertical object. He measured the length of the shadow of a tall tower in Alexandria, and
used simple geometry to calculate the angle between the shadow and the vertical tower. This
angle turned out to be about 7.2 degrees; Leake 1839, 6–9; Geuss 2003.
20 Johannes Malalas 280 Bonn: Ἀντωνῖνος Πίος […] ἔκτισεν […] τὴν Ἡλιακὴν πύλην καὶ τὴν
Σεληνιακὴν καὶ τὸν δρόμον. On the solar orientation of Alexandriaʼs grid, except from any specu-
lation, it remains that the alignment of the Canopus Street is some 24o north of east within ± 30
minutes accuracy. This alignment seems not to be accidental: The suns rising points on the
eastern horizon as observed by Alexandria fluctuate between 28o south of east in the winter
solstice and 28o degrees north of east in the summer solstice, with the mid-point of the cardinal
compass point, that is at 90o, falling in the spring and autumn equinoxes; cf. Bauval 2004, 204–
209; Magli – Ferro 2012, 381–389.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 255

Demetrios Poliorcetes,21 the entire and definitive system of the town-planning of

Alexandria, as is depicted in Strabo, is to be dated at the time of Ptolemy I Soter
(305–285/4 B. C.), when the town of Deinocrates underwent a refurbishing under
the necessity to create the ‚temenos with the tomb of Alexander‘ and the ‚temenos
of the Mouseion‘. The detail given by Diodorus that the Ptolemaion in Rhodes had
each of its sides equal to „one stadium“ may confirm that the Gymnasium of
Alexandria, „having the stoai more than a stadium“, exactly like the Ptolemaion
in Rhodes, belong to the same arrangement and to the same concept of a
„tetrâgonon temenos“. A substantial part of the vertical system may be the theatre
„pending over the island of Antirrhodos“, thus to be located, as Mahmud-
Bey-El-Falaki and Adriani acknowledged against the hill of the Governmentʼs
Hospital where the arx-acropolis mentioned in the text of de bello civili should be
put.22

21 Diod. XX 100: ἔστησαν δὲ καὶ τῶν βασιλέων εἰκόνων Κασάνδρου καὶ Λυσιμάχου [καὶ] τῶν
δευτερευόντων μὲν ταῖς δόξαις, συμβεβλημένων δὲ μεγάλα πρὸς τὴν τῆς πόλεως σωτηρίαν.
Τὸν δὲ Πτολεμαῖον ἐν ἀνταποδόσει μείζονος χάριτος ὑπερβάλλεσϑαι βουλόμενοι ϑεωροὺς
ἀπέστειλαν εἰς Λιβύην τοὺς ἐπερωτήσοντας τὸ παρʼ Ἄμμωνι μαντεῖον εἰ συμβουλεύει ῾Ροδίοις
Πτολεμαῖον ὡς ϑεὸν τιμῆσαι. συγκατατιϑεμένου δὲ τοῦ χρηστηρίου τέμενος ἀνῆκαν ἐν τῇ
πόλει τετράγωνον, οἰκοδομήσαντες παρʼ ἑκάστην πλευρὰν στοὰν σταδιαίαν, ὅ προσηγόρευσαν
Πτολεμαῖον.
22 Pol. XV 30, 4–10: ἤδη δὲ τῶν περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν εὐρυχωριῶν καὶ τοῦ σταδίου καὶ τῆς πλατείας
πλήρους ὑπαρχούσης ὄχλου παντοδαποῦ καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸ Διονυσιακὸν ϑέατρον προστασίας.
Πυϑόμενος τὸ συμβαῖνον Ἀγαϑοκλῆς […] ἧκε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα […] λαβόμενος αὐτοῦ τῆς χειρός,
ἀνέβαινεν εἰς τὴν σύριγγα τὴν μεταξὺ τοῦ Μαιάνδρου καὶ τῆς παλαίστρας κειμένην καὶ φέρουσαν
ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ϑεάτρου πάροδον; Caruso 2011 116 and note 168; Adriani 1966 247; Coarelli 1990.
There is enough space to search the temple of Dionysos and not of Poseidon, as Hoepfner 1971
and Hoepfner 1996 thought, beside the Kaisareion to the East of the Dionysiakon theatron; on
Dionysos, Hölbl 1994, 152. The κατὰ τὴν πόλιν στάδιον (Athen. V 197c–203 b), the Stadium or
Lageion has been convincingly identified by McKenzie 2004, 101–104 and Figs. 15–16, just to the
south of the Serapeum, which stood on a hill; it was a Greek stadium or better hippodrome; the
interior length of the stadium was 559.37 m, the exterior length, including the ‚amphitheatre‘, is
614.6 m.: ibid. 102: „Because of its large size, the Lageion (Herodiani technici reliquiae [ed. Lentz]
I, 371, ll. 1–2; Epiph. De mens. et ponder. 12 = PG 43, col. 257A) would have been a suitable venue
for such a long procession“; the position of the Acropolis where the Serapeum stood, is decsribed
by Apht, prog. 12) who visited Alexandria in 315 A. D., as being close to the Stadium; McKenzie
2003, 57–58; cf. McKenzie 2007.

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256 Theodoros Mavrojannis

The Location of the Ptolemaic Museum and the

‚Temenos of the Muses‘ in Kom el-Dikka in the 5th
century (Fig. 2, 5)
The early chronology of the system is confirmed by the fact that the Laws of the
city placed in the very center of the Tychaion can neither antedate nor postdate
the arrival of Demetrius of Phaleron in Alexandria, who elaborated the new royal
legislation and organized the Mouseion in the years soon after 307 B. C.23, when
he fled from Athens. With certainty, his arrival in Alexandria is to be put after 304
B. C.24. There cannot be but truth in the tradition which accepts Demetriusʼ first
sojourn in Thebes, who was welcomed in the city refounded by Cassander. His
transfer to Alexandria would have apparently taken place only after the death of
Cassander. The detail preserved in the tradition „because of the fear of Anti-
gonus“ does not make sense after the death of Antigonus Monophthalmus in 301
B. C. at Ipsus. Thus, 303–302 B. C. might be the right date for the coming of De-
metrius to Alexandria.25 At any rate, establishing the precise date of Demetriusʼ

23 Fortenbaugh – Schütrumpf 2000, F 38, 59, 58A–58B = F 63, 66–67 Wehrli; Ferguson 1911,
265–276; Dow – Travis 1943, 144–165; Gehrke 1978, 149–193; as adviser of Ptolemy on the law-
code of Alexandria, F 40 = Aelian. VH III 17: καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ συνὼν τῷ Πτολεμαίῳ νομοϑεσίας
ἦρξε; Fraser 1972, 114–115; Tracy 2000, 343: „He advised the king […] on his plans for what was to
become the great library“, cf. Fraser 1972, 314–315; Mavrojannis 2003.
24 Tracy 2000, 343 and note 53: „Ch. Habicht, Pausaniasʼ..., 77–82 has shown that an inscribed
lead tablet which names Demtrius along with Kassander and his brother Pleistarchos belongs to
the year 304 when Kassander was besieging Athens. This suggests that the writer of the tablet
believed Demetrius to be close by at the time, i. e. in neighboring Thebes not in distant Alexan-
dria.“
25 Sollenberger 2000, 319–320: „we learn from other sources that Demetrius fled to Thebes,
where he lived in exile for nine or ten years. Diogenes makes no mention of this at all; neither
does Cicero (cf. fin. 5.19 = F 36); but look at F 1 Fortenbaugh = Diogenes Laertius V 78: φησὶ
δʼαὺτὸν Ἕρμιππος μετὰ τὸν Κασάνδρου ϑάνατον φοβηϑέντα Ἀντίγονον παρὰ Πτολεμαῖον
ἐλϑεῖν τὸν Σωτῆρα. There is a discrepancy, since Antigonos died in 301B. C. and Cassander in
298/7B. C. and Demetrius could not fear a dead person; cf. F30 = Diod. XX 45, 2: καὶ κατὰ τὰς
Ἀϑήνας ἀπογινώσκων ἔφυγεν εἰς τὰς Θήβας, ὕστερον δὲ πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον εἰς Αἴγυπτον; F 29 =
Plut. Demetr. 9, 3: μᾶλλον τοὺς πολίτας [sic] ἢ τοὺς πολεμίους δεδοικότος οὐκ ἀμέλησεν ὁ Δη-
μήτριος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν δόξαν αἰδεσϑεὶς (Demetrius Poliorcetes) καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ ἀνδρός, εἰς
Θήβας αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ἐβούλετο μετʼ ἀσφαλείας συνεξέπεμψεν; Sollenberger 2000, 320 and note
27; cf. F 2 = Suda, s. v. Δημήτριος, l. 11: καὶ ἐξελαϑεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀϑηναίων εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἦλϑε καὶ παρὰ τῷ
Σωτῆρι Πτολεμαίῳ διατρίβων; for his friendship to Cassander F 19 = Strab. IX 1, 20: ὥστε μετὰ τὴν
Κασάνδρου τελευτὴν ἠναγκάσϑη φυγεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον; cf. F 22 = Diod. XIX 78, 5: ὁ δὲ Πτολεμαῖος
ἀναζεύξας ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς εἰς τὴν Βοιωτίαν τήν τε Καδμείαν εἷλε καὶ τὴν φρουρὰν ἐκβαλὼν
ἠλευϑέρωσε τὰς Θήβας (cf. Diod. XIX 77, 6, Cassander had left a garrison).

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 257

arrival in Alexandria is as crucial as significant, in order to understand when

exactly Ptolemy Soter commenced the planned reconstruction of the monumental
center with the foundation of the Mouseion and the arrangement of the temenos
for Alexander. Indeed, if we attach this date we could use supplementary evi-
dence by the epigraphy explaining the royal ideology Ptolemy and Demetrius of
Phaleron had displayed. This will be our task in the last chapter. Demetrius
himself wrote a work called Περὶ Τύχης, a theoretical treatise which explains why
„the doors of the Tychaion“ led straight through to the Mouseion.26 Therefore, we
have to check the description of the Tychaion by Pseudo-Libanius, the structure
of which cannot but express the ideology of Ptolemy I Soter and the following
town-planning of the „most beautiful temene“, in particular his relationship with
Alexander the Founder and the Earth.
Pseudo-Libanius, Progymnasmata 25 = p. 530–531 (ed. Foerster):27 The text
begins with the expression temenos, thus once again a four-sided porticated area
including a great circular temple, probably the architectural pattern for the

26 Vogt – Spira 1992, 19–74: Erster Teil: Untersuchungen zur Semantik von Tyche in der Mitt-
leren und Neuen Komödie; cf. Breebart 1966, 10–11: „Das geht hervor aus seiner Bewunderung
für den hundertfünfzig Jahre früher lebenden athenischen Staatsmann-Theoretiker Demetrius
von Phaleron; er zitiert dessen Aussage über die launische Vorsehung der Tyche, die in noch
nicht fünfzig Jahren die Welt verändert, die Macht der Perser gestürzt und den Mazedoniern all
dieses Gute geschenkt habe und auch weiterhin schenken werde, bis sie mit ihnen wieder etwas
anderes vorhat.“ Pol. XXIX 21, 3; XXIX 21, 2–6; Diod. XXX 10; FGrHist 228, F 39; Diog. Laert. V 82;
FGrHist II, Kommentar 652; Roesiger 1880 24; Bayer 1942 164–170; Shorey 1921, 280–282; Vogt
2011, 179–181; Matheson 1994, 20.
27 Gibson 2007, 431–454; McKenzie – Reyes 2013, 35–52; Cf. Gibson 2009, 612–613: „The main
reason for the apparent oversight, however, is most likely the common belief that the Tychaionʼs
statues could be still see as late as 602, based on a colourful account relayed by Theophylact
Simocatta (8.13.7–15)“; Theophyl. VIII 13, 10: „In the middle of the night then, as he was ap-
proaching the cityʼs Tychaeum, as it is called (this is a famous place in Alexandria), he saw [a
calligrapher, on the day of the slaughter of the emperor Maurice] the more famous statues steal-
ing down from their pedestals (γενόμενος κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον τῆς πόλεως Τύχαιον […] τοὺς
ἐπισημοτέρους τῶν άνδριάντων ἐκ τῶν βωμῶν καϑερπύσαντας) “; ibid. 614: „But Theophylactʼs
account does not prove that Ps.-Nicolausʼ statues still stood in the Tychaion in C. E. 602 for two
reasons“, 613–615: arguments at least weak.; cf. 618–619 the theory of Bowra that the Tychaion
was converted into a tavern in c. 391, a theory derived from the interpretation of four poems of
Palladas from Anth. Pal. 9. 180–183, which were published c. 400 (ΙΧ 180: καὐτὴ κάπηλος ἐστι
νῦν τις· ΙΧ 183: ἣ πρὶν νηὸν ἔχουσα καπηλεύεις μετὰ γῆρας); cf. Ioh. Mal. XIII 38, for the temples of
Constantinople at the time of Theodosius I in 379 A. D.: ταβλοπαρόχιον – καρουχαρεῖον. This does
not at all mean that the ‚divine statues‘ of the Tychaion were destroyed, as Gibson points out in
623: „Whether the appearance of so many exercises now attributed to Ps.-Nicolaus in the MSS of
the progymnasmata of Libanius also suggests that Ps.-Nicolaus personally had a hand in collect-
ing and publishing Libaniusʼ progymnasmata is an intriguing possibility.“ Anyway, Pseudo-
Libanius must have seen the Tychaion and its statues no later than the early 390 s.

