ALE 



•f com brought from Alexandria ; and lie employed the 

 Alexandrian fleet in viftualling New Rome, as it was called, 

 leaving to Old Rome only that of Africa. Socrat. ii. 13. 

 Alexandria fniTered in common with otlier places by the vio- 

 lent and deilr«aive earthquak... which fhook the grcateil part 

 of the Roman empire, July 2 ill, A. D. 365 ; and this city 

 ann\ially commemorated this fatal day when 50,000 perfons 

 had loft their hvcs in the inundation. 



It was in Alexandria chiefly that the Grecian philofophy 

 vas entjr.ifted upon the (lock of ancient oriental wifdom. 

 The Egyptian method of teaching by allcgor>- was pecuharly 

 favourable to fucli an union : and we may well fuppofe that 

 when Alexander, in order to prefer^t by the arts of peace 

 that extenlive empire, which he had obtained bv the force of 

 arms, endeavoured to incorporate the cuftoms of the Greeks 

 with thofe of the Perfian, Indian, and other eaftcrn nations, 

 the opinions as well as the manners of this feeble and obfe- 

 (|uious race would, in a great mcafuie, be accommodated to 

 thole of their conquerors. This influence of the Grecian 

 upon the oriental philofophy continued long after the time 

 ot Alexander, and was one principal occafion of the confulion 

 of opinions which occurs in the hiitory of the Alexandrian 

 and ChritHan fchools. Alexander, when he built the city 

 of Alexandria, witli a determination to make it the feat of his 

 empire, and peopled it with emigrants from various countries, 

 opened a new mart of philofophy, which emulated the fame 

 of Athens itfelf. A general indulgence was granted to the 

 promifcuous crowd arfembled in this riling city, whether 

 Egyptians, Grecians, Jews, or others, to profeis their re- 

 fpeftive fyllems of philofophy without moleifation. The 

 confequencc was, that Egypt was foon filled with religious 

 and philofophieal fedaries of every kind ; and particularly, 

 that almoft evei-y Grecian feft found an advocate and pro- 

 felTor in Alexandria. The family of the Ptolemies, as we 

 have feen, who after Alexander obtained the government of 

 Egypt, from motives of policy, encouraged this new eftab- 

 litnment. Ptolemy Lagus, who had obtained the crown of 

 Egypt by nfurpation, was particularly careful to fecure the 

 interell of the Greeks in his favour, and with this view in- 

 vited people from every part of Greece to fettle in Egypt, 

 and removed the fchools of Athens to Alexandria. This en- 

 lightened prince fpared no pains to raife the literary, as well 

 as the civil, military, and commercial credit of his country. 

 Under the patronage firll of the Egj-ptian princes, and after- 

 wards of the Roman emperors, Alexandria long continued to 

 enjoy great celebrity as the feat of learning, and to fend 

 forth eminent philofophers of every fed to diftant countries. 

 It remained a fchool of learning, as well as a commercial em- 

 porium, till it was taken, as we fhall fee in the fequel of this 

 article, and plundered of its literary treafures by the Sara- 

 cens. Philofophy, during this period, fuffered a grievous 

 corruption from the attempt which was made by philofophers 

 of different feds and countries, Grecian, Egyptian, and 

 Oriental, who were aflcmbled in Alexandria, to frame, from 

 their different tenets, one general fyftem of opinions. The 

 refped which had long been univcrfally paid to the fchools 

 of Greece, and the honours with wliich they were now 

 adorned by the Egyptian princes, induced other wife men, 

 and even the Egyptian prielts and pliilofophers themfelves to 

 fubmit to this innovation. Hence arofe an heterogeneous 

 mafs of opinions, under the name of the "Ec^zctic philofophy, 

 and which has been the foundation of endlefs confufion, er- 

 ror and abfurdity, not only in the Alexandrian fchool, but 

 among Jews and Chrillians ; producing among the former 

 that fpecious kind of philofophy, which they called their 

 Cabbala, and among the latter innumerable coiTuptionsof 

 the Cbriilian faith. The Akxandiiun fchool 13 celebrated 



ALE 



by Strabo (lib. xvii.)andby Ammianus (xxli. 6.) Brucket's 

 Hiftory of Philofophy, by Enfield, vol. i. p. 500. 



