Show Notes
The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient world’s foremost centres of knowledge and culture. But when was it built? And where did all the books come from?
Tristan Hughes speaks to Dr. Islam Issa about the story behind one of histories greatest libraries. Together they explore why Alexandria’s reigning dynasty - the Ptolemies - were so obsessed with acquiring knowledge and uncover whether it really did burn down in a great fire.
MORE The Lighthouse of Alexandria Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify
Ptolemy I: The First Greek Pharaoh Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify
We're going on *TOUR* to Australia and New Zealand! - grab your tickets here.
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Ancients
Why did Emperor Constantine abandon Rome to build a spectacular new capital from scratch? In the year 312 a bloody civil war and a miraculous heavenly vision changed the Roman world forever.
It's one of history’s most compelling cold cases. What happened to the Ninth Legion, a crack unit of 5,000 Roman soldiers who vanished from the historical record without a trace?
Two thousand years ago, centuries before the Vikings, there was another Scandinavia. An Iron Age world.
Before Boudicca, another British leader brought the Roman war machine to a grinding halt. Meet Caratacus; the cunning King of the Britons who spent seven years outmaneuvering the empire. Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Miles Russell to uncover the forgotten story of this charismatic guerrilla fighter. From leading fierce resistance in Wales to his betrayal, capture, and a life-saving speech in Rome, Caratacus was Britain’s ultimate escape artist.
The frozen continent of Antarctica was once a land of forests, rivers and thriving ecosystems. And millions of years before humans ever existed it was home to a whole host of ancient creatures, from the first sharks to the earliest marsupials.