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258 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Pantheon of Rome (diam. 38 m),28 since it contained the statues of ‚only‘ the
Twelve Gods, what is safely and intentionally underlined, as if the Tychaion was
in fact a Pantheon, which would really mean „to all the gods“. The explanation
was necessary to be made since the name „Temple of Fortune“ prevailed:

„There is a temenos in the city center, one dedicated to many divinities,

though as a whole it is named after Fortune. And those who invoked her name
for the place seem to me to have done so rightly […] The place is laid down as
follows. It is completely embellished from floor to ceiling; the décor is sub-
divided into semicircular niches abutted by columns of all varieties. These
niches are intended to display statues, and it is possible to count them by the
statues they contain; between the statues project the columns. Not all the
gods are included, only twelve of them by number. And one pedestal sustains
the Colonizer above the others, which are medium hight; he stands high, and
bears the tokens of a saviour, carrying the means by which the city is nur-
tured. And Grace signifies the nature of the land; half the gods by number
encircle her while she stands in their midst. And right in the center stands a
statue of Fortune, advertising the victories of Alexander with a crown; she
crowns Earth and Earth crowns Alexander. Victories stand on either side of
Fortune, by which the artist aptly indicates Fortuneʼs power, in that she
knows how to conquer all. The embellishment of the place culminates in a
laurel crown created in sculptural form. One man philosophizes atop a
throne, and another stands naked nearby it, carrying the image of the heav-
ens in his left hand, but extending his other hand to all; unclothed in nudity
he stands. And bronze stelai stand in the center of the floor, engraved with
the laws of the city. And in the middle are doors leading to the temenos of the
Muses. Kings of bronze occupy their center, not every one whom Time
brought there, but of those so brought, only the most worthy.“

The Tychaion and the Mouseion are not only two neighbouring temene, com-
municating with each other, but they are adjacent. The Sema is a temenos, a
precinct bordered by porticos on all four sides. So we have four-sided porticos-
temene after the Gymnasium: Sema – Tychaion – Mouseion. It is quite certain that
the conjugation Tychaion – Mouseion cannot be identical with the excavated part
of Kom el-Dikka, bordered by the Horrya Street in the North, Nabi Daniel Street in
the West, Abdel Moneim Street in the South and Saphia Zaghloul Street from the
Eastern side, in other words below the Canobian Street. In his book „Saggio di una
pianta archeologica di Alessandria“, No 70, A. Adriani registered in the rectan-

28 Pesando 1999, 431–451; McKenzie 2013.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 259

gular space which would be occupied by the Mouseion in our reconstruction only
one finding, classified by E. Breccia in two passages: „nei pressi di Via Gessi
Pascià a canto di una casa del Sign. Pantelides“; „Il y a lieu dʼobserver que dans la
rue Antoine on a découvert entre autres, la base dʼune statue que le roi Ptolé-
mée III avait érigée en lʼhonneur de son medecin“.29 There is nothing more ex-
ceptional but the memory of a royal dedication of his physician to Ptolemy III
Euerghetes, who could well be hosted in the Mouseion, as the School of Physi-
cians of Alexandria may have been part of the royal institution.30 The recently
published study of A. Caruso, according to whom the area of the Polish excava-
tions at Kom el-Dikka should constitute part of the readapted Museum in the 4th
century A. D., because of the presence of many Auditoria, seems to go far beyond
the problem of the real location of the Ptolemaic Mouseion, which could not have
been ‚reconstructed‘ in this sector.31 The so-called Odeion could well have been
raised as the Bouleuterion in the post-severan Alexandria and been, conse-
quently, the siege of the bouleutai after the reforms of Diocletian in 293 A. D., as J.-
Ch. Balty had proposed. It is significant that the thermae may be identified with
the Baths of Diocletian mentioned in Theophanes.32 But since the deliberative
body seems to have gradually lost its real political power during the 4th century
A. D., despite the Imperial Edict of 436 A. D. on prolonged tenure of thirty years in
holding public offices (Cod. Theod. XII, 1, 191), in fact from the 4th century A. D.

29 Adriani 1934, 82: „una base di granito rosa (alt. m. 0,325, largh. m. 0,64) recante su un lato
unʼiscrizione incompleta del tempo di Tolomeo III“; Breccia 1911, 8, n. 16; cf. Adriani 1934, 82:
„Nella Guida il trovamento è registrato in Rue Antoine“: Breccia 1914, 87; Breccia 1922, 101.
30 Adriani 1932–1933, no 70: „Corrisponde con certa approsimazione al sito dove trovavasi ab-
bandonata (tratta da uno scavo vicino) fino al 1905 una base di granito rosa (alt. 0,325, largh.
0,64) recante su un lato un iscrizione incompleta del tempo di Tolomeo III e sui due lati contigui
altre due iscrizioni martellate“; Breccia 1911, 8, n. 16; Breccia 1914, 87; Breccia 1914, 101; on the
presence of doctors and medicinal treatises in the Museion, cf. Vallance 2004; Durrbach 1921, no
90: Χρύσερμον Ἡρακλείτου Ἀλεξανδρέα, | τὸν συγγενῆ βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου | καὶ ἐξηγητὴν καὶ
ἐπὶ τῶν ἰατρῶν | καὶ ἐπιστάτην τοῦ Μουσείου; cf. Fraser 1972 I, 316; IIa, 179 and note 31.
31 Caruso 2011, 81–83: „Nella pianta il Mouseion, è posto nella zona ovest della città, nellʼinsula
compresa tra le trasversali R5 e R6 e le longitudinali L1 e L΄2. Questa localizzazione fu sostenuta
in base al ritrovamento di un blocco di granito rosso, nel 1847, nellʼodierno giardino del Conso-
lato Austriaco, a sud di L1 e tra R6 e R5. Su di esso lïscrizione ‚Tre volumi di Dioscuride‘ fece
pensare che il pezzo fosse un contenitore per rotoli, un unità nel sistema di immagazinamento
dei volumina, e fu ritenuto, per questo, spia della posizione della biblioteca.“ In fact, cf. McKen-
zie 2007.
32 Balty 1991, 534–438: SHA Sept. Sev. 17, 2: deinde Alexandrinis ius buleutarum dedit qui sine
publico consilio ita ut sub regibus ante vivebant. The 11 graffiti referring to charioteers with the
inscription νίκα, depicting chariots and palm-bearing charioteers on the theaterʼs walls, enhance
the idea of a demotikon Bouleuterion, since the factions of the Circus had began πολιτεύεσϑαι;
Cameron 1976; Haas 1996, 65 and note 46; McKenzie 2007.

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260 Theodoros Mavrojannis

on the bouleutical class, what was similar to the decuriones of the municipia,
might have been transformed or even substituted by the Blues and the Greens, the
Circus factions. This may be the reason of the inscriptions referring to less than
nine Alexandrian charioteers belonging to the circus factions inscribed on the
small theater – Odeion. The inscriptions and drawings depicting chariots and
palm-bearing charioteers on the theaterʼs wall exhort the charioteers to victory in
races employing the formula νίκα ἠ τύχη.33 It is not an ascertained fact that the
Blues and the Greens were not still political groups, for they would have reached
such a straight political role only in the 7th century A. D. They seem to have
constituted, despite the radical aphorism of A. Cameron, the municipal units, the
ἐϑνικοὶ δῆμοι of the populus registered by S. Athanasius in Alexandria already in
the 4th century A. D. This would further imply that we keep in touch, in the case of
Kom el-Dikka, with the urban context of a major regio-γειτονία, being not merely
in the administrative public area of the Agora of Alexandria but in a public as well
as private space near the Agora. Z. Borkowski should be correct in his ‚political‘
interpretation of the factionʼs inscriptions. Otherwise, the written sources of the
Early and Late Alexandria studied by Ch. Haas speak about διὰ μέσης ἀγορᾶς for
the riots against the Jews in 38 A. D., leading people in chains in the direction of
the Theater to the north, which may presuppose the crossing of the public
space.34 This may suggest the location of the Agora in the Upper part of the Ca-

33 Haas 1997, 56–57 and note 31: „Alexandrian bouleutai virtually disappeared from lists of
magistrates in the chora“; ibid. 53–54 and note 21; cf. ibid. 50: „The zone containing the ‚rue
théâtral‘ was the site of spacious urban villas in the initial period following the Roman occupa-
tion. In the fourth century, these dwellings were cleared and a parklike zone of public buildings
was built in their place. Less than a hundred meters away, a densely inhabited block of work-
shops and houses grew up“; on the inscriptions of the circus factions, Borkowski 1981; on the
„factionarius of the Blues at Alexandria“ (P. Cairo Isid. 57–58) as well as „the horsebreeder of
Alexandria“, Haas 1997, 63 and note 48: „thereby ascribing to this faction leader a distincly
apolitical role“; but see note 48: support for factions by the praefectus (Justin. Edict. XIII 15–16
Scholl = 787–787 Kroll): „Previously, Alexandrian bouleutai were assessed one hundred solidi
annually, which helped to underwrite the cost of maintaining races in the hippodrome“; contra
Cameron 1976, 25–44: „They are not residential areas or municipal units; they are not the popu-
lation as a whole or the common people (A/N, I agree); they are even anything new. Nothing more
than the members of the Blue and Green fan clubs“; cf. Haas 1997, 64–65 and note 48; on the bath
complex, Theophanes, Chronographia, 107, 4; Kolataj 1992, chapter 2.3: „Stratigraphy and Chro-
nology“; cf. Haas 1997, 69–70 and note 52.
34 Phil. Flacc. 74: τῆς γὰρ ἡμετέρας γερουσίας, ἣν ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ εὐεργέτης Σεβαστὸς
ἐπιμελησομένην τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν εἵλετο μετὰ τὴν τοῦ γενάρχου τελευτὴν διὰ τῶν πρὸς Μάγιον
Μάξιμον ἐντολῶν μέλλοντα πάλιν [ἀπ] Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ τῆς χώρας ἐπιτροπεύειν, ὀκτὼ καὶ
τριάκοντα συλλαβὼν τοὺς εὑρεϑέντας ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις εὐϑὺς μὲν δῆσαι κελεύει, καὶ στείλας
καλὴν πομπὴν διὰ μέσης ἀγορᾶς πρεσβύτας δεσμίους ἐξηγκωνισμένους, τοὺς μὲν ἱμάσι, τοὺς δὲ
σιδηραῖς ἁλύσεσιν, εἰς τὸ ϑέατρον εἰσάγει ϑέαν οἰκτίστην καὶ ἀλλοτριωτάτην τῷ καιρῷ.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 261

