Alexandria: City of the Western Mind

by Theodore Vrettos

Alexandria was the greatest cultural capital of the ancient world. Accomplished classicist and author Theodore Vrettos now tells its story for the first time in a single volume. His enchanting blend of literary and scholarly qualities makes stories that played out among architectural wonders of the ancient world come alive. His fascinating central contention that this amazing metropolis created the western mind can now take its place in cultural history.Vrettos describes how and why the brilliant minds of the ages -- Greek scholars, Roman emperors, Jewish leaders, and fathers of the Christian Church -- all traveled to the shining port city Alexander the Great founded in 332 B.C. at the mouth of the mighty Nile. There they enjoyed learning from an extraordinary population of peaceful citizens whose rich intellectual life would quietly build the science, art, faith, and even politics of western civilization. No one has previously argued that, unlike the renowned military centers of the Mediterranean such as Rome, Carthage, and Sparta, Alexandria was a city of the mind. In a brief section on the great conqueror and founder Alexander, we learn that he himself was a student of Aristotle. In Part Two of his majestic story, Vrettos shows that in the sciences the city witnessed an Aristarchus virtually invented modern astronomy; Euclid wrote the elements of geometry and founded mathematics; amazingly, Eratosthenes precisely figured the circumference of the earth; and 2,500 years before Freud, the renowned Alexandrian physician Erasistratus identified a mysterious connection between sexual problems and nervous breakdowns. What could so cerebral a community care about geopolitics? As Vrettos explains in the third part of this epic saga, if Rome wanted power and prestige in the Mediterranean, the emperors had to secure the good will of the ruling class in Alexandria. Julius Caesar brought down the Roman Republic, and then almost immediately had to go to Alexandria to secure his power base. So begins a wonderfully told story of political intrigue that doesn't end until the Battle of Actium in 33 B.C. when Augustus Caesar defeated the first power couple, Anthony and Cleopatra.The fourth part of Alexandria focuses on the sphere of religion, and for Vrettos its center is the famous Alexandrian Library. The chief librarian commissioned the Septuagint, the oldest Greek version of the Old Testament, which was completed by Jewish intellectuals. Local church fathers Clement and Origen were key players in the development of Christianity; and the Coptic religion, with its emphasis on personal knowledge of God, flourished.Vrettos has blended compelling stories with astute historical insight. Having read all the ancient sources in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Latin himself, he has an expert's knowledge of the everyday reality of his characters and setting. No reader will ever forget walking with him down this lost city's beautiful, dazzling streets.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Egypt, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2001

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get very far with this book for a reason that you might think is very silly.

On Page 4, the book states that a major thoroughfare of ancient Alexandria, Canopic Way, had a width of 100 feet, a distance called a plethron. On Page 7, the book states that Canopic Way was more than a 100 feet wide. In other words, Canopic Way has widened in three pages.

A historical book provides lots of facts, but these have to be consistent, and if a book can't be consistent about the width of a street, then my mind wonders what else is inaccurate? A decent editor would have caught such an inconsistency and corrected it, another source of concern.

[Faith Justice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm in research mode for a blog post and decided to skim read this reference book I've had on my shelf for a couple of years (bought it after my novel was done.) This is a modern book written by a scholar who read the original sources in Hebrew, Greek and Latin (I don't read ancient languages, so depend on secondary sources.) I opened the book and the first map of Alexandria is wrong (shows the Gate of the Sun and the Gate of Moon on the Soma Avenue rather than the Canopic.) In the first chapter he says, "In 38 B.C., during the tumultuous reign of Caligula..." (He meant A.D. 38) Later he says Anthony and Cleopatra had two children, then talks about all three.

These are just the errors I caught skimming. These seem to be small mistakes, but, even though most of the rest of the material looks accurate, I've completely lost faith in this author.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

While reading this book it occurred to me that it's important to execute monarchs every now and then. Not to prevent them from getting ideas per se but to encourage the right sorts of ideas. That doesn't have much to do with the book but apparently Cleopatra and Mark Antony presented themselves to the public as the gods Isis and Dionysus during the civil war with Octavius and the thought of using religion as a tool of social control or to legitimize secular power really gets my hackles up. Or maybe royalty just needs to be reminded of their mortality every now and then. But I digress.

