Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

ALEXANDRIA.

207

trace of her ancient magnificence. Had her edifices
been Egyptian, they would not have disappeared, but at
the capital the Greek kings and the Roman emperors
built as Greeks, and not as Egyptians. Thus while their
temples stand in Upper Egypt in massive splendour, the
capital is almost without record of their rule. Fragments
or sites alone recall her splendid edifices. At the en-
trance of the Great Harbour a lighthouse still marks the
place of the famous Pharos of Alexandria. Of the
Museum and Library, the Palaces, the royal mausoleum,
and the Temple of Sarapis, there are no remains which can
be recognised, unless indeed the recent discovery of a
great sepulchral vault has brought to light part of the royal
burial-place. Of the obelisks removed from older cities
to adorn the new capital, a pair remained till our own
time, one standing, the other fallen. Modern taste has
despoiled Alexandria of these striking monuments, to set
them up apart in London and in New York, amid
uncongenial surroundings. The great column which is
commonly known as Pompey's Pillar yet stands, raised by
the prefect of Egypt in honour of Diocletian, probably
when he recovered the country after the revolt of the
usurper or patriot Achilleus. It is nearly a hundred feet