nobian Street, by excluding an upper and a lower part, as if the Agora was divided
and crossed in the middle by the Canobian Street. This testimony definitely re-
legates the excavated area of Kom el-Dikka limited by R4 (average width of 4,5 m)
and the colonnaded ‚rue théâtrale‘ (average width of 7 m) in the immediate vi-
cinity of the Agora, more precisely in the parallel region south of the Canobian
Street. The most recently expressed theory of McKenzie – Reyes, who would like
to locate the ‚Temenos of the Muses‘ of the 4th century A. D. in the so-called ‚Green
Square‘ lying in the western insula of Kom el-Dikka, is erroneous, as far as the
identification of the Late ‚Temenos of the Muses‘ with the Ptolemaic Mouseion is
concerned. First of all, the insula between R4–R5 and L1–L2 lies beyond the Ca-
nobian Street and the Basileia could have neither stretched at the South of the
Canobian Street nor included the civic space of the Agora. The Mouseion was a
remarkable ‚part of the Basileia‘, without any reasonable doubt. It seems, howe-
ver, that it was well encompassed within a narrow space of the Royal Palaces, if
we give credit to the passage of Athenaeus speaking of a very ‚Gage‘, what as
MacLeod stressed could not permit the assembling of a community formed by
more than 30–50 scholars35: Thus, an institution without the audience of a real
school, Kom el-Dikka lies outside the Ptolemaic Basileia. The location into the
„Royal Palaces“ is the reason why the tradition of Plutarch against Caesar dictator
elaborated the view that the Library of the Mouseion was burnt during the Bellum
Alexandrinum in 48/7 B. C. In fact, the Mouseion was not so far away from the
Neôria and the Apothekai – ‚Storerooms for the scrolls‘, where the fire of C. Iulius
Caesar sparked off from. The disaster is retold and amplified, by identifying the
Mouseion with the Storerooms. Appianus, who may have been the best informed
and objective historian, said nothing else but „various battles around the pa-
lace“.36 Whatever the case, J. McKenzie is aware of the fact that this area is cer-

35 Athen. I 22 d: Ὅτι τὸ Μουσεῖον ὁ Φλιάσιος Τίμων ὁ σιλλογράφος τάλαρόν ποὺ φησιν

ἐπισκώπτων τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ τρεφομένους φιλοσόφους, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐν πανάγρῳ τινὶ σιτοῦνται
καϑάπερ οἱ πολυτιμότατοι ὄρνιϑες· πολλοὶ μὲν βόσονται ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πολυφύλῳ | βιβλιακοὶ
χαρακῖται ἀπείριτα δηριόωντες | Μουσέων ἐν ταλάρῳ; MacLeod 2004, 12–13: „In the precinct of
the Library were two institutions, the Museum and the Library itself, with overlapping purposes
but separate jurisdiction […] The precise location remains uncertain, but circumstantial evidence
places it central to the city and its port […] It was presided over by a priest of the Muses, called an
epistates, or director […] Under his gaze […] as early 283 BC there came together what Strabo later
called a synodos (community) of perhaps 30–59 learned men […] salaried members of a ‚civil list‘
for their services as tutors, granted axcemption from taxes, and given free board and lodging in
the royal quarter of the city, where in a circular-domed dining hall, they communally dined“;
Barnes 2004, 61–77.
36 Heller-Roazen 2002, 133–138; 147–151; cf. Canfora 1992; Cherf 2008, 55–74 and note 1. The
most reliable tradition is that one referred by Dio Cassius to the Apothekai, since he gives the
content of the storerooms, wheat and books, as being properly destinated to form the greatest

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262 Theodoros Mavrojannis

tainly not the original place of the Ptolemaic Mouseion, but a later extension of
the educational structures including the twenty auditoria completed in Late An-
tiquity (5th–6th century A. D.), those which led Majcherek to identify it as a seg-
ment of the Mouseion as well (Fig. 6, 7). Consequently, J. McKenzie, puts forward
the standpoint of Majcherek and supports the change in the location of academic
life from 4th to 6th century A. D. She cannot avoid the publication of Rodziewicz,
proving that the lower layers at Kom el-Dikka attested that the whole area was
occupied by an inhabited quarter going back to the 3rd century B. C. and expanded
up to the 3rd century A. D.37. Though McKenzie knows the voice of the Suda, ac-
cording to which Thêon, the father of Hypatia, who taught between 360 and 380
A. D. in the Mouseion, commenting on the Almagest of Claudius Ptolemaeus –
therefore the old institution of the Mouseion being still in activity – „was the last
recorded member of the Museum“, she concludes: „Later sources mention the
‚Temenos of the Muses‘, but not the Museum. There had clearly been a change in
the location of scholarly activity, and the two different names appear to reflect

storage for the library of the Mouseion. This is in line with the location of the Mouseion, as we are
reconstructing it, far away from the quay and the navalia – apothekai; Sen. De animi tranquillitate
IX 5: quadraginta (quadrigenta?) milia librorum Alexandriae arserunt; pulcherrimum regiae opu-
lentiae monumentum alius laudaverit, sicut T. Livius, qui elegantiae regum curaeque egregium
id opus ait fuisse; Plut. Caes. 49: δεύτερον δὲ περικοπτόμενος τὸν στόλον ἠναγκάσϑη διὰ πυρὸς
ἀπώσασϑαι τὸν κίνδυνον, ὃ καὶ τὴν μεγάλην βιβλιοϑήκην ἐκ τῶν νεωρίων ἐπινεμόμενον
διέφϑειρε; Gell., VII 17, 3: Ingens potea numerus librorum in Aegypto ab Ptolemaeis regibus vel
conquisitus vel confectus est ad milia ferme voluminum septingenta; sed ea omnia bello priore
Alexandrino, dum diripitur ea civitas, non sponte neque opera consulta sed a militibus forte auxi-
liaris incensa sunt; Cass. Dio XLVII 382: πολλὰ δὲ καὶ κατεπίμπρατο, ὥστε ἄλλα τε καὶ τὸ νεώριον
τάς τε ἀποϑήκας καὶ τοῦ σίτου καὶ τῶν βίβλων, πλείστων δὴ καὶ ἀρίστων, ὡς φασι, γενομένων
καυϑῆναι; Amm. XXII 16, 13: in quo bibliothecae fuerunt inaestimabiles; et loquitur monumento-
rum veterum concinens fides, septuaginta voluminum milia, Ptolemaeis regibus vigiliis intentis
composita, bello Alexandrino, dum diripitur civitas, sub dictatore Caesare conflagrasse; Oros. VI
15, 31–2: in ipso proelio regia classis forte subducta iubetur incendi, ea flamma cum partem quoque
urbis invasisset, quadringenta milia librorum proximis forte aedibus condita excussit; App. Anab. II
13, 90; cf. Flor. epit? II 13.
37 McKenzie 2013 48: „Zacharias Scholasticus describes this [the ‚temenos of the Muses‘], in c.
518, as the place ‚where poets and rhetors and the children of the scholars walk about and make
their speeches‘ [n. 65: Zacharias Sch. Ammonius 1064A, in Colonna (1973), 107 ll. 366–68]“; cf.
ibid. 49: „Construction of the complex of public buildings in this area had begun in the 4th and
continued, in stages, into the 6th c. It needs to be remembered that, because there were houses in
this part of Kom el-Dikka until the late 3rd c., the Ptolemaic and Early Roman Museum and Library
could not have been located there (their precise locations remain unknown). In the Ptolemaic
period, the Museum was in the palace area, but the greater part of the Bruchion, the palace area
in which the Library had stood were destroyed in 272, and over a century later it had still not been
rebuilt.“ Rodziewicz 1984; Majcherek 2007.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 263

this“.38 This is in contradiction with what she proposes after that for the location
of the Tychaion, when she locates the Tychaion „near to it“, to the western side of
the two insulae of Kom el-Dikka. The text of Pseudo-Libanius is dated to the se-
cond half of the 4th century A. D., before the tremendous acts of bishop Cyrill in
391 A. D. The Dialogue of Zacharias Scholasticus, Ammonius, brought forward by
Majcherek and MacKenzie to stress their point, is dated around 518 A. D. In any
case, the Ptolemaic Mouseion, to which the Tychaion was correctly lined up, has
nothing to do with the ‚Temenos of the Muses‘ during the Late Antiquity, which
seems to be founded as an institution of private law such as a collegium, the
phrontisterion of Ammonius minor, son of Hermias, supported or even adopted
into the civic institutions of Alexandria. Aeneas of Gaza (460–518 A. D.), a
Christian Neo-Platonic older than Zacharias Scholasticus, confirms in his dia-
logue Theophrastus, to be dated soon after the death of Proclus Lycaeus in Athens
in 485 A. D., that there were once in Alexandria „many mouseia“, which cannot be
identified with the proper ancient Ptolemaic Mouseion.39 The private-public
character for the Neoplatonic School is very probable to have been established
after the foundation of the imperial Christian University at Constantinople, the
Pandidakterion of Magnaura, having 15 Chairs in Greek and 16 in Latin, by The-
odosius II (425–450 A. D.). Indeed, this sector of the town has all the features of a
civic space. Between 391 and 450 A. D., we may accept a period of intense spread
of Christianization in Alexandria, according to the spirit of the Council of Chal-

38 The first who expressed this possibility was Majcherek 2010, and after him Caruso 2011, 111:
„Lʼipotesi che questi auditori costituiscano aule per lezioni è molto affascinante e farebbe di
questo complesso la prima ‚università‘ del mondo antico documentata archeologicamente. An-
cora più suggestiva sarebbe la possibilità che questi auditoria siano il rifacimento o un ampli-
amento, pressoché nello stesso settore, del Mouseion tolemaico, probabilmente andato distrutto
non durante I due tragici assedi del III sec. d. C. (quello di Aureliano nel 272 e quello di Dioclezia-
no nel 298) e neppure il devastante terremoto del 365, quanto piuttosto le ferocissime rappresag-
lie dei cristiani del 391 […] Prima del 391, infatti il Mouseion era ancora in perfetta attività, come
risulta soprattutto da Libanio, ad Alessandria tra il 388 e il 392 d. C., ma anche, sebbene con
qualche riserva, dalla voce della Suda circa Teone, il padre di Ipazia, […] ὁ ἐκ τοῦ Μουσείου; then
McKenzie, supra n. 29; recently, in a most concrete way, Sorabj 2014.
39 Aen. Gaz., Theophr., PG 85, 871–876, 876: Αἴγυπτος: Πάλαι μὲν ἦν τὰ καλά, νῦν δὲ οἴχεται καὶ
διαλέλυται. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἐϑέλει μανϑάνειν, εἰς τοὺς μαϑητὰς ἐγγεγραμμένος (24) ὁ δὲ διδάσκειν
οὐκ οἷδε, τὸν μυσταγωγὸν ὑποκρινάμενος. Ὀρχήστρα μὲν εὐϑηνεῖ καὶ ἱπποδρομία, φιλοσοφία δὲ
καὶ τὰ μουσεῖα εἰς δεινὴν ἐρημίαν ἀφῖκται. In Athens the philosophy was fallen into decline, as it
is said in p. 877 by Theophrastos, who is seeking to find a school in the „country of Nile“: ἐπεὶ καὶ
παρʼ Ἀϑηναίοις, ἔνϑα μάλιστα διεφάνη φιλοσοφία, παντελῶς ἄγνωστος καὶ ἐς τὸ μηδὲν ἀπέῥριπτε
(39), ΑΞΙΘ. Μάτην ἄρα Ἀϑηναίους ἐκομιζόμην, […] εἰ κατὰ (41) Θεῖον, τὸν φιλοσοφίᾳ προήκοντα,
καὶ τῶν Ἀϑηναίων τὸν κράτιστον, παρὰ τὸν Νεῖλον εὑρίσκω. This enables us to state that the
Neoplatonic School in Alexandria was in life, „far better than the School in Athens“ in 485 A. D.

