In the 2nd century AD, the Roman historian Aulus Gellius wrote in his book Attic Nights that the Library was burned by mistake after the siege when some of Caesar’s auxiliary soldiers started a fire. Aulus's translator similarly notes that, although auxiliary forces accidentally burned many books while stationed in Alexandria: "By no means all of the Alexandrian Library was destroyed [in 48 BC] and the losses were made good, at least in part, by Antony in 41 BC. A part of the library was burned under Aurelian, in AD 272, and the destruction seems to have been completed in 391
The association of the library with the Mouseion, whose scholars required a reliable resource, helped the library to develop into a proper research centre. Its location close to the harbour and within the royal palace’s grounds placed it under the direct supervision of the kings. Those circumstances aided the rapid growth of the library’s collection. Within half a century of its foundation circa 295 bce, the collections of the Royal Library had exceeded the space allotted to contain the accumulated books. It was found necessary to establish an offshoot that could house the surplus volumes. To that end, Ptolemy III (246–221 bce) incorporated the branch library into the newly built Serapeum, which was situated at a distance from the royal quarter in the Egyptian district south of the city.
Estimates of the total number of books in the library vary. The earliest surviving figure, from the 3rd century bce, is reported as “more than 200,000 books,” whereas the medieval text of John Tzetzes mentions “42,000 books in the outer library; in the inner (Royal) Library 400,000 mixed books, plus 90,000 unmixed books.” A still higher estimate of 700,000 was reported between the 2nd and 4th centuries ce.
The fate of that great wealth of books remains provocative and controversial. For centuries the main point of contention was whether or not the library (or libraries—as two sites existed) survived until the Arab conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century. In the 21st century, however, the topic has cooled down, and there is growing agreement among serious scholars that both libraries had both perished long before the Arab conquest. Scholars further believe that there is enough evidence to show that the destruction of the two libraries occurred at different times.
The Royal Library was an unfortunate casualty of war. In 48 bce Julius Caesar became involved in a civil war in Egypt between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII. Caesar sided with Cleopatra and was soon besieged by the Ptolemaic forces by land and sea in the great harbour. He realized that his only chance lay in setting fire to the enemy fleet, and it was by that drastic measure that he managed to gain the upper hand. Yet he is remarkably silent regarding the extent of the destruction caused by the fire in the city itself. Subsequent authors, however, provide details of the ensuing destruction. Most explicit is Plutarch, who, after a personal visit to Alexandria, explained that “Caesar was forced to repel the danger by using fire, which spread from the dockyards and destroyed the Great Library.” Equally indicative is a statement by Strabo who, during a long stay in the city (c. 25–20 bce), expressed in an indirect manner his regrets over the loss of that great library that had once supplied Eratosthenes and Hipparchus with the original reports of earlier discoveries, sources that were no longer there for him to consult.
The daughter library, protected by the Serapeum, subsisted up to the 4th century as long as paganism survived. But when Christianity became the one and only religion acknowledged throughout the empire, Emperor Theodosius I in his zeal to wipe out all vestiges of paganism issued a decree in 391 sanctioning the demolition of temples in Alexandria. Empowered by the imperial decree, Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, led an attack on the Serapeum, and he himself gave the first blow to the cult statue of Serapis. His frenzied followers ran amok in the temple, destroying and plundering. When the destruction was complete, Theophilus ordered a church to be built on the site.
Several testimonies written by contemporary or near-contemporary eyewitnesses testify to the fact that the devastation was extensive. One Theodoret claims that “the temple was destroyed to its foundations.” Another witness, Eunapius, mentions in Vita Aedesii that Theophilus and his followers
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