Читать книгу The Journey: How an obscure Byzantine Saint became our Santa Claus - David Price Williams - Страница 78

institution. Anyway, it burnt for three days and nights destroying a major part of the collection.”

We stood for a moment in silence staring at the gaunt remains.

“As I said, it was once alleged to have contained half a million books and scrolls,” he continued, “all the books ever written in fact. They had purchased all the original manuscripts of the plays written by Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus, as well as philosophic works by Aristotle and Plato, from the Athenians. They paid a fortune for them and I suppose they were indeed priceless. They had all manner of scientific treaties as well, works on natural history and a huge medical section with the works of physicians like Galen, the doctor who worked at his centre of healing, the Aesclepion at Pergamon. Most of it went up in smoke, though they did manage to salvage some of the papyri and a few of the parchment books. It was an absolute tragedy. Some scholars say it’s the worst thing that has ever happened to our civilization. Anyhow, they’ve started afresh at the old temple of Serapis. It will never be the same. I’m afraid a lot of the writings were absolutely irreplaceable, but it’s something at least. You should go and see it sometime while you’re here.”

I looked in amazement at the blackened carcase that rose from the broken steps. The bare pillars stood up vertically like accusing fingers raised against the blue morning sky, witnesses to the disaster of human greed and barbarism over culture and

THE JOURNEY