or Tacitus caused the historical
writings of his illustrious namesake to be deposited in the libraries.
The number of calcined volumes which have been excavated from the ruins
of Herculaneum and Pompeii would also seem to indicate that collections
of books were common in those cities. But the irruptions of the
barbarians, who overran and desolated the Western Empire, proved more
destructive to the interests of literature than either volcanoes or
earthquakes, and soon caused the disappearance of those libraries which,
during several centuries, had been multiplied in Italy. Those of the
East, however, escaped this devastating torrent; and both Alexandria and
Constantinople preserved their literary treasures, until their capture
by the Saracens and the Turks, who finally subverted the Eastern Empire.

When Constantine the Great made Byzantium the seat of his empire, he
decorated that city with splendid edifices, and called it after his own
name. Desirous to make reparation to the Christians for the injuries
they had suffered during the reign of his predecessor, he commanded the
most diligent search to be made after those books which Diocletian had
doomed to destruction; he caused transcripts to be made of such as had
escaped the fury of the pagan persecutor; and, having collected others
from various quarters, he formed the whole into a library at
Constantinople. At the death of Constantine, however, the number of
books in the imperial library was only 6900; but it was successively
enlarged by the Emperors Julian and Theodosius the younger, who
augmented it to 120,000 volumes. Of these more than half were burned
during the seventh century, by command of the Emperor Leo III., who thus
sought to destroy all the monuments that might be quoted in proof
respecting his opposition to the worship of images. In this library was
deposited the only authentic copy of the proceedings at the Council at
Nice; and it is also said to have contained the poems of Homer written
in gold letters, together with a magnificent copy of the Four Gospels,
bound in plates of gold, enriched with precious stones, all of which
perished in the conflagration. The convulsions which distracted the
lower empire were by no means favorable to the interests of literature.
In the eleventh century learning flourished for a short time during the
reign of Constantine Porphyrogennetus; and this emperor is said to have
employed many learned Greeks in collecting books, a