VI · The Serapeum · 391 or 392 CE

The destruction of the Serapeum

Known · AttestedKnown · AttestedThe temple destroyedLegend · Told storyBooks destroyed

After Theodosius forbids sacrifice, Bishop Theophilus's campaign ends with the pagans who held the temple dispersed, the colossal statue of Sarapis broken, and the temple pulled down. No account of the destruction mentions books.

The evidence: A library had stood in its colonnades earlier (Tertullian, Epiphanius, Aphthonius). Ammianus, just before, already speaks of it in the past tense.

What the evidence supports: No source says books were destroyed in 391 or 392. That Theophilus burned the Library appears in no ancient source.

The witnesses

Did books burn at the Serapeum?Every account of 391/392 is silent on books. Ammianus, writing just before, already speaks of the temple's libraries in the past tense.
WitnessWrittenReferenceWhat it saysReadings
AphthoniusNames it, no numberc. 350–400 CEProgymnasmata 12Rooms in the colonnades held books, open to those who wish to study.none
Ammianus MarcellinusNames it, no numberc. 390 CEHistory 22.16.12There were libraries in the Serapeum: the past tense.none
Theodosian CodeSilent on it16 June 391 CELaw to the prefect of Egypt 16.10.11Forbids sacrifice and access to the temples; says nothing of books.none
The event: 391 or 392 CE
EpiphaniusNames it, no number392 CEOn Weights and Measures 11A second library in the Serapeum, called the daughter of the first.none
EunapiusSilent on itc. 400 CELives of the Sophists 472Hostile: the monks made war on stones. Says nothing of books.none
RufinusSilent on itc. 402 CEChurch History 11.22–30Describes the temple he saw and its destruction; says nothing of books.none
OrosiusNames it, no numberc. 417 CEHistories against the Pagans 6.15.32Saw empty book-chests in temples, emptied in his own time; names no temple.none
Socrates ScholasticusSilent on itc. 440 CEChurch History 5.16–17Tells the destruction; says nothing of books.none
SozomenSilent on itc. 445 CEChurch History 7.15Tells the siege of the temple and Olympius; says nothing of books.none
TheodoretSilent on itc. 449 CEChurch History 5.22Tells the breaking of the statue; says nothing of books.none
Alan RoweExcavation1943–1945Excavation of the Serapeum Rowe 1946Finds Ptolemy III's foundation plaques; no trace of a library's rooms is identified.none

Who and what

Told stories

Legend: told story

"Theophilus burned the Library"

Gibbon writes that when the Serapeum fell the valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed, and reads Orosius's empty shelves as its remains. Later books say Bishop Theophilus burned the Library.

Told by Edward Gibbon, 1781, almost fourteen centuries after the Serapeum fell

What the evidence supports

The temple was destroyed in 391 or 392. No account of the destruction mentions books, and Ammianus, just before, already speaks of its libraries in the past tense.

Sources (3)
  • Rufinus, Church History 11.22–30
  • Socrates Scholasticus, Church History 5.16–17
  • J. Hahn, "The Conversion of the Cult Statues: The Destruction of the Serapeum 392 A.D.", in J. Hahn, S. Emmel and U. Gotter (eds.), From Temple to Church (Leiden: Brill, 2008) 335–365
The Hall of Told Stories
Legend: told story

Books in the galleries

Modern guides to the Serapeum's hill tell visitors that the daughter library was kept in the rock-cut galleries beneath the temple.

Told by Modern guides to the site, 20th century CE, some fifteen centuries after the temple fell

What the evidence supports

The galleries are excavated and probably served the cult. No ancient source puts books in them; Aphthonius places the book-rooms in the colonnades above.

Sources (2)
  • Aphthonius, Progymnasmata 12
  • J. S. McKenzie, S. Gibson and A. T. Reyes, "Reconstructing the Serapeum in Alexandria from the Archaeological Evidence", Journal of Roman Studies 94 (2004) 73–121
The Hall of Told Stories
Legend: told story

"Pompey's Pillar"

Travellers of the Middle Ages called the great column on the Serapeum's hill Pompey's Pillar, and the name has stayed.

Told by Travellers of the Middle Ages, 12th–15th century CE, a name given more than a thousand years after the column was raised

What the evidence supports

The column was raised for Diocletian about 298 CE; its base carries the dedication. It has nothing to do with Pompey.

Sources (2)
  • J. S. McKenzie, S. Gibson and A. T. Reyes, "Reconstructing the Serapeum in Alexandria from the Archaeological Evidence", Journal of Roman Studies 94 (2004) 73–121
  • J. McKenzie, The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, c. 300 BC to AD 700 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007)
The Hall of Told Stories

In the show

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Sources (9)
  • Theodosian Code 16.10.11
  • Rufinus, Church History 11.22–30
  • Socrates Scholasticus, Church History 5.16–17
  • Sozomen, Church History 7.15
  • Theodoret, Church History 5.22
  • Eunapius, Lives of the Sophists 472
  • Ammianus Marcellinus 22.16.12–13
  • J. Hahn, "The Conversion of the Cult Statues: The Destruction of the Serapeum 392 A.D.", in J. Hahn, S. Emmel and U. Gotter (eds.), From Temple to Church (Leiden: Brill, 2008) 335–365
  • C. Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity: Topography and Social Conflict (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997)