ps contemptuous
comparisons were instituted between the philosophical lectures of
Hypatia and the incomprehensible sermons of Cyril. But if the archbishop
had not philosophy, he had what on such occasions is more
valuable--power. It was not to be borne that a heathen sorceress should
thus divide such a metropolis with a prelate; it was not to be borne
that the rich, and noble, and young should thus be carried off by the
black arts of a diabolical enchantress. Alexandria was too fair a prize
to be lightly surrendered. It could vie with Constantinople itself. Into
its streets, from the yellow sand-hills of the desert, long trains of
camels and countless boats brought the abundant harvests of the Nile. A
ship-canal connected the harbour of Eunostos with Lake Mareotis. The
harbour was a forest of masts. Seaward, looking over the blue
Mediterranean, was the great lighthouse, the Pharos, counted as one of
the wonders of the world; and to protect the shipping from the north
wind there was a mole three quarters of a mile in length, with its
drawbridges, a marvel of the skill of the Macedonian engineers. Two
great streets crossed each other at right angles--one was three, the
other one mile long. In the square where they intersected stood the
mausoleum in which rested the body of Alexander. The city was full of
noble edifices--the palace, the exchange, the Caesareum, the halls of
justice. Among the temples, those of Pan and Neptune were conspicuous.
The visitor passed countless theatres, churches, temples, synagogues.
There was a time before Theophilus when the Serapion might have been
approached on one side by a slope for carriages, on the other by a
flight of a hundred marble steps. On these stood the grand portico with
its columns, its chequered corridor leading round a roofless hall, the
adjoining porches of which contained the library, and from the midst of
its area arose a lofty pillar visible afar off at sea. On one side of
the town were the royal docks, on the other the Hippodrome, and on
appropriate sites the Necropolis, the market-places, the gymnasium, its
stoa being a stadium long; the amphitheatre, groves, gardens, fountains,
obelisks, and countless public buildings with gilded roofs glittering in
the sun. Here might be seen the wealthy Christian ladies walking in the
streets, their dresses embroidered with Scripture parables, the Gospels
hanging from their necks by a golden chain, Maltese dogs with jewelled
collars