At Alexandria there was, in a very early period of the 

 Chriftian xra,a Chriftian fchool of confiderable eminence. St. 

 Jerom fays,tlie fchool at Alexandria hadbeen in being from the 

 time of St. Mark. Pantinus, placed by Lardnerat the year 

 192, prefided in it. St. Clement of Alexandria fucceeded 

 Pantasnus in this fchool about the year 190; and he was fuc- 

 ceeded by Origen. Lardner's Works, vol. ii. p. 203. As 

 the extenfive commerce of Alexandria, and its proximity to 

 Paleftine, gave an eafy entrance to the new religion, it was 

 at the fchool of this city that the Chriftian theology appear* 

 to have aft'umed a regular and oriental form : and when 

 Adrian vifited Egypt, he found a church compofed of 

 Jews and Greeks, lufficiently important to attraft the notice 

 of that inquifitive prince. The theological fyftem of Plato was 

 introduced into both the philofophieal and Chriftian fchool* 

 of Alexandria ; and of courfe many of his fentiments and 

 expreffions Were blended with the opinions and language of the 

 profeflors and teachers of Chriftianity. See Platosism. 



The city of Alexandria, which had maintained its repu- 

 tation for power and wealth, as well as for literature and ici- 

 enco, for nearly 1000 years, and which had been luccefllvely 

 held in fubjection by the Ptolemies, the Romans, and the 

 Greek emperors, was at length captured by the Saracens, 

 and in procefs of time totally ruined. In the year 638, 

 Amrou, the general of Omar, invaded Egypt ; and in the 

 following year he commenced the fiege of Alexandria. This 

 fiege is perhaps the moll arduous and important enterprife in 

 the annals of Saracen conquefts. The firft trading city in 

 the world was abundantly repleniflied with the means of fub- 

 fiftence and defence. Her numerous inhabitants fought for 

 the deareft of human rights, religion and property ; and the 

 enmity of the natives leemed to exclude them from the be- 

 nefit of peace and toleration. The fea was continually open ; 

 and if Heraclius had been awake to the pubhc diftrefs, frelh 

 armies of Romans and barbarians might have been poured 

 into the harbour, to fave the fecond capital of the empire. 

 A circumference of 10 miles would have fcatteredthe forces 

 of the Greeks, and favoured the ftratagems of an aftive 

 enemy ; but the two fides of an oblong fquare were covered 

 by the fea and the lake Mareotis, and each of the narrow 

 ends expofed a front of no more than 10 furlongs. The ef- 

 forts of the Arabs, however, were not inadequate to the dif- 

 ficulty of the attempt and the value of the prize. The faith, 

 ful natives devoted their labours to the fervice of Amrou ; 

 and in every attack his fword and banner glittered in the van 

 of the Moilems. The general, having been releafed from a 

 temporary captivity, into which his imprudent valour had be- " 

 trayed him, advanced towards the city doom.ed to dcftruc- 

 tion. At length, after a fiege of fourteen months, and the 

 lofs of 23,000 men, the Saracens prevailed ; the Greeks 

 embarked their difpirited and diminiftied numbers ; and the 

 ftandard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of the capital 

 of Egypt, Dec. 22, A. D. 640. " I have taken," faid 

 Amrou to the cahph, " the great city of the weft. It is 

 impolTible for me to enumerate the variety of its riches and 

 beauty ; I ftiall content myfelf with obferving, that it contains 

 4000 palaces, 4000 baths, 400 theatres or places of amufe- 

 ment, 12,000 fliops for the fale of vegetable foods, and 

 40,000 tributary Jews. The town has been fubdued by force 

 of arms, without treaty or capitulation, and the Modems are 

 impatient to feize the fruits of their vidory." According 

 to the Arabian hiftorians, Alexandria, at this time, confiited 

 of three cities, •u/':. Alenna, or the port, which included 

 Pharos and the adjacent parts ; Alexandria, properly fo 

 called, where the modern Scanderia Hands ; and NcLita, of 

 6 the 



