ALE 



ALE 



tifiil harbour formed by the Ifle of Pharos, about 1 2 miles weft 

 of the Canopic branch of the Nile, in N. lat. 31^ 10'. and 

 E. long. ^0° 19'. It is probable, fays a popular liiftorian, that 

 theoppofition andefTorto of the republic of Tyre, which gave 

 Alexander fo long and fo fevere a check in the career of his 

 viftories, led him to perceive the vaft rtfources of a mari- 

 time power, and fuggefted to him an idea of the immenfe 

 wealih which the Tyrians derived from their commerce, ef- 

 pecially that with the Eafl Indies. As foon, therefore, as 

 he had accomplifhed the dellruiStion of Tyre, and rednced 

 Egypt to fubjeftion, he formed the plan of rendering the em- 

 pire, which he defigned to eilablifli, the centre of commerce 

 as well as the feat of dominion. With this view he founded 

 a great city, which he honoured with his own name, near 

 one of the mouths of the river Nile, that by the Mediterra- 

 nean fea andtbe vicinity of the Arabian gulf, it might com- 

 mand the trade ot both the eaft and weft. He had no fooner 

 conceived the defign than he haftened to execute it. Ac- 

 cordingly he himfelf drew the plan of the intended city, and 

 fixed upon leveral places where the temples and public 

 fquares were to be ercfted. It is faid, that as there were no 

 inftruments at hand proper for this purpofe, a quantity of 

 meal was fcattered over the ground, and that thus the circuit 

 of the walls was marked out : and it is added that Ariitan- 

 der, the king's foothfayer, interpreted this new mode of de- 

 termining the Cte of the walls as a prefage of the abundance 

 .which would diftinguidi the city. The fituation of Alexan- 

 dria, it muft be allowed, was felefted with fueh difcernment, 

 that it foon became the chief commercial city in the world ; 

 and in this refpetl; the defign of its founder was fully accom- 

 .pliflied. Dtu^ing the fubfillence of the Grecian empii-e in 

 .Egypt and in the eaft, and amldft all the fucceflive revolu- 

 tions in thofe countries, through a period of about 1800 

 .years, from the time of the Ptolemies tothedifcovery of the 

 , navigation by the Cape of Good Hope, commerce, particu- 

 .larly that of the Eaft Indies, continued to flow in the chan- 

 . nel, which the fagacity and foreiight of Alexander had pre- 

 fcribed. Although fome part of the Indian commerce was 

 conducted by means of the river Oxus and the city of Sa- 

 Tnareand into the Cafpian fea, and thence by land to Trape- 

 .zond, and pafling to the Euxineand other neighbouring feas, 

 .centered in the city of Corinth; yet a confiderable part of it, 

 efpecially fuch as was carried on at the coaft of Malabar 

 and in the Perfian gulf, came up the Red Sea; and goods 

 which were landed at Elam, now Suez, were conveyed over 

 land to the Nile, and then by water to Alexandria. 



This city, fays a modern traveller, was a league and a half 

 long by one-third in breadth, which made tho circumference 

 ■ of its walls about four leagues. QiiintusCurtius (lib.iv. c. 8. 

 torn. i. p. 221.) makes them 80 ftadia, or a little more than 

 nine miles. According to Phny (H. N. lib. v. c. 10. torn. i. 

 p. 258.) they were 15 miles. Strabo (lib. xvii. torn. ii. 

 p. 1143.) makes the length of the city 30 ftadia, and the 

 breadth between feven and eight ftadia ; and Diodorus Siculus 

 (lib. xvii. torn. ii.p. 590. Ed.Wcfrel.)makes the circuit96ftadia, 

 or fomewhat more than 1 1 miles ; and he fays, that the city 

 ■was peopled by 300,000 free iuliabitants, befides at leaft an 

 equal number of flaves. The Lake Mareotis bathed its walls 



• on the fouth, and the MediteiTanean on the north. It was 

 interfefted lengthwife by ftraight parallel ftreets. This di- 

 reftion left a free pafTage to the northerly wind, wliich alone 



• <!onvcys coolnefs and falubrity info Egypt. A ftreet two 

 thoufand feet wide began at the gate of the fea, ajid termi- 



. nated at the gate of Canopus. It was decorated by magnifi- 

 cent houfes, by temples, and by pubhc buildings. In this 

 •extenfive range the eye was never tired with admiring the 

 marble, the porphyry, and the obeliUcs, which were dellined 



at fome future day to cmbellifli Rome and Conflaiitinoplc. 