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264 Theodoros Mavrojannis

cedon (451 A. D.) and the example of chastity given by the empress Pulcheria
during the life of her husband, the Emperor Marcianus (450–457 A. D.), continued
under Leo I (457–474), as it is evident in the work of Ammonius Presbyter Ale-
xandrinus who wrote an Epistulam ad Leonem imperatorem pro defensione concilii
Chalcedonensis (PG 85, 1361–1610). We may, however, suspect that from the time
of Emperor Zenon (474–491 A. D.) onwards until Anastasius (491–518 A. D.), and
even up to Justin I (518–527 A. D.), something smoothly changed in the pagan
education in Alexandria, which may have now been known as a ‚pagan re-
naissance‘.40 The chronology of lifespan given by the Polish excavators for the
Auditoria of Kom el-Dikka goes beyond the time of Justinian and might include, at
least, the time of Flavius Justinus Iunior (565–578 A. D.) and even Mauricius (582–
602 A. D.). Hence, we adopt the most balanced view on this highly controversial
issue of Neoplatonic and Christian education, which is not based on stratigraphy,
but on monumental evidence. Nothing, on the other hand, came out of the insula
R4–R5 – L1–L2. This lack of evidence constitutes a strong lead that the huge open
space of the Agora is to be recognized to the north of the Canobian Street at the
high and the extension of Kom el-Dikka. Nevertheless, it is true that in the
Christian-Pagan Dialogue written by Zacharias Scholasticus, the bishop of Myti-
lene who studied under Ammonius minor in Alexandria (485–487 A. D.), Am-
monius sive Disputatio de mundi opificio contra philosophos, a reference to a ‚Te-
menos of the Muses‘ is made. This temenos – although there is another reference
in the same text to a Temenos Thêoù which could be identical to the ‚new Mou-
seion‘ for it was not a church41 – has been identified by Majcherek, Caruso,
McKenzie and Sorabji with the twenty Auditoria excavated between 1981 and 1987
(6 in the area west and south of the thermae, and 11 more in 2003 south of the
thermae)42. The Auditoria are designed in the form of small classrooms, provided

40 McKenzie 2013, 49: „The Kom el-Dikka complex is centrally located on the city block, beside
the main E-W street, south of the Caesareum and presumed site of the Forum (fig. 1). If that
complex was the ‚Temenos of the Muses‘, then the Tychaion must have been located near to it.
Although the Tychaion described in the ekphrasis was probably a Roman version of an earlier
building (see below), if there had been an earlier building we do not know if it was on the same
site as the one described in the ekphrasis.“
41 Zach. PG 85, 1021–1022 = ll. 33–34 Colonna: ἁλλʼ ὅπως μὴ τις ἐλϑὼν ἐκκόπτῃ μου τὸν λόγον,
δεῦρο σου τῆς χειρὸς λαβόμενος ἀπάγω παρὰ τὸ τέμενος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πρῶτόν σε ξεναγήσας
πρὸς ϑέαν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, φιλοϑεάμων γὰρ εἶ, καὶ ἱστορῆσαι καλῶς παρασκευάσας, τότε γε
ἀφηγήσομαι σοι ἡσυχῆ καὶ ἡρέμα τὴν συνουσίαν.
42 Caruso 2011, 112: „Le evidenze stratigrafiche dimostrano che il complesso di Kom El-Dikka fu
costruito in più fasi a partire dal V sec. D. C. e che rimase in uso fino alla metà del VII sec.; questi
dati si combinano inoltre con la testimonianza del vescovo di Mitilene Zacaria Scolastico, Am-
monio 366–370, ad Alessandria nellʼultimo quarto del V secolo, che fornisce del Mouseion lʼim-
magine di un centro-studi assolutamente vitale ancora alla fine del V sec. D. C.: ‚καὶ μου τῆς

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 265

with benches and the thronos for the proper chair or Bema of the Professor in the
middle of a horseshoe shape, as his high authority is depicted in the dialogue
Ammonius (Fig. 6, 7)43 The main problem is that nobody, except K. Verryken,
tried to back up the reading of the entire dialogue in order to understand what
exactly it consisted of and where the teaching of Ammonius minor, son of Her-
meias, took place: In Ammonius, lines 27–32 (ed. Colonna), we read:

„Well then tell me: how is his school (phrontisterion) and the assembly (syl-
logos akroatôn) of his bearers? Is the school still being frequented by ho-
nourable youths, pure in spirit? Indeed, I am stricken with mortal fear. I am
anxious that he is filling the youths with nonsense. For he is clever for ruining
their souls by removing then from God and the truth (in Greek): δεινὸς γὰρ ὁ
ἀνὴρ διαφϑεῖραι νέων ψυχὰς, ἀφιστῶν Θεοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀληϑείας44.“

The archaeological evidence of Kom el-Dikka reflects the site itself of the syllogos
akroatôn of Ammonius, the phrontisterion of the late Neoplatonism philosophy,
being constituted of 400–500 persons, which sought in a subtle way to reconvert
the Christian youths of Alexandria to Hellenism. 45 Despite some confusion about

δεξιᾶς λαβόμενος ἀπάγει παρὰ τὸ τέμενος τῶν Μουσῶν, ἔνϑα ποιηταὶ καὶ ῥήτορες καὶ τῶν
γραμματιστῶν οἱ παῖδες φοιτοῦντες ποιοῦνται τὰς ἐπιδείξεις‘ (E (scil: Gessio) prendendomi per
mano, mi conduce al temenos delle Muse, dove poeti e retori e glia lunni dei grammatici solita-
mente frequentano le lezioni.“
43 Zach., PG 85, 1028–1029 = ll. 57–61 Colonna: Α. ἐτυγχάνομέν ποτε ἐγώ τε καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τῶν
αὐτοῦ προφητῶν, τῆς φυσικῆς ἀκροάσεως ἀπαΐοντες ἔνδον ἐν τῷ φροντιστηρίῳ, ὥρα ϑέρους […]
Αὐτὸς δὲ ἡμῖν, καϑάπερ οἱ τοῖς χρησμοῖς ἐξηγούμενοι, τὴν Ἀριστοτέλους σοφίαν καὶ τὰς ὄντων
ἀρχάς, ἐν ὑψηλῷ τινι βήματι σοφιστικῶς μάλα καὶ σοβαρῶς καϑήμενος ἀφηγεῖτό τε καὶ
ἐσαφήνιζε; already in the teaching of Libanius; Lib. chr. III, 7: „In fact think about it. The teacher
is established in an imposing chair, like jugdes are. He seems terrifying, he frowns with anger and
shows no sign of calming down. The pupil must go forward in fear and trembling to give an
artistically conducted demonstration which he has composed and learnt by heart. If his exercise
is bad, there are rages, insults, blows and threats for the future“; Lieu 2004, 130–131; Majcherek
2010; cf. Watts 2011, 228.
44 Zach., PG 85, 1021 = ll. 24–27 Colonna: Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἔχει. Φράζε δὴ οὖν ὅπως αὐτῷ τὸ
φροντιστήριον ἔχει, καὶ ὁ τῶν ἀκροατῶν σύλλογος, καὶ εἰ φοιτῶσιν ἐς αύτοῦ τὰ νῦν νέοι τινὲς
ἀγαϑοὶ τε καὶ καλοὶ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄσυλοι. Καὶ γὰρ με δέος ἴσχει ἀκήριον ἀγωνιῶντα μὴ ἐμπλήσῃ
τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀδολεσχίας τοὺς νέους. Δεινὸς γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ διαφϑεῖραι νέων ψυχάς, ἀφιστῶν Θεοῦ καὶ
τῆς ἀληϑείας.
45 Verryken 1990, 237–243, notes 38 and 39: „In the Hypotheseis of the dialogue (93 ll. 1–2
Colonna) Zacharias likewise refers to Ammoniusʼ skill in ‚converting‘ young Christians to ‚Helle-
nism‘: φοιτητὴς τις Ἀμμωνίου, τοῦ δῆϑεν φιλοσόφου, γενόμενος καὶ ἥρεμα πρὸς Ἑλληνισμὸν
ἀποκλίνας, παραγέγονεν κατὰ τὴν Βηρυτίων, νόμους ἀναγνωσόμενος. Οὖτος ἤρξατο τισι τῶν
ἑταίρων τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς τοῦ διδασκάλου περὶ τοῦ κόσμου προτείνειν ἀντιϑέσεις· οἱ δὲ ταύτας
Ζαχαρίᾳ τῷ σχολαστικῷ διαπορϑμεύσαντες (ἔτυχε γὰρ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ πρὸς Ἀμμώνιον και

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266 Theodoros Mavrojannis

the kind and the aims of pagan education in the second half of 5th century A. D. in
Christian Alexandria, we can capture the last pagan cultural counter reaction
against the triumphant Christianity, that type of Christianity raised up and spread
with the preaching of Saint Athanasius from the first middle of the 4th until the
end of the 4th century A. D (in exile from Alexandria between 336 and 345 A. D.). In
the case of Alexandria, we acquire a monumental picture of the late Neo-
platonism, which is in the main line starting at that city with Ammonius Saccas,
Plotinus (223–243 A. D. a pupil of Saccas) and his pupil Porphyrius of Tyre, who
wrote „Against the Christians“ in 15 books, a treatise which was ordered by
Theodosius II to be burnt twice, in 435 and 448 A. D. This tradition of Platonic
theology, a system being in dialogue with Christianism as in the work of Jamb-
lichus († 327 A. D.), will be concluded with the teaching of Proclus, who taught
„Orphic Theogonies“ and „Chaldaean Oracles“ in Athens from 431 to 485 A. D.
and definitely with Ammonius minor in Alexandria who was himself a pupil of
Proclus in Athens. Whatever the intellectual stance of half Pagans-half Christians
was, the persistence of Neoplatonism in Alexandria coincided with the years just
before the dogmatism of Justinian, who was going to close the Philosophical
School of Neoplatonic Proclus in Athens in 529 A. D. The Polish excavators came
to the conclusion that the conquest of Alexandria from the Arabs in 642 A. D. by
Amr ibn el Hasi did not cause the abandonment of the Auditoria of Kom el-Dikka.
Life may have continued until the end of the 7th century A. D. This coincides with
the time span during the grand synthesis of Platonic Philosophy and Christian
theology in the work of Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagites: De Coelesti Hierarchia, De
Mystica Theologia, written about 510 A. D., acknowlegded as canonical by Pope
Gregorius the Great († 604) and commented on by Maximus Confessor († 662
A. D.).

The Topographical Testimony of Pseudo-

Callisthenes (Fig. 1, 2, 9)
We can now reapproach the testimony of Pseudo-Callisthenes who seems to
confirm the disposal of the urban segments moving from the East to the West. The
text of Pseudo-Callisthenes regards the central area, as in the plan of A. Adriani,
but it moves towards the opposite direction, from the West to the East. In any

Γέσσιον τὸν ἰατροσοφιστὴν πολλὰς περὶ τούτων διαλέξεις ποιησάμενος) ᾔτησαν γραφῇ ταύτας
παραδοϑῆναι. This ‚slight‘ to Hellenic Philosophy was to become considerable stronger in Philo-
ponusʼ case“ [note 39]; cf. Verrycken 2001.

