Editing Library of Alexandria (section)

==Under Ptolemaic patronage==
===Founding===
[[File:Ptolemy II MAN Napoli Inv5600.jpg|thumb|Bust excavated at the [[Villa of the Papyri]] depicting [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]], who is believed to have been the one to establish the Library as an actual institution,{{sfn|Phillips|2010}} although plans for it may have been developed by his father [[Ptolemy I Soter]]{{sfn|Tracy|2000|pp=343-344}}]]

The Library was one of the largest and most significant [[List of libraries in the ancient world|libraries of the ancient world]], but details about it are a mixture of history and legend.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pp=1-2}} The earliest known surviving source of information on the founding of the Library of Alexandria is the [[pseudepigraphic]] ''[[Letter of Aristeas]]'', which was composed between {{circa}} 180 and {{circa}} 145 BC.<ref name="Lindberg1980" />{{sfn|Tracy|2000|page=343}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=2}} It claims the Library was founded during the reign of [[Ptolemy I Soter]] ({{circa}} 323–{{circa}} 283 BC) and that it was initially organized by [[Demetrius of Phalerum]], a student of [[Aristotle]] who had been exiled from Athens and taken refuge in Alexandria within the Ptolemaic court.{{sfn|Tracy|2000|page=343}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=2}}<ref>''Letter of Aristeas'', [http://www.attalus.org/translate/aristeas1.html#9 9–12].</ref> Nonetheless, the ''Letter of Aristeas'' is very late and contains information that is now known to be inaccurate.{{sfn|Tracy|2000|page=343}} According to [[Diogenes Laertius]], Demetrius was a student of [[Theophrastus]], a student of Aristotle.<ref>{{cite LotEP|year=1925b |chapter=Demetrius |§=75–85 }}</ref> Other sources claim that the Library was instead created under the reign of Ptolemy I's son [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (283–246 BC).{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}

Modern scholars agree that, while it is possible that Ptolemy I, who was a historian and author{{sfn|Casson|2001|p=32}} of an account of Alexander's campaign, may have laid the groundwork for the Library, it probably did not come into being as a physical institution until the reign of Ptolemy II.{{sfn|Tracy|2000|page=343}} By that time, Demetrius of Phalerum had fallen out of favor with the Ptolemaic court. He probably would not, therefore, have had any role in establishing the Library as an institution.{{sfn|Tracy|2000|pages=343–344}} [[Stephen V. Tracy]], however, argues that it is highly probable that Demetrius played an important role in collecting at least some of the earliest texts that would later become part of the Library's collection.{{sfn|Tracy|2000|pages=343–344}} In around 295 BC, Demetrius may have acquired early texts of the writings of Aristotle and [[Theophrastus]], which he would have been uniquely positioned to do since he was a distinguished member of the [[Peripatetic school]].{{sfn|Tracy|2000|pages=344–345}}

The Library was built in the Brucheion (Royal Quarter) as part of the [[Mouseion]].{{sfn|Wiegand|Davis|2015|p=19}}{{efn|"Mouseion" means "House of Muses", whence the term "museum".<ref>Entry [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2368883 Μουσείον] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912160936/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2368883 |date=12 September 2007 }} at [[Liddell & Scott]].</ref>}} Its main purpose was to show off the wealth of Egypt, with research as a lesser goal,<ref name="Lindberg1980">{{cite book|author=David C. Lindberg|author-link=David C. Lindberg|title=Science in the Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOCriv4rSCUC&pg=PA5|access-date=11 January 2013|date=15 March 1980|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-48233-0|page=5}}</ref> but its contents were used to aid the ruler of Egypt.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pp=1–}} The exact layout of the library is not known, but ancient sources describe the Library of Alexandria as comprising a collection of scrolls, Greek columns, a {{wikt-lang|en|Peripatetic|peripatos}} walk, a room for shared dining, a reading room, meeting rooms, gardens, and lecture halls, creating a model for the modern university [[campus]].{{sfn|Lyons|2011|p=26}} A hall contained shelves for the collections of papyrus scrolls known as ''bibliothekai'' (''βιβλιοθῆκαι''). According to popular description, an inscription above the shelves read: "The place of the cure of the soul."<ref name="Alberto2008">Manguel, Alberto (2008).''The Library at Night''. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 26.</ref>

===Early expansion and organization===
[[File:Antikes Alexandria Karte.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of ancient Alexandria. The Mouseion was located in the royal Broucheion quarter (listed on this map as "Bruchium") in the central part of the city near the Great Harbor ("Portus Magnus" on the map).{{sfn|Barnes|2000|page=62}}]]

