What really happened to the Library of Alexandria? - Elizabeth Cox

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

2,300 years ago,

2300 年前，

the rulers of Alexandria set out to fulfill

亞歷山大港的統治者動身出發，

one of humanity’s most audacious goals:

要去完成人類最大膽的目標之一：

to collect all the knowledge in the world under one roof.

把世界上所有的知識 收集到一個屋簷下。

In its prime,

在其鼎盛時期，

the Library of Alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls

亞歷山大圖書館館藏的 卷軸數是史無前例的，

and attracted some of the Greek world’s greatest minds.

吸引了一些希臘世界中 最聰明的人。

But by the end of the 5th century CE, the great library had vanished.

但到了公元第五世紀末， 這間偉大的圖書館消失了。

Many believed it was destroyed in a catastrophic fire.

許多人相信，它是被 一場災難性的大火給摧毀。

The truth of the library’s rise and fall is much more complex.

這間圖書館興起與隕落的 真相其實更複雜許多。

The idea for the library came from Alexander the Great.

建立圖書館的點子 是亞歷山大大帝想出來的。

After establishing himself as a conqueror,

他曾是亞里斯多德的學生，

the former student of Aristotle turned his attention

在成為征服者後， 他轉移了他的注意力，

to building an empire of knowledge headquartered in his namesake city.

打算在和他同名的城市中 建立一個知識帝國。

He died before construction began,

在建造工程開始前他就過世了，

but his successor, Ptolemy I,

但他的後繼者托勒密一世

executed Alexander’s plans for a museum and library.

實行了亞歷山大原本要建造 一座博物館和圖書館的計畫。

Located in the royal district of the city,

亞歷山大圖書館位在

the Library of Alexandria

該城市的皇家區，

may have been built with grand Hellenistic columns,

建造時採用了希臘風格的圓柱，

native Egyptian influences,

設計有著埃及的影響，

or a unique blend of the two--there are no surviving accounts of its architecture.

或上述兩者的混合——並沒有任何 關於其建築式樣的記述流傳下來。

We do know it had lecture halls, classrooms, and, of course, shelves.

我們確實知道的是，它的內部有 講堂、教室，當然，還有書架。

As soon as the building was complete,

建築一完成，

Ptolemy I began to fill it with primarily Greek and Egyptian scrolls.

托勒密一世就開始在館內放滿卷軸，

多半是希臘和埃及的卷軸。

He invited scholars to live and study in Alexandria at his expense.

他邀請學者住在亞歷山大港做研究，

費用由他負擔。

The library grew as they contributed their own manuscripts,

學者們貢獻出自己的手稿， 讓圖書館繼續成長，

but the rulers of Alexandria still wanted a copy of every book in the world.

但亞歷山大港的統治者 仍然想要全世界每一本書的複本。

Luckily, Alexandria was a hub for ships traveling through the Mediterranean.

幸運的是，航行地中海的船隻 會以亞歷山大港作為樞軸港。

Ptolemy III instituted a policy requiring any ship that docked in Alexandria

托勒密三世制訂了一項政策， 凡是停泊在亞歷山大港的船隻

to turn over its books for copying.

都要交出船上的書來做複本。

Once the Library’s scribes had duplicated the texts,

一旦圖書館抄寫完內文，

they kept the originals and sent the copies back to the ships.

就會把原版保留下來， 把複本送回給船隻。

Hired book hunters also scoured the Mediterranean

被僱用的書籍獵人 也尋遍整個地中海地區，

in search of new texts,

找尋新的文本，

and the rulers of Alexandria attempted to quash rivals

而亞歷山大港的統治者 鎮壓競爭的方式，

by ending all exports of the Egyptian papyrus used to make scrolls.

就是終止出口所有 做卷軸用的埃及紙莎草紙。

These efforts brought hundreds of thousands of books to Alexandria.

這些做法，將數十萬本書籍 帶到了亞歷山大港。

As the library grew,

隨著圖書館成長，

it became possible to find information on more subjects than ever before,

能夠找到比以前 更多主題的相關資訊，

but also much more difficult to find information on any specific subject.

