Alexandria: The Greatest City
Three cities dominated the ancient world: Athens, Rome and a third, now almost forgotten. It lies hidden beneath the waters of the Mediterranean and a sprawling modern metropolis. Alexandria was a city built on a dream; a place with a very modern mindset, where - as with the worldwide web - one man had a vision that all knowledge on earth could be stored in one place. Bettany Hughes goes in search of this lost civilisation, revealing the story of a city founded out of the desert by Alexander the Great in 331 BC to become the world's first global centre of culture, into which wealth and knowledge poured from across the world. Until its decline in the fourth and fifth Centuries AD, Alexandria became a crucible of learning; Hughes uncovers the incredible discoveries and the technical achievements of this culture.
| Alexandria: The Greatest City |
| Related Links |
| Alexandria - wikipedia Alexandria is the second largest city and the second largest metropolitan area in Egypt after Greater Cairo by size and number of population of 4.1 million, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. |
| The Library of Alexandria The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. |
| In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great This is a four-part BBC documentary series written and presented by Michael Wood, retracing the journey of Alexander the Great across sixteen countries. |
| The Story of Maths - The Language of the Universe Professor Marcus du Sautoy looks at how fundamental mathematics is to our lives, and then he explores the mathematics of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece. |
| Ancient Worlds This is a BBC documentary series presented by Richard Miles, exploring the roots of Western civilization from the first cities of Mesopotamia to the fall of the Roman Empire. |