mile from the coast, though it was in the Roman | times a seaport. [E. H. B.] ALE'SIÄ (Alise), a town of the Mandubii, who were neighbours of the Aedui. The name is sometimes written Alexia (Florus, iii. 10, note, ed. Duker, and elsewhere). Tradition made it a very old town, for the story was that it was founded by Hercules on his return from Iberia; and the Celtae were said to venerate it as the hearth (σría) and mother city of all Celtica (Diod. iv. 19). Strabo (p. 191) describes Alesia as situated on a lofty hill, and surrounded by mountains and by two streams. This description may be taken from that of Caesar (B. G. vii. 69), who adds that in front of the town there Was a plain about three Roman miles long. The site corresponds to that of Mont Auxois, close to which is a place now called Ste Reine d'Alise. The two streams are the Lozerain and the Loze, both tributaries of the Yonne. In B. C. 52 the Galli made a last effort to throw off the Roman yoke, and after they had sustained several defeats, a large force under Vercingetorix shut themselves up in Alesia. After a vigorous resistance, the place was surrendered to Caesar, and Vercingetorix was made a prisoner (B. G. vii. 68—90). Caesar does not speak of the destruction of the place, but Florus says that it was burnt, a circumstance which is not inconsistent with its being afterwards restored. Pliny (xxxiv. 17. s. 48) speaks of Alesia as noted for silver-plating articles of harness for horses and beasts of burden. Traces of several Roman roads tend towards this town, which appears to have been finally ruined about the ninth century of our aera. [G. L.] ALEʼSIAE ('Aλeσía), a village in Laconia, on the road from Therapne to Mt. Taygetus, is placed by Leake nearly in a line between the southern extremity of Sparta and the site of Bryseae. (Paus. iii. 20. § 2; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 164.)

ALEŠIAEUM ('Aλeσiaîov), called ALEI'SIUM ('Axelatov) by Homer, a town of Pisatis, situated upon the road leading across the mountains from Elis to Olympia. Its site is uncertain. (Strab. p. 341; Hom. I. ii. 617; Steph. B. s. v. 'Aλýσiov.)

ALESIUS MONS, [MANTINEIA.] ALE’TIUM ('Ariov Ptol. iii. 1. § 76; Eth. Aletinus, Plin. iii. 11. s. 16), a town of Calabria, mentioned, both by Pliny and Ptolemy, among the inland cities which they assign to the Salentini. Its site (erroneously placed by Cluver at Lecce) is clearly marked by the ancient church of Sta Maria della Lizza (formerly an episcopal see) near the village of Fisciotti, about 5 miles from Gallipoli, on the road to Otranto. Here many ancient remains have been discovered, among which are numerous tombs, with inscriptions in the Messapian dialect. (D'Anville, Anal. Géogr. de l'Italie, p. 233; Mommsen, Unter-Ital. Dialekte, p. 57.) The name is corruptly written Baletium in the Tab. Peut., which however correctly places it between Neretum (Nardo) and Uxentum (Ugento), though the distances given are inaccurate. In Strabo, also, it is probable that we should read with Kramer 'Aλnría for ZaAnia, which he describes as a town in the interior of Calabria, a short distance from the sea. (Strab. p. 282; and Kramer, ad loc.) [E. H. B.] ALEXANDREIA, -IA or -EA (ʼn 'Āλe§ávdpeia: Eth. 'Aλegardpeús, more rarely 'Aλežavopiτns, Αλεξανδριώτης, Αλεξανδριανός, Αλεξανδρινος, 'Aλežavōpívns, Alexandrinus; fem. 'Aλežavopis: the modern El-Skanderish), the Hellenic capital of

332.

