Reply #30: Some more on Hypatia and the Great Library

[happyslug]

Some first hand accounts about her (These are VERY limited for records prior to the 1300s are rare even from Classical Rome and Greece let alone the period of Decline):
http://www.cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-suda.html
http://www.cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-socrates.html

Comment on Primary Sources and other primary sources:
http://www.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/primary-sources.html

Some comments of the "Destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria":
http://www.bede.org.uk/library.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria

Also some historical background. The Emperor Julian (360-363) had gather the Roman Army and the Roman Treasury to Invade what is now Iraq. Julian's invasion is one of numerous failed attempts to Conquer Iraq since Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 A.D.) had looted Ctesiphon, its Capital in 198 AD (and no Roman Emperor would be Successful till Heraclius (610-641 A.D.) who then abandoned it like Hadrian had done in 117 AD as to far for Rome to Rule).

Anyway, Julian launched his Great Expedition but he was NOT fighting the dieing Parthian Empire of Severus's time, but the New Persian Empire at the Height of its Power. The Persian defeated his Army by wearing it down and forcing him to retreat (Sounds like today's Iraq). Anyway Julian died in Combat and his Successor to save the army exchanged some Roman held lands to Persia in exchanged for free passage back to Roman Territory AND provisions for that trip.

Now the problem this treaty of 363 AD just produced an unstable border between Roman Syria and Persian Iraq. This force the Romans to spend a huge amount of money building up their forces (The Emperor Valentian seems to be less Christian and more where he could get funding in in persecution of Pagans and other religions minorities). Then the Goths revolted in 378 AD and in the subsequent battle of Adrianople destroyed the Roman Army in the East. In 382 Emperor Theodosius I (379-395 A.D.) signed a peace treaty with the Goths, which for the first time since 212 AD (when Roman Citizenship was given to ALL people living within the Empire) permitted non-Roman Citizens into the Empire. To defeat the Goths, Theodosius I hired Germans to fight in the Roman Army (Transferring some, but not all of them to Egypt to relieve Roman Troops).

The significance of the Treaty of 382 was the Goths kept they Ethic identity, they were the Gothic Tribe that lived within the Empire. Rome was to weak to drive them out thus had to accept their presence. Especially since Rome went into Civil War for the next 15 years. First between Theodosius I and his fellow Catholic Magnus Maximus (383-388 A.D.) and the Arian Valentinian II (375-92 A.D.). Theordosius allied himself with Valentianian II against Maximus, defeated Maximus and made Valentianian II his co-emperor in the West (with Theodosius Ruling the east part of the Empire). When Valentianian II died in 392 he was succeeded by Flavius Eugenius (392-394). Flavius Eugenius had the support of the Roman Senate but Theodosius defeated quickly for due to the Gothic Invasion and Civil war the army in the West had become mostly German, while it remained Roman in the East. These trends continued after Theodosius death in 395 AD. Theodosius was the last Emperor of both the Western and Eastern Empire, but even he could not hold it together. Within 15 years Rome would be sacked by the Goths and the Western Empire would be using only German Troops. In the East the Empire became more and more Greek and Egyptian in nature (and would become divided between these two languages in the form of the monophysite Controversy, the Egyptians were Monophysites the Greeks were Orthodox).

Thus the Empire was under great stress the time period of the murder of Hypatia. This was a time period were anybody who did not support the Emperor could be called a Traitor and the destruction of Pagan Temples was more tied in with the Emperor's need for Gold than Religion.

List of Roman Emperors:
http://www.roman-emperors.org/