lves worshipped
as children of the Sun. But they surrounded themselves with Greeks
and founded their capital on the edge of the sea in a Greek city,
Alexandria, a new city established by the order of Alexander.

Built on a simple plan, Alexandria was more regular than other Greek
cities. The streets intersected at right angles; a great highway 100
feet broad and three and one-half miles in length traversed the whole
length of the city. It was bordered with great monuments--the Stadium
where the public games were presented, the Gymnasium, the Museum, and
the Arsineum. The harbor was enclosed with a dike nearly a mile long
which united the mainland to the island of Pharos. At the very
extremity of this island a tower of marble was erected, on the summit
of which was maintained a fire always burning to guide the mariners
who wished to enter the port. Alexandria superseded the Phoenician
cities and became the great port of the entire world.

=The Museum.=--The Museum was an immense edifice of marble connected
with the royal palace. The kings of Egypt purposed to make of it a
great scientific institution.

The Museum contained a great library.[99] The chief librarian had a
commission to buy all the books that he could find. Every book that
entered Egypt was brought to the library; copyists transcribed the
manuscript and a copy was rendered the owner to indemnify him. Thus
they collected 400,000 volumes, an unheard-of number before the
invention of printing. Until then the manuscripts of celebrated books
were scarce, always in danger of being lost; now it was known where to
find them. In the Museum were also a botanical and zooelogical garden,
an astronomical observatory, a dissecting room established
notwithstanding the prejudices of the Egyptians, and even a chemical
laboratory.[100]

The Museum provided lodgings for scholars, mathematicians,
astronomers, physicians, and grammarians. They were supported at the
expense of the state; often to show his esteem for them the king dined
with them. These scholars held conferences and gave lectures. Auditors
came from all parts of the Greek world; it was to Alexandria that the
youth were sent for instruction. In the city were nearly 14,000
students.

The Museum was at once a library, an academy, and a school--something
like a university. This sort of institution, common enough among us,
was before that time completely unheard of. Alexandria, thanks to its
Museum, became the r