It stood in lat. 31° N.; long. 47° E. (Arrian, iii. 1, p. 156; Q. Curt. iv. 8. § 2.) On his voyage from Memphis to Canobus he was struck by the natural advantages of the little town of Rhacôtis, on the north-eastern angle of the Lake Mareotis. The harbour of Rhacôtis, with the adjacent island of Pharos, had been from very remote ages (Hom. Od. iv. 355) the resort of Greek and Phoenician sea-rovers, and in the former place the Pharaohs kept a permanent garrison, to prevent foreigners entering their dominions by any other approach than the city of Naucratis and the Canobic branch of the Nile. At Rhacôtis Alexander determined to construct the future capital of his western conquests. His architect Deinocrates was instructed to survey the harbour, and to draw out a plan of a military and commercial metropolis of the first rank. (Vitruv. ii. prooem.; Solin. c. 32; Amm. Marc. xxii. 40; Val. Max.i. 4. §1.) The ground-plan was traced by Alexander himself; the building was commenced immediately, but the city was not completed until the reign of the second monarch of the Lagid line, Ptolemy Philadelphus. It continued to receive embellishment and extension from nearly every monarch of that dynasty. The plan of Deinocrates was carried out by another architect named Cleomenes, of Naucratis. (Justin. xiii. 4. §1.) Ancient writers (Strab. p. 791, seq.; Plut. Alex. 26; Plin. v. 10. s. 11) compare the general form of Alexandreia to the cloak (chlamys) worn by the Macedonian cavalry. It was of an oblong figure, rounded at the SE. and SW. extremities. Its length from E. to W. was nearly 4 miles; its breadth from S. to N. nearly a mile, and its circumference, according to Pliny (1. c.) was about 15 miles. The interior was laid out in parallelograms: the streets crossed one another at right angles, and were all wide enough to admit of both wheel carriages and foot-passengers. Two grand thoroughfares nearly bisected the city. They ran in straight lines to its four principal gates, and each was a plethrum, or about 200 feet wide. The longest, 40 stadia in length, ran from the Canobic gate to that of the Necropolis (E.-W.): the shorter, 7-8 stadia in length, extended from the Gate of the Sun to the Gate of the Moon (S.-N.). On its northern side Alexandreia was bounded by the sea, sometimes denominated the Egyptian Sea: on the south by the Lake of Marea or Mareotis; to the west were the Necropolis and its numerous gardens; to the east the Eleusinian road and the Great Hippodrome. The tongue of land upon which Alexandreia stood was singularly adapted to a commercial city. The island of Pharos broke the force of the north wind, and of the occasional high floods of the Mediterranean. The headland of Lochias sheltered its harbours to the east; the Lake Mareotis was both a wet-dock and the general haven of the inland navigation of the Nile- valley, whether direct from Syene, or by the royal canal from Arsinoë on the Red Sea, while various other canals connected the lake with the Deltaic branches of the river. The springs of Rhacôtis were few and brackish; but an aqueduct conveyed the Nile water into the southern section of the city, and tanks, many of which are still in use, distributed fresh water to both public and private edifices. (Hirtius, B. Alex. c. 5.) The soil, partly sandy and partly calcareous, rendered drainage nearly superfluous. The fogs which periodically linger on the shores of Cyrene and Egypt were dispersed by the north winds which, in the summer

The harbour-line commenced from the east with the peninsular strip Lochias, which terminated seaward in a fort called Acro-Lochias, the modern Pharillon. The ruins of a pier on the eastern side of it mark an ancient landing-place, probably belonging to the Palace which, with its groves and gardens, occupied this Peninsula. Like all the principal buildings of Alexandreia, it commanded a view of the bay and the Pharos. The Lochias formed, with the islet of Antirhodus, the Closed or Royal Port, which was kept exclusively for the king's gallies, and around the head of which were the Royal Dockyards. West of the Closed Port was the Poseideion or Temple of Neptune, where embarking and returning mariners registered their vows. The northern point of this temple was called the Timonium, whither the defeated triumvir M. Antonius retired after his flight from Actium in B. c. 31. (Plut.

(Heptastadium) was the Greater Harbour, and on the western side of the Mole was the Haven of Happy Return (EDVOOTOS), connected by the basin (Kiswтos, chest) with the canal that led, by one arm, to the Lake Mareotis, and by the other to the Canobic arm of the Nile. The haven of "Happy Return fronted the quarter of the city called Rhacôtis. It was less difficult of access than the Greater Harbour, as the reefs and shoals lie principally NE. of the Pharos. Its modern name is the Old Port. From the Poseideion to the Mole the shore was lined with dockyards and warehouses, upon whose broad granite quays ships discharged their lading without the intervention of boats. On the western horn of the Eunostus were public granaries.

Fronting the city, and sheltering both its harbours, lay the long narrow island of Pharos. It was a dazzling white calcareous rock, about a mile from Alexandreia, and, according to Strabo, 150 stadia

from the Canobic mouth of the Nile. At its eastern point stood the far-famed lighthouse, the work of Sostrates of Cnidus, and, nearer the Heptastadium, was a temple of Phtah or Hephaestus. The Pharos was begun by Ptolemy Soter, but completed by his successor, and dedicated by him to "the gods Soteres," or Soter and Berenice, his parents. (Strab. p. 792.) It consisted of several stories, and is said to have been four hundred feet in height. The old light-house of Alexandreia still occupies the site of its ancient predecessor. A deep bay on the northern side of the island was called the Pirates' Haven," from its having been an early place of refuge for Carian and Samian mariners. The islets which stud the northern coast of Pharos became, in the 4th and 5th centuries A. D., the resort of Christian anchorites. The island is said by Strabo to have been nearly desolated by Julius Caesar when he was besieged by the Alexandrians in B. C. 46. (Hirt. B. Alex. 17.)

The Pharos was connected with the mainland by an artificial mound or causeway, called, from its length (7 stadia, 4270 English feet, or of a mile), the Heptastadium. There were two breaks in the Mole to let the water flow through, and prevent the accumulation of silth; over these passages bridges were laid, which could be raised up at need. The temple of Hephaestus on Pharos stood at one extremity of the Mole, and the Gate of the Moon on the mainland at the other. The form of the Heptastadium can no longer be distinguished, since modern Alexandreia is principally erected upon it, and upon the earth which has accumulated about its piers. It probably lay in a direct line between fort Caffarelli and the island.