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 267

case, it does exceed the outside limits of Adrianiʼs plan, if not for the first dromos,
that ‚of Sarapis‘: Pseudo-Callisthenes I31, 4:46 1) dromos of the great god Sarapis
on the spot of the channel Rachotitis; 2) plateia of Agora; 3) channel–river †Xy-
leros, „now called Aspendia plateia“; 4) channel of Tychaion; 5) river Kopronikos;
6) great channel and river Nepherotes, where the sanctuary of Isis Nepheron is
situated, „the first to have been built in Alexandria“; 7) the greatest of all rivers
Argeos, where the Argeion was built; 8) channel of Areios, where the column of
Areios stood; 9) channel flowing into the river of Canopus near Zephyrion; 10)
great river and mouths of Herakleion. Up to the channel of Tychaion, between the
great road–plateia of Sarapis and the channel of Tychaion, we can consider it safe
to accept that the Agora was at the western side of the Tychaion and that there
was not apparently a proper channel for the Mouseion which may have stood in
between. Thus, we can form the sequence moving from West to East as follows:
Agora –Mouseion –Tychaion –Sema of Alexander –X –Gymnasium. Bringing the
description of Pseudo-Callisthenes upon the plan of Adriani and moving on with
the remarks of A. Ausfeld, we would have the following results: R8 was the road of
Sarapis. The road of the second channel would be the R6, „die an der Ostseit der
Athanasius Kirche vorbei ging, die Marktstrasse zu vermuthen. Das stimmt recht
gut, denn die Athanasiuskirche hiess als Moschee bei den Arabern ‚Suq-el-At-
tarîn‘, ‚vom Krämermarkte‘ und bereits Lumbroso und Nerutsos haben die agora
bei dieser Kirche, [...] gesucht.“47 Here lies the problem of the entire reconstruc-
tion, since the Agora must be placed between R5 and R4. The „great stream
Chuleras“ would be the third channel; this should be the previous name of the
road „now“ Aspendia, which is to be identified with the road R4. The latter name

46 Ps.-Callisth. I 31, 2–5 (Kroll): ἡ δὲ ῾Ρακῶτις ἦν ἐπίσημος […] αἱ δὲ ις΄ κῶμαι εἶχον ποταμοὺς ιβ΄
ἐξερευγομένους εἰς τὴν ϑάλασσαν· καὶ μέχρι νῦν αἱ διεκδρομαὶ ἀναπεφραγμέναι εἰσίν […]
ἐχώσϑησαν οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἁγυιαὶ τῆς πόλεως καὶ πλατεῖαι ἐγεννήϑησαν. Δύο δὲ μόνοι
διέμειναν, οἳ καὶ ἀπορρέουσιν εἰς τὴν ϑάλατταν […] ἐπικαλουμένοι ῾Ρακωτίτης ποταμός, ὃς νῦν
δρόμος τοῦ μεγάλου ϑεοῦ Σαράπιδος τυγχάνει· εἶτα διῶρυξ τῆς ἀγοραίου πλατείας· καὶ μέγιστος
ποταμὸς <ὁ> καλούμενος † Ξυλέρῳ νῦν Ἀσπενδία τυγχάνουσα εἶτα διῶρυξ, οὗ τὸ Τυχαῖον· καὶ
μέγιστος ποταμὸς <Κοπρωνικός· καὶ διῶρυξ μεγάλη καὶ ποταμὸς> Νεφερώτης † τὰ νῦν ἐκϑέματα,
οὗ ἐστι καὶ Ἵσιδος τῆς Νεφερὼν <ἱερὸν> πρωτόκτιστον Ἀλεξανδρείας· καὶ μέγιστος πάντων
<τῶν> ποταμῶν Ἀργέος καλούμενος, οὗ ἐστιν Ἀργεῖον· <εἶτα διῶρυξ Ἀρείου οὗ ἐστιν Ἀρείου>
στῦλος· καὶ διῶρυξ κατὰ τὸν Κανωπικὸν <ποταμὸν> ἐκβάλλουσα κατὰ τοῦ Ζεφυρίου· καὶ
μέγιστος ποταμὸς <τὸ Ἡράκλειον στόμα. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς καλουμένης Πανδύσεως ἕως τοῦ>
ἡρακλείου στόματος τὸ μῆκος τῆς πόλεως ἐχωρογράφησε, τὸ δὲ πλάτος ἀπὸ τοῦ Μενδησίου
ἕως τῆς μικρᾶς Ἑρμουπόλεως.
47 Ausfeld 1900, 366–367: „Dass jedenfalls der Markt nicht, wie mehrfach angenommen worden
ist, an der Kreuzung von R1 und der kanopischen Strasse, sondern im westlichen Theile der Stadt
lag, folgt schon daraus, dass der zugehörige Kanal hier neben dem des Serapeums als der zweite
von Westen her aufgezählt ist.“

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268 Theodoros Mavrojannis

creates a lot of problems since it is unique and may have connotations with an
important part of the center. Anyway, the next channel may be identical to R3 as
„channel of the Tychaion“, but there is enough space for another street – for an
ἁγυιὰ and not a πλατεῖα – between R5 and R4, as in the plan of Adriani 1932–1933.
Ausfeld pointed out: „Das T y c h a i o n lag nach Libanius, […] in der Mitte der
Stadt, und zwar neben dem M u s e u m; denn das besagt doch wohl Libanius‘
Angabe ‚καὶ κατὰ μέσον αἱ πύλαι παρὰ τῶν Μουσῶν ἄγουσαι τέμενος‘“.48 The fifth
road would be identical with R1, „wohl Κοπρωνικὸς (ποταμός), ‚Kloakenfluss‘.
Auch das stimmt zum örtlichen Befund, denn R1 war auf der westlichen Seite von
einem Abzugskanal für Schmutzwasser begleitet, während auf der östlichen der
Hauptkanal verlief“.49 Therefore, the road R4 would be vertical to the one side of
the Mouseion. The sixth road might be for Ausfeld out of the limits of the Roman
Alexandria, as all the following channels.50 There is a gap between R4 and R1,
since the channels number 6–10 would be to the East of the great crossroad. It
cannot be excluded that Kopronikos was in R3, Nepherotes in R2 and Argeios in
R1, since the latter was the „greatest of all the rivers“. Respecting the sequence of
Pseudo-Callisthenes but putting forward the metrological leads of the insulae
between the streams, we can infer that the block where we should place the Sema
of Alexander is 158.40 x 2 = 316 m and the next blocks respect the subdivision and
the enlargement of this measurement, 158.40 m. The text of Pseudo-Callisthenes
also mentions the Mesonpedion, which is sometimes erroneously identified with
the great crossroad on the grounds of that expression ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τῶν κιόνων τῆς
πόλεως τὸ πεδίον of Achilles Tatius, which signifies only the „terrain“ between
the two viae columnatae, not the exact „center“ and nothing more than the „space
in width“.51.The Mesonpedion is something completely different from what is

48 Ausfeld 1900, 367: „Nach unserer Stelle und Libanius lag aber das Tychaion m. E. an dem
kleinen Stück von R4, das nördlich jenseits der Kanopischen Strasse übrig bleibt, wahrscheinlich
zugleich an diesem grossen Verkehrsweg, denn im Tychaion wurden die Gesetze öffentlich aus-
gestellt; Und unmittelbar daneben, ebenfalls nördlich von der Kanopischen Strasse, vermuthe
Ich das Museum.“
49 Falaki 1862, 23: „un égout peu profond et destiné aux écoulements des eaux la borde de
lʼautre côté“.
50 Ausfeld 1900, 369: „mit dem ‚grossen Fluss Ne p h e r o t e s‘ identisch zu sein. Denn er fliesst
durch ein Gebiet, das in älterer Zeit zu inneren Stadt gehörte, später aber (seit Hadrian?) ausser-
halb der Stadtmauer lag und als Gräberfeld benutzt wurde […] Ob das Heiligtum der hier ge-
nnanten Isis wirklich das älteste von Alexandria war, etwa das nach Arrian III 1, 5 von Alexander
selbst gegründete, bleibt bei der Unzuverlässigkeit der historischen Angaben des Verfassers
zweifelhaft.“
51 Wachsmuth 1887, 465, n. 1: „Diese Worte sind jedenfalls so wie sie dastehen, ganz unsinnig;
denn zwischen den Säulen liegt natürlich nicht d i e Ebene, sondern nur ein Theil der Ebene,
vielmehr geht die Säulenstrasse in der Ebene; auch fehlt jede logische und grammatische Ver-

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 269

assumed by Adriani. It could be that it matched in the ‚geometrical center of

Alexandria‘, where the temenos of Agathos Daimon is to be located, founded by
Alexander, but the Greek language did not permit any arbitrary conclusion. Un-
fortunately, Adriani thought there was a specific place, whereas it is only the
pedion between the two emboloi (porticos) of the Canobian Street which runs
across the meson (middle) of the townʼs pedion (surface). This is clearly de-
monstrated, because the building of Alexandria would have stretched not „from
the Mesonpedion“ but „from a definite initial point“ (arché) of the Mesonpedion,
which might be the very „geometrical center“ for tracing the circle. The versio
Armenica of the Romance of Alexander has τὴν τῆς ὀνομασίας ἀρχὴν, thus exactly
the „starting point“ of the Mesonpedion. If this is to identify with Kopria, then the
river Kopronikos must be next to the channel of the Tychaion.52 At any rate, the
„beginning“ was not far away from the Agora, probably at the crossroad of the R4
with the Canobian Street, which corresponds with the place of the Church of
Agios Alexandros of the plan of Nerutsos.

The Aspendia Plateia: The Lykeion-Mouseion and

the Ptolemies as Argeadai and Descendants of
Danaus
The key-stone in solving the puzzle of the monumental center is the sequence of
the channels transformed into roads as they are registered in Pseudo-Callisthe-
nes. Even the most hesitant or sceptical scholar cannot deny that the site of the
Agora should be on the vertical road following that of the Sarapeion. This enables
us to identify the Agora in the insula between R5 and R4 but not between R6 and
R5 as Adolf Ausfeld had proposed. The inner border of the Agora cannot be the
external vertical road but the internal road R4 which was at the beginning called

bindung“; cf. Mai, Spicilegium Romanum III 81: τόπος οὗτος (ὁ δρόμος) ἐπίσημος τῆς
Ἀλεξανδρέων καϑέστηκεν πόλεως, ἐκ λεωφόρου σχήματος κείμενος, ἐμβόλοις μὲν δυσὶν
μεσάμενος, καὶ κίοσι καὶ μαρμάροις κοσμούμενος, λεῷ τε στενοχωρούμενος πλείονι καὶ τοῖς ἐν
τοῖς ἀγοραῖς παντοδαποῖς πρατηρίοις.
52 Ps.-Callisth. I 32, 5: Ἤρξαντο δὲ οἰκοδομεῖν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἀπὸ Μέσου πεδίου, καὶ ἔσχεν ὁ
τόπος τῆν προσωνυμίαν ἀρχὴν διὰ τὸ ἀπʼ ἐκεῖϑεν ἄρξασϑαι τὴν τῆς πόλεως οἰκοδομῆς […] καὶ δὴ
λαβόντες <τὴν> ἐπιτροπὴν παραγενομένου τοῦ ϑυρὸς κατὰ τῆς νῦν καλουμένης Στοᾶς τούτου
περιεγένοντο καὶ ἀνεῖλον. ἐκέλευσε δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐκεῖ αὐτῷ τέμενος γενέσϑαι καὶ ϑάψας
κατέϑετο· καὶ πλησίον ἐκέλευσε στεφάνους στέφεσϑαι εἰς μνήμην τοῦ ὀφϑέντος ἀγαϑοῦ δαίμο-
νος. The very problem is what follows: ἑκέλευσε δὲ μηδαμοῦ ἀλλαχοῦ βάλλεσϑαι τὴν ὀρυγὴν τῶν
ϑεμελίων εἰ μὴ εἰς ἕνα τόπον, καὶ ἔστιν ἕως ἄρτι ὄρος μέγα φαινόμενον, ὃ καλεῖται Κοπρία.

