History of Alexandria | Why Every Empire Fought Over the Smartest City on Earth

History of Alexandria — the smartest city Every Empire fought for! More than 2,300 years ago, Alexander the Great founded a city on the Mediterranean coast that would become one of the greatest centers of civilization the ancient world had ever seen. Alexandria became the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, a crossroads where Greek, Egyptian and other cultures met. Its enormous harbor welcomed ships from across the Mediterranean, while the legendary Pharos Lighthouse became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But Alexandria's greatest ambition was knowledge. The Library and Mouseion attracted scholars, mathematicians, astronomers, engineers, philosophers and writers from across the ancient world. Figures such as Eratosthenes helped transform humanity's understanding of geography, mathematics and the Earth itself. Centuries later, Alexandria became the stage for the final struggles of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Rome. And then the great city began to change. Political conflict, religious upheaval, earthquakes, the decline of its institutions and the transformation of the Mediterranean slowly reshaped Alexandria. Today, parts of ancient Alexandria lie beneath the Mediterranean. This is the story of Alexandria — from Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies to Cleopatra, Rome and the lost world beneath the sea. Chapters 00:00 — The City That Wanted All Knowledge 01:00 — Alexander's Impossible City 01:40 — The Rise of Alexandria 01:50 — The Greatest City of the Ancient World 02:31 — The Library of Alexandria 03:45 — The Scholars Who Changed the World 06:00 — Foreign Scholars Expelled from Alexandria 06:23 — Alexandria Meets Rome 06:43 — The Beginning of the End 07:20 — Cleopatra Final Ruler of Alexandria 07:40 — Octavian Defeated Cleopatra 08:10 — Alexandria Slow Decline & Destruction 09:30 — Hypatia 10:20 — The Order to Burn the Library 10:30 — The Destruction of Alexandria 11:50 — What Alexandria Left Behind See the world as it once was. Subscribe to AGES REBORN for cinematic journeys through the cities, civilizations and empires that shaped our world. #HistoryOfAlexandria #Alexandria #AncientHistory #Cleopatra #AncientEgypt #History