但同時也更難找到 特定主題的相關資訊。

Luckily, a scholar named Callimachus of Cyrene set to work on a solution,

幸運的是，有位學者，

席爾尼的卡利馬科斯， 開始設計解決方案，

creating the pinakes,

他發明了「pinakes」，

a 120-volume catalog of the library’s contents,

那是 120 冊的圖書館館藏目錄，

the first of its kind.

是這類目錄中最早出現的。

Using the pinakes,

使用館藏目錄，

others were able to navigate the Library’s swelling collection.

就可以在圖書館不斷增加的 館藏中找到需要的資訊。

They made some astounding discoveries.

圖書館使用者有一些驚人的發現。

1,600 years before Columbus set sail,

在哥倫布航行前 1600 年，

Eratosthenes not only realized the earth was round,

埃拉托斯特尼就已經 發現地球是圓的，

but calculated its circumference and diameter

而且還計算出地球的周長和直徑，

within a few miles of their actual size.

和真實數值的誤差只有幾英哩。

Heron of Alexandria created the world’s first steam engine

亞歷山大港的希羅創造出 世界上第一個蒸氣引擎，

over a thousand years before

時間比工業革命時

it was finally reinvented during the Industrial Revolution.

重新再發明蒸氣引擎 要早了一千年。

For about 300 years after its founding in 283 BCE, the library thrived.

圖書館在公元前 283 年成立， 大約三百年後，它興旺繁榮。

But then, in 48 BCE, Julius Caesar laid siege to Alexandria

但接著，公元前 48 年， 尤利烏斯·凱撒包圍了亞歷山大港，

and set the ships in the harbor on fire.

放火燒掉港口的船隻。

For years, scholars believed the library burned as the blaze spread into the city.

多年來，學者相信當大火延燒至 城市中時，圖書館也被燒毀。

It's possible the fire destroyed part of the sprawling collection,

有可能是大火摧毀了 大量館藏的一部分，

but we know from ancient writings

但我們從古老文獻中得知，

that scholars continued to visit the library for centuries after the siege.

在圍城後數世紀， 學者仍然持續造訪該圖書館。

Ultimately, the library slowly disappeared as the city changed from Greek,

最終，圖書館是慢慢消失的，

隨著該城市的統治者從希臘

to Roman,

變為羅馬，變為基督徒，

Christian,

and eventually Muslim hands.

最後落到穆斯林手中。

Each new set of rulers viewed its contents as a threat

每個時期的統治者都把 圖書館的內容視為威脅，

rather than a source of pride.

而不是驕傲的來源。

In 415 CE,

公元 415 年，

the Christian rulers even had a mathematician named Hypatia

基督徒統治者甚至 謀殺了數學家希帕提亞，

murdered for studying the library’s ancient Greek texts,

因為他在研讀 圖書館的古希臘文本，

which they viewed as blasphemous.

而這些文本被視為是褻瀆神明的。

Though the Library of Alexandria and its countless texts are long gone,

雖然亞歷山大圖書館 和它的無數文本都早就沒了，

we’re still grappling with the best ways to collect,

我們仍然努力在找出 最好的方式來收集、存取，

access,

and preserve our knowledge.

並保存我們的知識。

There’s more information available today

現今有更多可得的資訊，

and more advanced technology to preserve it,

也有更先進的技術來保存資訊，

though we can’t know for sure

不過我們無法確切知道

that our digital archives will be more resistant to destruction

我們的數位檔案 是否會比亞歷山大的

than Alexandria’s ink and paper scrolls.

油墨文本卷軸更能抵抗毀滅。

And even if our reservoirs of knowledge are physically secure,

且即使我們的知識保存庫 在實體上是安全的，

they will still have to resist the more insidious forces

它們還是得要對抗 讓圖書館四分五裂的

that tore the library apart:

陰險狡猾的暗中力量：

fear of knowledge,

對知識的恐懼，

and the arrogant belief that the past is obsolete.

以及認為過去 已經過時的自大信念。

The difference is that, this time, we know what to prepare for.

差別在於，這一次， 我們知道要準備什麼。