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270 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Agoraia, „but now it is called Aspendia“ (Pseud.-Callisth. I 31, 3–4 [Kroll]). „At the
beginning“ signifies the will of Alexander who might have started the building of
the town by defining the place of the Agora, as Arrian, III 1 states: Πόϑος οὖν
λαμβάνει αὐτὸν τοῦ ἔργου, καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ σημεῖα τῇ πόλει ἔϑηκεν, ἵνα τε ἀγορὰν ἐν
αὐτῇ δείμασϑαι ἔδει καὶ ἱερὰ ὅσα καὶ ϑεῶν ὧν τινων, τῶν μὲν Ἑλληνικῶν, Ἴσιδος
δὲ Αἰγυπτίας, καὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἧ περιβεβλῆσϑαι. Thus, the second name, Aspendia,
should be inherent to the Ptolemaic refurbishing. The reason for calling this road
Aspendia in the Ptolemaic era was never detected. Athenaeus (IV 174 d) confirms
that there was a road – certainly not a quarter – called Aspendia in Alexandria
about 140 B. C: ἔοικεν δὲ τὸ ὄργανον βωμῷ στρογγύλῳ, καὶ φασι τοῦτο εὐρῆσϑαι
ὑπὸ Κτησιβίου κουρέως ἐνταῦϑα οἰκοῦντος ἐν τῇ Ἀσπενδίᾳ ἐπὶ τοῦ δευτέρου
Εὐεργέτου. It reminds us clearly of the town of Pamphylia, Aspendos, which
might have been connotated with the building complex which was next to the
Agora, eastwards, in such a manner as to justify its identity. In our opinion the
Aspendia plateia is the name which prevailed in the years of Ptolemy I Soter (305–
283/2 B. C.) and must have something to do with the management of Demetrius
Phalereus and the foundation of the Museion of Alexandria in this part of the
Basileia, between the Agora and the ‚temenos of Tyche‘. The chronological fra-
mework presupposes the conquest or the control of Pamphylia from Ptolemy I,
which until 301 B. C. was kept by Antigonos Monophthalmos. The military in-
tervention of Ptolemy I in Aspendos is ascertained, thus offering a clue to un-
derstanding the toponymical policy in the heart of Alexandria, which is not at all
a secondary achievement, created randomly, without any reasoning, but it is an
intentional property, carrying major consequences to the urban system. In 1914
R. Paribeni and P. Romanelli found an important inscription, a decree giving the
citizenship of Aspendos to soldiers acting under the order of Ptolemy I. The decree
was studied by M. Segre in 1934, which despite the scepticism of R. Bagnall about
its chronology, could establish that it must be probably dated to the years 301 and
298 B. C., since there is the name of „King Ptolemy“ without any other indication,
as if he was Ptolemy Sôter. Moreover, the headpersons quoted must be identified
with Philocles, King of Sidon and Leonides, general of Ptolemy I. The inscription,
represented recently by J. Grainger, testifies the intervention of King Ptolemy I
along with corps of mercenaries, Pamphylians, Lycians, Cretans, Hellenes, Pisi-
dians, in Aspendos, against an attack of Demetrios Poliorcetes, thus more care-
fully for the year 299/298 B. C.53 Yet, there still remains to register the importance

53 Segre 1934, 253–268; Grainger 2009; cf. Bagnall 1976, 110–114; SEG XVII 639: Honores lega-
torum, a. 301/298. Aspendus: Ἐπὶ δημιουργοῦ Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Δη- | μοχάριος, ἐκκλησίας κυρίας
γεν- | ομένης, ἔδοξε τῷ δήμωι τῶι Ἀσ- | πενδίων·ὅσοι μετὰ [Φι]λοκλέους κ[αὶ] | Λεωνίδου
παραγενόμενοι ἐβοή[ϑη]- | σαν τῆι πόλει τῆι Ἀσπενδίων [Πάμφ]- | υλοι, Λύκιοι, Κρῆτες,

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 271

of Aspendos for the policy of Ptolemy I which is not resolute at first glance,
though Ptolemy had undertaken a raid along the Pamphylian coast and captured
Phaselis (Diod. XX 27, 1) already in 309 B. C. What underlies the Ptomemaic ac-
quisition of Pamphylia could reveal a beautiful ‚Vergangenheitsbezug‘ of ancient
historiography which may have been elaborated in the Mouseion of Alexandria.
We could not reach any conclusion without taking into account that we have two
other geographical toponyms in Alexandria: Antirrhodos, which speaks about the
island of Rhodos and the Harbour of Eunostos which goes back to the King of
Soloi in Cyprus, Eunostos, who married Eirene, the daughter of Ptolemy I from
Thaïs (Athen. XIII 576E), the courtisan once a companion of Alexander himself.
R. S. Stroud published in 1984a decree from Nemea concerning Aspendos.54 The
decree establishes the isopoliteia between the inhabitants of Aspendos and the
Argives on the grounds of the preexisting syngeneia. It plainly confirms Strabosʼ
statement (XIV C 667): Ἄσπενδος πόλις εὐανδροῦσα ἱκανῶς, Ἀργείων κτίσμα.
What is extraordinary is that the bestowing of privileges to the Aspendioi by the
Argives was made after the same process had been applied to the inhabitants of
Rhodes and Soloi through similar decrees. Most probably, the grant of sympoliteia
was for the inhabitants of Soloi in Cilicia, and not for Soloi in Cyprus, which in
that case would confirm the coalition Rhodes –Aspendos –Soloi in Alexandria,
since a passage of Polybius praises the syngeneia of the Aspendioi to the Rho-
dians.55 For sure, the argive syngeneia of the Aspendioi with the Argives is clearly

Ἕλληνες, Πισί- | δαι, ἐπειδὴ ἄνδρες ἀγαϑοὶ γεγ[έ]- | [νη]νται καὶ χρήσιμοι τῶι τε βασιλ- | [εῖ Π]
τολεμαίωι καὶ τῆι πόλει, εἶναι | [αὐτο]ὺς πολίτας καὶ εὐεργέτας το[ῦ] | [πλήϑ]ους καὶ ἐκγόνους
στήλην δὲ σ- | τησ]άτωσαν ἐν τῶι [ἱερῶι τ]ῆς Ἀρτέ- | [μι]δος καὶ ἀναγραψἀ[τωσα]ν τὰ ὀνό- | ματα
αὐτῶν καὶ π[ατέρω]ν ἐὰν δέ | [τι]ς αὐτῶν βούληται [κατ]αχωρι[ισϑῆ]- | [ν]αι εἰς φυλήν, [τελείτω
ἀργ]ύριον [ὅσ]- | [ον[ ἡ πόλις βου[λεύσηται] Leonides in Cilicia in 310: Diod. XX 19, 4; In Corinth
and Sicyon in 308 B. C.; Suda, s. v. Demetrios; Plut. Demetr. 15, 1, erroneously called Kleonides;
offering at Delos: IG XI 2 161 B 77.
54 Stroud 1984: [Θεός Τύχαι. ἀλιαίαι ἔδοξε τελεί]αι, Ἀμυ[κλαίου ἑπομένου | […] […] […].. ἀ]ρήτευε
βωλᾶς Πο[λυ]χάρης ἡραιεὺς Κολου- | [ρίς·ἔδοξε τῳ]ι δάμωι τῶν Ἀργείων· Ἀσπ[εν]δίοις συγγενέ- |
σι καὶ ἀποίκ]οις Ἀργείων πολιτείαν ἦμεν ἐν Ἄργει καὶ πο- | [τοδον πότ ἀ]λιαίαν πράτοις πεδὰ τὰ
ἱαρὰ καὶ τὸως ῾Ρό- | δίων? καϑάπερ κ[α]ὶ τοῖς Σολεῦσι καὶ ΕΝΣΚΛΗΙΝΣ ἐς τὸνς ἀγῶν- ||ας· καὶ τοὺς
ϑεωρ[ο]ὺς ἀποστέλλωντι ϑύσοντας τῶι Διὶ | τῶι Νεμέαι καὶ τᾶ[ι Ἥραι τᾶι Ἀ]ργείαι προπέμπεμ π[ε]
δὰ τῶν Ἀ[ρ]- | γείων καὶ καλῖσϑαι Ε […]. ll. 13–18: τῶν Ἀσπενδίων, αἲ τί κα δέ[ωνται·] καἴ τίς κα
χράζηι Ἀσπενδίων | οἰκεν ἐν Ἄργει, οἰκε[ί]τω τελώμ[εν]ος ἅπερ ὁ Ἀργεῖος, κ[αϑ]άπερ καὶ Ἀρ- |
γείοις ἐν Ἀσπένδωι ἔστιν·ἀγγρά[ψ]αι δὲ τὸ δόκημα [τόδε ἐ]ν στά- | λαι ἐν τῶι τοῦ Λυκείου ἰαρῶι
καὶ Ν[ε]μέαι [κ]α[ὶ] πὰρ Ἥραι· π[ὸτ] τὸν τελα- | μῶμα τὸν ἐν τῶι τοῦ Λυκε[ίου] ἰα[ρ]ῶι [τὸν δᾶ]μον
τῶν Ἀσπεν[δίων] ποτα[να]- | γ[ρ]άψαι
55 Arr. Anab. II 5, 8: Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ἐν Σόλοις ϑύσας τε τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ καὶ πομπεύσας αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ
στρατιὰ πᾶσα καὶ λαμπάδα ἐπιτελέσας καὶ ἀγῶνα διαϑεὶς γυμνικὸν καὶ μουσικὸν Σολεῦσι μὲν
δημοκρατεῖσϑαι ἔδωκεν; Pol. XXI 24: προσῆλϑον αὖϑις οἱ ῾Ρόδιοι πρὸς τὴν Σύγκλητον,
ἀξιοῦντες περὶ Σόλων Κιλικίων· διὰ γὰρ τὴν συγγένειαν ἔφασαν καϑήκειν αὑτοῖς προνοεῖσϑαι

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272 Theodoros Mavrojannis

attested, in the same framework as that of the Rhodians.56 We suspect that the
syngeneia with Argos might be the reason for calling the plateia Aspendia in
Alexandria. However, we cannot yet fully comprehend the whole extension of the
involvement of Ptolemy I in the ideology of the Argive syngeneia, even if we have
Arrian who stated the declaration of Alexander to the inhabitants of Mallos to be
un-argeadic.57 Even if the Argead descendancy of Alexander had involved not
only the syngeneia with the cities of Pamphylia but also with Rhodos,58 this seems
in our case to be retraced and reconfirmed by Ptolemy I. The Argive syngeneia
with the Aspendians was to be sanctioned by Apollo Lykeios, since the decree was
to be published in the sanctuary of Argos called Lykeion, in honour of Apollo
Lykeios. There is an apparently strange coincidence with the major cult of the
Aristotelian Peripatos in Athens,59 which is to be located in the Gymnasium called
Lyceum, discovered in Athens in 1997 in the area between the Museum of War and
the National Gallery along the Regilles street. F. Graf has elucidated the almost
exclusive connection of Apollo Lykeios with Argos. His sanctuary was built next