Interior of the City. Alexandreia was divided into three regions. (1) The Regio Judaeorum. (2) The Brucheium or Pyrucheium, the Royal or Greek Quarter. (3) The Rhacôtis or Egyptian Quarter. This division corresponded to the three original constituents of the Alexandrian population (Tpía yévn, Polyb. xxxiv. 14; Strab. p. 797, seq.) After B. C. 31 the Romans added a fourth element, but this was principally military and financial (the garrison, the government, and its official staff, and the negotiatores), and confined to the Region Brucheium. 1. Regio Judaeorum, or Jews' Quarter, occupied the NE. angle of the city, and was encompassed by the sea, the city walls, and the Brucheium. Like the Jewry of modern European cities, it had walls and gates of its own, which were at times highly necessary for its security, since between the Alexandrian Greeks and Jews frequent hostilities raged, inflamed both by political jealousy and religious hatred. The Jews were governed by their own Ethnarch, or Arabarches (Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 7. § 2, 10. § 1, xviii. 6. § 3, xix. 5. § 2, B. J. ii. 18. § 7), by a sanhedrim or senate, and their own national laws. Augustus Caesar, in B. c. 31, granted to the Alexandrian Jews equal privileges with their Greek fellow citizens, and recorded his grant by a public inscription. (Id. Antiq. xii. 3, c. Apion. 2.) Philo Judaeus (Legat. in Caium) gives a full account of the immunities of the Regio Judaeorum. They were frequently confirmed or annulled by successive Roman emperors. (Sharpe, Hist. of Egypt, p. 347, seq. 2nd edit.)

2. Bruchetum, or Pyrucheium (Bpuxeîov, Пupoxelor, Salmasius, ad Spartian. Hadrian. c. 20), the Royal or Greek Quarter, was bounded to the S. and F by the city walls, N. by the Greater Harbour,

and W. by the region Rhacôtis and the main street which connected the Gate of the Eun with that of the Moon and the Heptastadium. It was also surrounded by its own walls, and was the quarter in which Caesar defended himself against the Alexandrians. (Hirtius, B. Alex. 1.) The Brucheium was bisected by the High Street, which ran from the Canobic Gate to the Necropolis, and was supplied with water from the Nile by a tunnel or aqueduct, which entered the city on the south, and passed a little to the west of the Gymnasium. This was the quarter of the Alexandrians proper, or Hellenic citizens, the Royal Residence, and the district in which were contained the most conspicuous of the public buildings. It was so much adorned and extended by the later Ptolemies that it eventually occupied one-fifth of the entire city. (Plin. v. 10. s. 11.) It contained the following remarkable edifices: On the Lochias, the Palace of the Ptolemies, with the smaller palaces appropriated to their children and the adjacent gardens and groves. The far-famed Library and Museum, with its Theatre for lectures and public assemblies, connected with one another and with the palaces by long colonnades of the most costly marble from the Egyptian quarries, and adorned with obelisks and sphinxes taken from the Pharaonic cities. The Library contained, according to one account, 700,000 volumes, according to another 400,000 (Joseph. Antiq. xii. 2; Athen. i. p. 3); part, however, of this unrivalled collection was lodged in the temple of Serapis, in the quarter Rhacôtis. Here were deposited the 200,000 volumes collected by the kings of Pergamus, and presented by M. Antonius to Cleopatra. The library of the Museum was destroyed during the blockade of Julius Caesar in the Brucheium; that of the Serapeion was frequently injured by the civil broils of Alexandreia, and especially when that temple was destroyed by the Christian fanatics in the 4th century A. D. It was finally destroyed by the orders of the khalif Omar, A. D. 640. The collection was begun by Ptolemy Soter, augmented by his successors, for the worst of the Lagidae were patrons of literature, and respected, if not increased, by the Caesars, who, like their predecessors, appointed and salaried the librarians and the professors of the Museum. The Macedonian kings replenished the shelves of the Library zealously but unscrupulously, since they laid an embargo on all books, whether public or private property, which were brought to Alexandreia, retained the originals, and gave copies of them to their proper owners. In this way Ptolemy Euergetes (B. C. 246

221) is said to have got possession of authentic copies of the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and to have returned transcripts of them to the Athenians, with an accompanying compensation of fifteen talents. The Museum succeeded the once renowned college of Heliopolis as the University of Egypt. It contained a great hall or banqueting room (olkos μéyas), where the professors dined in common; an exterior peristyle, or corridor (πepiñaTo), for exercise and ambulatory lectures; a theatre where public disputations and scholastic festivals were held; chambers for the different professors; and possessed a botanical garden which Ptolemy Philadelphus enriched with tropical flora (Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. vi. 24), and a menagerie (Athen. xiv. p. 654). It was divided into four principal sections,— poetry, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine,—and enrolled among its professors or pupils the illustrious names of Euclid, Ctesibius, Callimachus, Aratus,