Researching ancient Alexandria

I don't know a ton about Alexandria specifically, but it absolutely was part of the Roman Empire. All of Egypt was made part of the Empire, but I believe Alexandria was given to the Romans before that happened. The city was a major center of Hellenic culture and other cultures were definitely discriminated against. At one point a war between the Greeks and Jews destroyed the city.

Roman and Greeks deities were pretty much the same, but the strong Hellenic pride of the city probably means you should go with the Greek names. There's also Serapis, which was a god created as an amalgamation of Greek and Egyptian divine attributes in an attempt to unify the Greeks and Egyptians.

 

The collection was mostly burned away in 48 BC when Julius Caesar sacked Alexandria. Seneca and Plutarch both wrote in the first century AD about the Great Library having been burnt by Caesar.

Marc Antony transferred a ton of books and scrolls from the Library of Pergamum to help rebuild it, but many of them were returned to Pergamum by Augustus.

So you're working in a time where the library is a shadow of its former self. Certainly Ptolemy, Heron, and like minds are still in the city, so it's still pretty vibrant. But it's not the absolute pinnacle of learning it was a couple hundred years earlier.

The Library was in large part a pro-Hellenistic establishment; it even mostly excluded discussions of the Egyptian people, and there were laws in place to ensure Hellenistic primacy over the Egyptian and Jewish populations of the city. At the library, books had to be translated into Greek before being accepted. Roman rule may have relaxed that somewhat, but the Romans still looked up to the Greeks when it came to culture and learning.

I'm not sure how much I'd let that constrain good characters, though; exceptional people are exceptional. I mean, despite being a time when in general men ruled the world, Zenobia and Cleopatra (among others) play huge roles in Alexandrian history.

 

It is so odd you bring up this topic. A number of years ago I helped Nalo Hopkinson on her great fantasy novel "Salt Roads" and one of the areas I researched for her was the layout of Alexandria and the history of the library.

When the library was really destroyed is still a matter of significant academic debate. It might have been as early as 25 or as late as 391 (it was likely toast before the muslims hammered it again). Around 270-275 is a strong contender. An introduction to these discussions can be found here:

Destruction of the Library of Alexandria - Wikipedia

There were several brings. Take your pick.

If you are setting your tale in Alexandria in that period you really should try and get your hands on the book on Great Cities of the Ancient World by L Sprague DeCamp, a great fantasist, ski-fi guy and historian. It shows city lay-outs etc and has great information for an author setting a tale in that city.

 

From De Camps 'Ancient Engineers' (typed from a paper copy)

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A series of fires and depredations during the Roman period gradually destroyed the Library. As the books were stored in two or more buildings, no single fire destroyed them all. When Julius Caesar occupied Alexandria in -48, Cleopatra urged him to help himself to the books and he took away hundreds to be shipped to Rome.

Then Alexandria revolted against Caesar and Cleopatra. In the fighting, either the books that Caesar had taken or those in one of the library buildings, or both, were burned. When Antonius formed his connection with Cleopatra, he stole and gave her the 200,000 roll library of Pergamon to replace the losses.

The Library probably suffered further losses when Aurelianus suppressed a revolt in Alexandria in +272; when Diocletian putdown another revolt in +295; and again in +391 when Bishop Theophilus, another bloodthirsty fanatic of the Hitlerian type, led a Christian mob to the destruction of Serapis, where some of the books were kept. The remaining rolls were finished off by the Arabs of the Muxlim General 'Amir ibn-al-As when he captured the city in +646.

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De Camp goes on to explain how Christian and Moslem apologists sought to blame each other for the destruction. He also points out the precise numbers (or even rough numbers) of the books destroyed on each occasion are impossible to determine, and finishes off with an inventory of other book-burnings (Emperor Valens ordering non Christian books burned +373, Moslems destroying Zoroastrian Persian books in +637, Crusaders burning 100,000+ books when they sacked Tripoli in +1109, and so on.)

That said, there were some notable first century AD characters that could be plausibly associated with the Library. Apollonius of Tyana was a major league miracle worker (and contemporary of Jesus). Another, biblically infamous character who could have been there was 'Simon of Gitta,' a magician noted for his ability to levitate (and the subject of an absurd magical duel with St Peter in Christian Apocrypha.) Pliny, a scholar of note, might have compiled his famous bestiary there. Hiero of Alexandria produced a series of mechanical marvels, including a automatic door opener and a simple steam engine (devices intended to be used in magic fakery.)

 

Bitumen goes way back, and specifically in that region it fits your timeline. Asphalt - Wikipedia