τῆς πόλεως ταύτης. Εἶναι γὰρ Ἀργείων ἀποίκους Σολεῖς, καϑάπερ καὶ ῾Ροδίους· ἐξ ὧν ἀδελφικὴν
οὖσαν ἀπεδείκνυον τὴν συγγένειαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους. ὧν ἕνεκα δίκαιον ἔφασαν εἶναι τυχεῖν αὐτοὺς
τῆς ἐλευϑερίας ὑπὸ ῾Ρωμαίων διὰ τῆς ῾Ροδίων χάριτος.
56 Grainger 2009: „The initiative for the alliance of the four cities (Argos, Rhodes, Aspendos,
Soloi) may have come from either Argos or Rhodes, but it is best interpreted as a search for allies
in the new world produced by Alexanderʼs conquests and the disintegration of his empire. The
involvement of Rhodes also connects it with Ptolemy, whose friendship Rhodes particularly
valued, but it seems to predate the attack on Rhodes by Demetrios in 305–394, and perhaps also
the expedition of Ptolemy to the Aegean in 309.“
57 Arr. Anab. II 5, 9: ἐντεῦϑεν δὲ ἐς Μαλλὸν ἀφίκετο καὶ Ἀμφιλόχῳ ὅσα ἥρωι ἐνήγισε· καὶ
στασιάζοντας καταλαβὼν τὴν στάσιν αὐτοῖς κατέπαυσε·καὶ τοὺς φόρους οὓς βασιλεῖ Δαρείῳ
ἀπέφερον ἀνῆκεν, ὅτι Ἀργείων μὲν Μαλλωταὶ ἄποικοι ἦσαν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀπʼ Ἄργους τῶν
Ἡρακλειδῶν εἶναι ἠξίου.
58 Thomas 1960: Epitoma Rerum Gestarum Alexandri et Liber de morte eius, Testamentum Ale-
xandri, 115, col. II: [ ὁ δὲ αἱρε-] | [ϑεὶς διαφυλαττέτω] | τὴν Ἀργεαδ[ῶν ἀρχὴν | καὶ συντελείσϑωσ
[αν | Μακεδόνες Ἀργεάδ[αι | τ]ὰ νομιζόμενα [μετὰ τοῦ] | βασιλέως· ἐξέστω δ[ὲ] | Ὀλυμπιάδι τῆι
μητρ[ὶ] | ἀποικεῖν ἐν ῾Ρόδωι· ἐὰν | δὲ μὴ βούληται ἀπ[οι- | κεῖν ἐν ῾Ρόδωι, ἐξάστω | [ὅπου ἂν
βούληται κτλ.].
59 Lynch 1972, 100: „Diog. Laert. V 51–52: (1) ta peri mouseion kai tas theas: The Mouseion and
the statues of the Muses are to be finished up (suntelesthenai) and further beautified in any way
possible. (2) to hieron: The bust of Aristotle and all other statues that were formerly in the sanc-
tuary are to be put back in place [To hieron here probably refers to the whole state precinct of
Apollo Lykeios, including the gymnasium and other structures mentioned in this section; other-
wise a more specific name for the sanctuary, if it were actually a hieron within the all-inclusive
hieron, would have been necessary.] (3) to stoidion: The small stoa near the Mouseion is to be
rebuilt. (4) he kato stoa: Maps showing the regions of the earth are to be set up again in the lower
stoa. (5) o bomos (of the Muses? or of Apollo Lykeios?): The altar to be repaired (episkeuasthe-
nai).“

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 273

to the Agora in Argos, the place of citizen assembly. According to the argive myth,
it was founded by Danaus, the mythical king from the line of Zeus and Io, who fled
to Egypt. Their great grand-son Danaus returned to Argos and demanded the
ancestral citizenship. The Argives asked for a day. During the night a wolf (λύκος)
attacked a heard of cows. Since the wolf symbolized Danaus, they made Danaus
king of Argos and he thanked Apollo for his help by building his sanctuary where
Pausanias could admire the throne of Danaus (Paus. II 19, 3–4)60. The connection
was deeply-rooted in the Classical Age.61 Yet, it is not elucitaded whether it was
an active commitment of Ptolemy I to this Argive cycle which included the very
cult of Lykeion in Athens or not. As we have previously seen, Demetrius of Pha-
leron suggested to Ptolemy I Soter the creation of an extensive library and, in
fact,62 despite the contradiction between Athenaeus and Strabo, many of the
Books of Aristotle,63 may have finally reached the Mouseion-Library of Ale-

60 Musti – Torelli 1986, 174–175: „Il tempio di Apollo Licio, noto da altre fonti (Tucidide V 47;
Sofocle, El. 6–7, e scoli; Plutarco, Pyrrh. 32) per la sua collocazione e per essere sede tradizional-
mente destinata allʼesposizione di decreti pubblici […] Il ritrovamento di numerosi blocchi ap-
partenenti al tempio nellʼarea della cosiddetta sala ipostila consente di collocarlo ad ovest di
questa, nella porzione settentrionale dellʼagora, dinanzi al grande portico a Π, situato al centro
della piazza, e davanti a un dromos di 170 metri, evidentemente per la celebrazione dei giuochi di
Argo.“
61 Piérart 2001. The action of the Elektra of Sophocles takes place in the agora of Apollo Lykeios.
Klytaimnestra addresses her prayer to Apollo Lykeios (vv. 637, 645, 655). Electra addresses Apollo
Lykeios just before entering the house (vv. 1376, 1379). He is the patrôos theôs of the Argives (vv.
411, 428).
62 Wendland 1900, 96–166: Fortenbaugh – Schütrumpf 2000: F 58A = Synk. 518 Dindorf:
Πτολεμαῖος οὗτος ὁ Φιλάδελφος πᾶσαν πανταχόϑεν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, συμφορήσας βίβλον τῆς
οἰκουμένης σπουδῇ τοῦ Φαληρέως Δημητρίου τρίτου νομοϑέτου Ἀϑηναίων; F 58B = Tzetz.,
Prooemium II Koster: ὁ γὰρ ῥηϑεὶς βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος ἐκεῖνος […] ἐπεὶ διὰ Δημητρίου τοῦ
φαληρέως καὶ γερουσίων ἑτέρων ἀνδρῶν δαπάναις βασιλικαῖς ἁπανταχόϑεν τὰς βίβλους εἰς
Ἀλεξανδρείαν ἤϑροισε, δυσὶ δὲ βιβλιοϑήκαις ἀπέϑετο; Tzetzes continues saying that the ‚outer
library‘ contained 42,800 papyrus rolls, whereas the proper royal collection consisted of 400,000
‚composite rolls‘ (συμμιγεῖς) and 90,000 ‚single rolls‘ (ἀμιγεῖς). On the transaltion of the Old
Testament F 59: Aristeas, 9–11; 28; 29–32; 301–303; 308–309: κατασταϑεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ
βασιλέως βιβλιοϑήκης Δημήτριος ὁ Φαληρεὺς ἐχρηματίσϑη πολλὰ διάφορα πρὸς τὸ
συναγαγεῖν, εἰ δυνατόν, ἅπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην βιβλία; F60 = Aristob. 13.2.1–2 Mras;
F61 = Clem. Al. strom. 1.22.148.1 Stählin-Früchtel; F62 = Tert. apol. 18.5 Dekkers; F63, Ios. c. Ap.
2.45–7; F64 = Synk. 517 Dindorf.
63 Athen. I 3A–B: […] καὶ Νικοκράτην τὸν Κύπριον ἔτι τοὺς Περγάμου βασιλέας Εὐρυπίδην τε τὸν
ποιητὴν Ἀριστοτέλην τε τὸν φιλόσοφον καὶ Θεόφραστον καὶ τὸν τὰ τούτων διατηρήσαντα βιβλία
Νηλέα· παρʼ οὗ πάντα, φησί, πριάμενος ὁ ἡμεδαπὸς βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος, Φιλάδελφος δὲ
ἐπίκλην, μετὰ τῶν Ἀϑήνηϑεν καὶ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ ῾Ρόδον εἰς τὴν καλὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν μετήγαγε.
Διόπερ ἐκεῖνα τῶν Ἀντιφάνους ἐρεῖ τις εἰς αὐτὸν· ἀεὶ δὲ πρὸς Μούσαισι καὶ λόγοις πάρει, | ὅπου
τι σοφίας ἔργον ἐξετάζεται. – ἀγλαίζεται δὲ καὶ | μουσικᾶς ἐν ἀώτως | οἷα παίζομεν φίλαν | ἄνδρες

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274 Theodoros Mavrojannis

xandria, as they should have been copied before they came into the possession of
Neleus, who fled to Skepsis in the Troad.64 The tradition hinting that the books of
Aristotle were brought to Alexandria by Demetrius Phalereus enhances the idea
which I have expressed, already before the study of S. Tracy, that the Library and
the Mouseion of Alexandria was in its costituent elements a new Lyceum. Apollo
Lykeios is the God who protects the Aristotelian Peripatos. However, we have
more suspicions that the cult of Apollo Lykeios of the Museum was in direct re-
lation to the Aspendia plateia because it rules over the Argeadai myth, the syn-
geneia with Argos. In other words, the Ptolemaic Lyceum should have also had a
political role and not a strictly scientific mission. We possess, therefore, the tes-
timony of Satyros,65 commented on by P. Fraser, which proves that there existed a

ἀμφὶ ϑαμὰ τράπεζαν; Strab. XIII 54: Ἐκ δὲ τῆς Σκήψεως […] καὶ ὁ τοῦ Κορίσκου υἱὸς Νηλεύς, ἀνὴρ
Ἀριστοτέλους ἠκροάμενος καὶ Θεοφράστου, διαδεγμένος δὲ τὴν βιβλιοϑήκην τοῦ Θεοφράστου,
ἐν ᾗ ἦν καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὁ γοῦν Ἀριστοτέλης τὴν ἑαυτοῦ Θεοφράστῳ παρέδωκεν, ᾧπερ
καὶ τὴν σχολὴν ἀπέλιπε, πρῳτος μὲν ἴσμεν συναγαγὼν καὶ διδάξας τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ βασιλέας
βιβλιοϑήκης σύνταξιν […] then becomes the interior contradiction about the fortune of the Books
of Neleus; Barnes 2004, 61–66; Tanner 2004, 79–91.
64 Strab. XIII 54: „Theophrastus bequeathed his library to Theophrastus and Neleus took it to
Skepsis and bequeathed it to hisheirs, common people who kept the books locked and not care-
fully stored. When they discovered the zeal of the Attalid kings […] they hid the books under the
ground in a kind of pit. Much later, when the books had been damaged by damp and moths, their
descendants sold them to Apellicon of Theos for a large amount of money, both the books of
Aristotle and those of Theophrast […] Immediately after the death of Apellicon, Sylla, who had
taken Athens, removed Apellikonʼs library to Rome and Tyrannio the grammarian, who loved
Aristotle, got it into his hands by cultivating the librarian, as did certain booksellers who em-
ployed poor copyists and did not colate the texts.“
65 For his date, PHercul. 558, before the age of Ptolemy VI Philometor (181–146 B. C.); FGrHist
631 F1 = Theophilus (bishop of Antioch, 168–181 A. D.), Ad Autolycum 2, 7: ἀλλὰ καὶ Σάτυρος,
ἱστορῶν τοὺς δήμους τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Φιλομήτορος τοῦ καὶ Πτολεμαίου
προσαγορευϑέντος, τούτου μηνύει Διόνυσον ἀρχηγέτην γεγονέναι· διὸ καὶ [τὴν Διονυσίαν, add.
Meineke, Anal. Alex. Pp. 345 ff.] ὁ Πτολεμαῖος πρώτην κατέστησεν. Λέγει οὖν ὁ Σάτυρος οὕτως.
„Διονύσου καὶ Ἀλϑαίας τῆς Θεστίου γεγενῆσϑαι Δηιάνειραν· τῆς δὲ καὶ Ἡρακλέους τοῦ Διὸς οἶμαι
Ὕλλον· τοῦ δὲ Κλεοδαίον· τοῦ δὲ Ἀριστομάχου· τοῦ δὲ Τήμενον· τοῦ δὲ Κεῖσον· τοῦ δὲ Μάρωνα·
τοῦ δὲ Θέστιον· τοῦ δὲ Ἀκοόν· τοῦ δὲ Ἀριστοδαμίδαν· τοῦ δὲ Κάρανον· τοῦ δὲ Κοῖνον· τοῦ δὲ
Τυρίμμαν· τοῦ δὲ Περδίκκαν, τοῦ δὲ Φίλιππον· τοῦ δὲ Ἀέροπον· τοῦ δὲ Ἀλκέταν· τοῦ δὲ
Ἀμύνταν τοῦ δὲ Βόκρον (?)· τοῦ δὲ Μελέαγρον· τοῦ δὲ Ἀρσινόην· τῆς δὲ καὶ Λάγου Πτολεμαῖον
τὸν καὶ Σωτῆρα· τοῦ δὲ Βερενίκης Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Φιλάδελφον· τοῦ δὲ καὶ Ἀρσινόης Πτολεμαῖον
τὸν Εὐεργέτην· τοῦ δὲ καὶ Βερενίκης τοῦ Μάγα τοῦ ἐν Κυρήνῃ βασιλεύσαντος Πτολεμαῖον τὸν
Φιλοπάτορα. ἡμὲν οὖν πρὸς Διόνυσον τοῖς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείαι βασιλεύσασι συγγένεια οὗτω περιέχ-
ει, ὅϑεν [καὶ τὰς προσωνυμίας ἔχουσιν οἱ κατʼ αὐτοὺς δῆμοι add jac.], καὶ ἐν τῇ Διονυσίαι φυλῆι
δῆμοι είσι κατακεχωρισμένοι [οἵδε]· Ἀλϑηὶς ἀπὸ τῆς γενομένης γυναικὸς Διονύσου, ϑυγατρὸς δὲ
Θεστίου, Ἀλϑαίας· Δηιανειρὶς ἀπὸ [Διηανείρας], τῆς ϑυγατρὸς Διονύσου καὶ Ἀλϑαίας, γυναικὸς δὲ
Ἡρακλέους […] οὗτοι γὰρ πάντες υἱοὶ Διονύσου; Fraser 1972 II, 120 and note 48; cf. Perdrizet 1910,