 This ftreet, the handfomeft in the univtrfe, was interfered 

 by another of the fame breadth, which formed a fquarc, at 

 their junftion, half a league in circumference. From the 

 middle of this great place the two gates were to be fcen at 

 once, and vcfTels arriving under full fall from the north and 

 from the fouth. A mole of a mile in length, called Hepta 

 Sladium, ftretched from the continent to tlie Ifle of Pliaros, 

 and divided the great harbour into two. That which is to the 

 nortlnvard prefei-ved thename of thefounder,andwascalltd the 

 GrcatPort. Adyke,drawn fromlhe iQand tothe rock onwhich 

 Pharos was built, fecurcd it from the wefterly winds. The 

 other was called Eunqflos, or the Safe Return. The former 

 is called at prefent the New, and is the port to which the 

 veftels of Europe refort; thelatter is the Old Harbour, and is 

 that to which thofe only fromTurkey are admitted: a bridge 

 that joins the mole to the city ferved for a conununication 

 between them. It was raifed on lofty pillars funk into the 

 fea, and left a free paffage for the ftiips. The palace, which 

 advanced beyond the promontory of Lochias, extended as far 

 as the dyke, and occupied more than a quarter (a third or 

 fourth, lays Strabo), of the city. Each of the Ptolemies 

 added to its magnificence. It contained within its inclofure 

 the mufeum, an afylum for learned men, groves and build- 

 ings worthy of royal majefty, and a temple where the body 

 of Alexander was depofited in a golden coffin. Perdiccas, 

 it is faid, undertook to convey the body of Alexander to the, 

 temple of Jupiter Ammon, agreeably to the will of that 

 prince ; but Ptolemy, fon of Lagus, carried it off, and 

 placed it in the palace of Alexandria. The infam.ous Seleu- 

 cus Cibyofaftes violated this monument, carried off the golden 

 coffin, and put a glafs one in its .place. In the great h.ar- 

 bour was the little ifland of Anti-Rhodes, where ftood a 

 theatre and a royal place of refidence. Within the harbour 

 ot Eunoftus was a fmaller one, called Kibotos, or Cibo- 

 tus, 'iq. d. the harbour of the arch, dug by the hand of 

 m.an, which communicated with the Lake Mareotis by a 

 canal. Between this canal and the palace was the admira- 

 ble temple of Serapis, and that of Neptune, near the great 

 place where the market was held. Alexandria extended like- 

 wife along the fouthern banks of the lake. Its eaftern part 

 prefented to view the Gymnafium, with its porticoes more 

 than 600 feet long, fupported by feveral rows of marble 

 plUarj. Without the gate of Canopus was a Ipacious circus 

 for the chariot races. Beyond that the fuburli of Nicopohs 

 ran along the fea (hore, and feemed a fccond Alexandria. A 

 fuperb amphitheatre was built there, with a race-ground, for 

 the celebration of the Qumquennalia, or feafts that were 

 celebrated every fifth year. Such is the defcription, fays Sa- 

 vary, (Letters on Egypt, vol. i. p. 29.) left us of Alexan- 

 dria by the ancients, and above all by Strabo. 



This famous city, fecond only to Rome itfelf, was built 

 by Dinocratcs, a celebrated architect, who acquired great re- 

 putation by rebuilding the temple of Diana at Ephtfus, 

 which Heroftratus had burnt. 



Alexandria owed much of its celebrity as well as of its 

 population to the Ptolemies. Ptolemy Soter, one of Alexan- 

 der's captains, who, after the death of this monarch, was 

 firft governor of Egypt, and afterwards afTumed the title of 

 king, made this city the place of his refidence, about 304 

 years before Chrift. This prince founded an academy, 

 called theMus.EUM, in which a fociety of learned men de- 

 voted themfelves to philofophlcal ftudies, and the improve- 

 ment of all the other fciences ; and he alfo gave them a li- 

 brary, which was prodigioufly increafed by his fuccefibrs. 

 He likewife induced the merchaius of Syria and Greece to 

 rcfide in tl)us,cify,.and to make it a. principal niait of their 



commerce. 



