Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/517

 APPENDIX 495 9. THEOLOGY IN THE MARKET-PLACES OF CONSTANTINOPLE- IP. 143) The humorous description of the interest taken in theological subtleties by the mechanics and slaves of Constantinople is quoted by Gibbon on the authority of Jortin, but Gibbon acknowledges that he does not know where it conies from, and implies that Jortin does not state his source. A striking instance of the slumbers of Homer. Jortin indeed omits to give the reference, but he expressly ascribes the passage to "Gregory," that is, Gregory of Nyssa, with whom he is dealing in the context. It would seem from Gibbon's note that he took Gregory to be the Nazianzen. The passage occurs in Gregory Nyssen's Oratio de deitate Filii et Spiritus Sancti (Migne, Patr. Gr., 46, p. 557) and runs as follows : eac Trepl Tuiv o^oAwv epoirrjcrj^ 6e' crot nepi •yei^njrou xat ayevyTJTOv e(^tXo(r6(^Tjo"« Kav Trepl TifM-qfiaTO^ dprov Trvfloto, Mei^uiv 6 narrtp, anoKpiverai, Kai 6 vibs ^jro^e 'pios. el Sk, To ovTphv eTriTri&ci.6v tdTiv, eiTTots, 6 &i ef ovk tov v'Cov tivtxi SiiuptVaTO. 10. DID THEODOSIUS VISIT ROME IN A.D. 394?— (P. 184) According to Zosimus (iv. 59 and v. 30), Theodosius went to Rome after the battle of the Frigidus. This is likewise attested by Prudentius (against SjTnm., i.), and is implied in Theodoret's statement, in reference to the visit of a.d. 389, Xpovov &h (Tvxvov fiieAdoi/TOS eis Tr)v 'Piuhtji' a(^t(cdju.eco5 TroiAn' 6 jSo(7iAeu'5. This evi- dence lias been accepted by Jeep, but the objections urged by Tillemont against it seem quite decisive, and it is rejected by Clinton and most authorities. It is a case of a confusion between the suppression of Maximus and the suppression of Eugenius ; the visit to Rome after the second war is merely a duplicate of the visit after the iirst war. Giildenpenning thinks that Theodosius sent a message to the senate signifying his will that pagan worship should cease (Der Kaiser Theodosios, p. 229-30). 11. THE LIBRARIES OF ALEXANDRIA— (P. 199, 201) "The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroj-ed." That is, the lesser library in the Serapeum, which was situated in the Rhacotis quarter of ■ he city. Gibbon has failed to distinguish it from the great Library of the Brucheimi, of which Zenodotus, Calliraachus and other famous scholars were librarians. This Library is said to have been burnt down when Caesar was in Alexandria (but see Jlahaffy, Egypt under the Ptolemies, p. 454). For the distinction of the two libraries see Epiphanius, de mensuris et ponderibus, 168 (Migne, Patr. Gr. vol. 43, p. 256) : en 6k va-repov Kai ere'pa ey^vero For the first or mother library, see ib. 166 (]Iigne, p. 249). For other references see Susemihl, Geschichte der alexandrinischen Litteratur, i. p. 336. But is it an attested fact that the lesser or daughter library was destroyed in a.d. 391? The sanctuar}' of Serapis was demolished, but does that imply the demolition of all tlie buildings connected with the Serapeum ? ^ The only evidence on which Gibbon's statement rests is the sentence which he quotes from Orosius (p. 201, n. 53). But Orosius does not mention the Serapeum or speak of a large library. He merely says that he had seen bookcases in temples (which he does not name) ; and that, since then, he had been informed that the temples had been pillaged and the bookcases emptied. It seems to me highly improbable that Orosius is thinking either of the Alexandrian library or of the Serapeum. There is no reason to suppose that the library was in the temple. I conclude then that there is no evidence that the library of the Serapeum did not survive till the Saracen conquest, notwithstanding the verdict of Susemihl (ib. 344): "Omar fand 642 schwerlich noch Biicher in Alexandreia zu verbrennen ". 1 The statement of Eunapius in the Vita Aedesii : Kai to lapairelof ifp'ov SiecrKeSavwra ovx V Oepaireia ixovov aAAd Kal to. oi/co5o;u.>j/iaTa, cannot be pressed to mean more than that not only was the worship suppressed but the temple itself was demolished.
 * 8t^Ato9iJK7) ev T<3 SepaTTi'w [sic] /atKpore'pa ttjs Trpuin)?, ^rts /cai Bvyar^ip wvofxacrOri avriji.