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 275

genealogy of the Ptolemies almost identical with that of the official line of the
Argeads as sustained by Philipp II and Alexander III, preserved by Theo-
pompus.66 Another genealogy regarded Alexander as a descendant of Dionysus
like the Ptolemies (Plut. de Alex. fort. I 10: τὰ Διονύσου μετιὼν ἴχνη, ϑεοῦ
γενάρχου καὶ προπάτορος). The divergence between the proper Argead genealogy
and the special Ptolemaic genealogy in Satyros occurs at Amyntas I (540–498 B.
C.), whose son in the Ptolemaic genealogy of Satyrus is Bocrus (?) who had as son
Meleager the father of Arsinoe, wife of Lagus and mother of Ptolemy I. In the
Macedonian line of Theopompus, Amyntas I was succedeed by his son Alexan-
der I, father of Perdikkas II (448–413 B. C.). The Ptolemies were Argeadai as well
as Alexander, since the papyrus version is interrupted at Aeropos who is a direct
descendant of Karanos –Temenos –Hyllos –Heracles –Dionysos. The fragment of
Satyros could have been in fact compared to the text of Papyrus Oxyrynchi 2465,
which contains a section of Satyrusʼ work and offers the possibility to check the
corresponding passage in Theophilus, Ad Autolycum, dealing with the Argead
descent of the Ptolemies. The only surprising novelty lies in the archegetes of the
Ptolemies, to be recognized in the papyrus on Argaeus67. This lacuna confirms the

217–247; 219 and n. 3 (un autre fragment, no 8 = Athen. VI p. 250 F); 220: „La ville neuve du Delta
aura été divisée et subdivisée sur le patron de la cité grecque par excellence, à lʼinstar dʼAthè-
nes“; HibehP I, no 28 (265 B. C.: 5 tribus, 12 dèmes chacune, chaque dème comprenant 12 fratries).
66 FGrHist 115 F 393 = Synk. P. 499, 5: οὗτος ὁ Κάρανος ἀπὸ μὲν Ἡρακλέους ια ἦν, απὸ δὲ
Τημένου τοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων Ἡρακλειδῶν κατελϑόντες εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἕβδομος·
γενεαλογοῦσι δʼ αὐτὸν οὕτως, ὥς φησιν ὁ Διόδωρος <καὶ> οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν συγγραφέων, ὧν εἷς
καὶ Θεόπομπος. Κάρανος Φείδωνος τοῦ Ἀριστοδαμίδα τοῦ Μέρπος τοῦ Θεστίου τοῦ Κισσίου
τοῦ Τημένου τοῦ Ἀριστομάχου του Κλεοδάτους [i. e. Κλεοδαίου] τοῦ Ὕλλου τοῦ Ἡρακλέους;
Fraser II, 123 and not 62; cf. Momigliano 1975, 425–433; OGIS 54, ll. 5–6 (for Ptolemy Euerghe-
tes III): ἀπὸγονος τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ πατρὸς Ἡρακλέους τοῦ Διός, τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ μητρὸς Διονύσου τοῦ Διός;
on the great pompé of 279/8 B.C. cfr. Athen. V 198C; cf. Coarelli 1990; Athen. V 204–205E: τὸ δʼ
ἔγκωπον ἅπαν μέχρι τῆς τρόπεως κισσίνην φυλλάδα καὶ ϑύρσους εἶχε πέριξ […] προάγοντι δὲ ἐπὶ
τὴν πρῷραν οἶκος ὑπέκειτο βακχικὸς […] ἵδρυτο δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς τῶν βασιλέων συγγενείας
ἀγάλματα εἰκονικὰ λίϑου λιχνέως; Ogden 2013, 184–185; Curt. X 8, 22: Praecipue Ptolomaeus
[…] Sanguine coniuncttus erat, et quidam Philippo genium esse credebant; certe pelice eius ortum
constabat; Paus. I 6, 2; Πτολεμαῖον Μακεδόνες Φιλίππου παῖδα εἶναι τοῦ Ἀμύντου, λόγω δὲ
Λάγου νομίζουσι· τὴν γὰρ οἱ μητέρα ἔχουσαν ἐν γαστρὶ δοϑῆναι γυναῖκα ὑπὸ Φιλίππου Λάγῳ;
cf. Paus. I 6, 8; Gehrke 1982, 270 and note 67.
67 Turner, Oxy. 2465, Fr. i Col. ii: l. 3–7: γένους ἀρχηγέτην [ διὰ τὴν ] | ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτο[ῖς συγγέ]
| νειαν· καὶ ἀπὸ τούτ[ου μετ-] |ωνόμασεν τὴν λεγ[ομένην; ll. 19–24: Κ[άρα]νον Καράνου δὲ καὶ Λαν
[ | [Κοι]νὸν Κοινοῦ δὲ Τυρίμμαν [Τυ-] | ρίμμα δὲ καὶ Κλεονίκης Πε[ρδίκκαν] | Π[ερδ]ίκκου δὲ καὶ
Κλεοπάτρας [Ἀργαῖον] | Ἀργαίου δὲ καὶ Προϑόης Φίλιππ[ον Φι]λίππου δὲ καὶ Νικοϑόης Ἀέροπ[ον;
„from Caranus and Lan [ ] Coenus, from Coenus Tyrimmas, from Tyrimmas and Cleonice Perdic-
cas, from Perdiccas and Cleopatra Argaeus, from Argaeus and Prothoe Philippus, from Philippus
and Niconoe Aeropus […].“

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276 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Argead ideology of the Ptolemies for it has a major counter parallel in Alexandria.
The name of Argaeus is omitted in the list of Satyrus – Theophilus, but it is plainly
restituted in the list of Papyrus Oxyrynchi No 2465. This would be a detail without
significance, if we did not have Stephanus Byzantiusʼ opinion confirming that the
very ancestor of the Ptolemies was Argeios, „by whom descended the Argeads of
Macedon“.68 Thus, once again we can translate the ideology in the topographical
terrain of Alexandria. First of all, we gain the inherent significance of the river
Argeios in the description of the foundation of Alexandria by Pseudo-Callisthe-
nes. This is the proper name for the ancestor of the Ptolemies, who would have
connotated the urban space, such as the Argives of Aspendos and Rhodos. We
would expect it to fit with a major stream –river –channel, to be most probably
identified with R1, where the heroon for Argeios – the Argeion – would have found
its place. But it is mainly because of the link established between Argos and
Apollo Lykeios that we get the certainty that the system of Argive descendancy
was primarily elaborated in the Mouseion of Alexandria, as the founding myth
of Ptolemaic Alexandria, which might have received an interpretation to the
initial topographical program carried out by Ptolemy I. Ausfeld did not hesitate to
consider the reading Argaios as prior of Argeios. We have dated the system Ar-
gos –Apollo Lykeios in the years 301–298 B. C. and this is perfectly in line with the
date of the arrival of Demetrius of Phaleron in Alexandria, in 303–302 B. C. The
early history and the ideological preambles which presuppose the foundation of
the Mouseion are now lost. Nevertheless, we believe to have reconstructed some
ties of the political ideology displayed by Ptolemy I towards the Greeks, on the
grounds of the political content of the Mouseion, created as a Hellenic-Macedo-
nian historianʼs institute of learning which could not have excluded the political
identity of Apollo Lykeios of Argos. It is difficult, therefore, not to remark that
there was only one King to have been an Argead and at the same time King of
Egypt: Danaos of Argos, who may have constituted the ideological face of Ptole-
my I towards the Greeks since 305/304 B. C.

68 Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἀργέου [νῆσος], νῆσος μικρὰ πρὸς τῷ Κανώβῳ Αἰγυπτία. ἀπὸ Ἀργέου τοῦ
Μακεδόνος, ἀφʼ οὗ Ἀργεάδαι. Οἰ οἰκήτορες Ἀργεῶται, ὡς τῆς Νικίου καὶ τῆς Χαιρέου Χαιρεῶται.
Καὶ αὗται γὰρ Αἰγύπτου πόλεις; Ausfeld 1900, 370: „Stephanus leitet den Namen von Argaios,
dem Ahnherrn des makedonischen Königshauses, her, dem vielleicht das hier erwähnte Heilig-
tum geweiht war. Argaios und Argaion sind jedenfalls die älteren Namensformen für Fluss und
Tempel.“

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 277

Fig. 1: Reconstruction of the monumental center of Ptolemaic Alexandria, according to Th. Mav-
rojannis (adaptation from Adriani 1966)

Fig. 2: The Monumental Center of Ptolemaic Alexandria, according to Th. Mavrojannis (adapta-
tion on the plan from Adriani 1934)

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278 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Fig. 3: The geometric center of the ground plan of Ptolemaic Alexandria: The plan was inscribed in
a circle, according to Th. Mavrojannis

Fig. 4: The oikoumene according to Eratosthenes. The same longitude passed over Rhodos – the
geometric center of Alexandria – Syene

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 279

Fig. 5: Ground plan of Kom el-Dikka (from Majcherek 2007).

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280 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Fig. 6: Kom el-Dikka. Auditoriua complex, southern part (from Majcherek 2007)

Fig. 7: Kom el-Dikka. Auditoria complex, northern part (from Majcherek 2007)

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 The Monumental Center of Ancient Alexandria 281

Fig. 8: Ground plan of Kom el-Dikka (from G. Majcherek, Alexandria. Current Research).

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282 Theodoros Mavrojannis

Fig. 9: Alexandria; intersecting of the ancient grid to the modern ground plan
Canobian Street = L 1
1) dromos of Sarapis = R 8
2) plateia of Agora = R 5
Agora = R 5 – R 4
3) Chuleras – Aspendia plateia = R 4
4) Channel of Tychaion = R 3
Channel Mouseion and Tychaion = R4 – R3
Royal Necropolis = R 3 – R 2
5) River Kopronikos = R 2
6) Channel-river Neferotes = R2 – R1
Gymnasion = R 2 – R 1
7) River Argeios = R 1
8) Channel of Areios = R 2bis
9) Channel of Canopus at Zephyrion R 3bis
10) River of Herakleion = R 4bis
The numbers indicate the sequence of dromos – channel – rivers according to Pseud.-Call. I 31, 4.
Each dromos-channel correspond to a vertical street (R) of the ancient grid as labelled by A.
Adriani.

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