The book was interesting. The first part talks about scientific accomplishments of antiquity in Alexandria, the second part talks about Julius Caesar's ascendancy and the Roman civil war between Octavius and Mark Antony and how Cleopatra (from her capital in Alexandria) engaged in the war and the third part deals with the city's involvement in the religious sphere.

Overall, I'm not convinced that Alexandria was the center of the universe like this book alleges by any stretch of the imagination but it was certainly fascinating to read. Especially the parts about scientific inquiry in antiquity (always enjoy learning about how smart our forebears were) and the details of the war between Mark Antony and Octavius.

[Luís Branco · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an awesome book about an amazing city. I truly enjoyed this book and recommend it to those interested in history.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a short outline of the learning center of Alexandria and other places of the ancient world. I like to read about events on the ground of a historical era but really I prefer intellectual history I want to get into the heads and mindsets of people from other times and places that interests me more sometimes than events in the external world.

[Chiggins1066 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible history of Alexandria, and a pleasant read. Not intended for an academic audience, but nevertheless, not dumbed-down either. The chapters on Antony and Cleopatra are especially exciting. Other highlights include brief biographies of Alexandria's prominent scholars, and a detailed history of the Pharos (lighthouse).

Vrettos has a nice, lucid, prose style, and the chapters are never convoluted or boring.

My only complaint would be that more maps are needed, especially of Greece. I found myself digging into other books to find the locations of some of the cities and provinces Vrettos mentions. Perhaps this will be corrected in a future edition.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, especially the last section. Alexandria was one of the three greatest cities (along with Rome & Athens) in the western world for over seven centuries, and definitely the center for learning, trade, and philosophy, between 300BC to 400AD. I had only a vague awareness of it previously, but was inspired to read this book by a friends visit to Egypt this past month. The author is both an astute classicist and an excellent storyteller. This guy knows how to write compelling history.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very helpful book, but irritating for the same reason. Vrettos has accumulated a broad compendium of interesting topics, all loosely related to the ancient city of Alexandria, but then just laid them out like a string of pearls. The order of presentation is roughly chronological, but each topic is a jumble of paragraphs, with little narrative arc or defined chronology. The most compelling section was about Cleopatra, but here, he does not go nearly as deep into her life and times as other sources I've read.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book with a novice interest in Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Period, I found so much more in this book. I never realized the importance of this city in Greek and Roman scholars, as well as economic, religious cultural, and historical importance to the Western World. So much in just 200 pages.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, broad view of Alexandria!

[Sherif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has wealth of information on the history of the city and the famous people who lived in it.

[Oneirae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but at the same time it was a disappointment. It did cover many of the great minds of Alexandria, but not in chronological order or in any type of order, so the jumping around was a bit confusing. The next part, seemingly about its rulers, was a detailed account of Antony & Cleopatra. Interesting in itself, though I fail to see why the writer skipped over 200 years of Ptolemaic rulers. The following part covered a few Neoplatonists and religious leaders, though again disjointed without any sense of order. There is a complete lack of history books that do this era any justice. You can read about Alexander and Cleopatra, though you will have a hard time finding much in between.

[Dan Beliveau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not long into the book, I realized that this author was writing in a non-linear fashion and really discussing the people that made the city. While I get the approach, his timeline is constantly moving and it makes it hard to get a good picture of the city as it was.
His section on the library was all about people who had collected works - not about how it was built, how it came about or chronologically who the caretakers were and then what they brought in.
I'm disappointed. I'll finish by skimming unless I lose total interest.

[Leif Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken in it's discrete parts it's a really good history of Alexandria and the people & events that shaped it. However Vrettos' narrative jumps all over the place and isn't particularly woven together in a coherent fashion. Essentially a bunch of well-told stories and histories that are kind of out onto the page. Worth reading if you're into the subject, but not a good entry level book.

[Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and compelling history of Alexandria.