The Ptolemaic rulers intended the Library to be a collection of all knowledge{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pp=1–}} and they worked to expand the Library's collections through an aggressive and well-funded policy of book purchasing.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=34}} They dispatched royal agents with large amounts of money and ordered them to purchase and collect as many texts as they possibly could, about any subject and by any author.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=34}} Older copies of texts were favored over newer ones, since it was assumed that older copies had undergone less copying and that they were therefore more likely to more closely resemble what the original author had written.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=34}} This program involved trips to the book fairs of [[Rhodes]] and [[Athens]].<ref>Erksine, Andrew (1995). "Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Museum and Library of Alexandria". ''Greece & Rome'', 2nd ser., 42(1), 38–48.</ref> According to the Greek medical writer [[Galen]], under the decree of Ptolemy II, any books found on ships that came into port were taken to the library, where they were copied by official scribes.<ref name="Galen">[[Galen]], xvii.a, [http://www.attalus.org/translate/extracts.html#17a.605 p. 606].</ref>{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pages=4–5}}{{sfn|Haughton|2011}}{{sfn|Fox|1986|page=341}} The original texts were kept in the library, and the copies delivered to the owners.<ref name="Galen" />{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}{{sfn|Haughton|2011}}{{sfn|Fox|1986|page=341}} The Library particularly focused on acquiring manuscripts of the Homeric poems, which were the foundation of Greek education and revered above all other poems.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=36}} The Library therefore acquired many different manuscripts of these poems, tagging each copy with a label to indicate where it had come from.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=36}}

In addition to collecting works from the past, the Mouseion which housed the Library also served as home to a host of international scholars, poets, philosophers, and researchers, who, according to the first-century BC Greek geographer [[Strabo]], were provided with a large salary, free food and lodging, and exemption from taxes.<ref name="Kennedy1999">[[George A. Kennedy (classicist)|Kennedy, George]]. ''The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Classical Criticism,'' New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1999.</ref>{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=33–34}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}} They had a large, circular dining hall with a high domed ceiling in which they ate meals communally.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}} There were also numerous classrooms, where the scholars were expected to at least occasionally teach students.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}} Ptolemy II Philadelphus is said to have had a keen interest in zoology, so it has been speculated that the Mouseion may have even had a zoo for exotic animals.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}} According to classical scholar [[Lionel Casson]], the idea was that if the scholars were completely freed from all the burdens of everyday life they would be able to devote more time to research and intellectual pursuits.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=34}} Strabo called the group of scholars who lived at the Mouseion a [[:wikt:σύνοδος|σύνοδος]] ({{lang|grc-Latn|synodos}}, "community").{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}} As early as 283 BC, they may have numbered between thirty and fifty learned men.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}}

===Early scholarship===
The Library of Alexandria was not affiliated with any particular philosophical school; consequently, scholars who studied there had considerable academic freedom.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} They were, however, subject to the authority of the king.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} One likely apocryphal story is told of a poet named [[Sotades]] who wrote an obscene epigram making fun of Ptolemy II for marrying his sister [[Arsinoe II]].{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} Ptolemy II is said to have jailed him and, after he escaped and was caught again, sealed him in a lead jar and dropped him into the sea.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} As a religious center, the Mouseion was directed by a priest of the Muses known as an ''epistates'', who was appointed by the king in the same manner as the priests who managed the various [[Egyptian temples]].{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pages=3–4}} The Library itself was directed by a scholar who served as [[:Category:Librarians of Alexandria|head librarian]], as well as tutor to the king's son.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}}{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}}

The first recorded head librarian was [[Zenodotus of Ephesus]] (lived {{circa|325|270 BC}}).{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Zenodotus' main work was devoted to the establishment of canonical texts for the Homeric poems and the early Greek lyric poets.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Most of what is known about him comes from later commentaries that mention his preferred readings of particular passages.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} Zenodotus is known to have written a glossary of rare and unusual words, which was organized in [[alphabetical order]], making him the first person known to have employed alphabetical order as a method of organization.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Since the collection at the Library of Alexandria seems to have been organized in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author's name from very early, Casson concludes that it is highly probable that Zenodotus was the one who organized it in this way.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Zenodotus' system of alphabetization, however, only used the first letter of the word{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} and it was not until the second century AD that anyone is known to have applied the same method of alphabetization to the remaining letters of the word.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}}

Meanwhile, the scholar and poet [[Callimachus]] compiled the ''[[Pinakes]]'', a 120-book catalogue of various authors and all their known works.{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} The ''Pinakes'' has not survived, but enough references to it and fragments of it have survived to allow scholars to reconstruct its basic structure.{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} The ''Pinakes'' was divided into multiple sections, each containing entries for writers of a particular genre of literature.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} The most basic division was between writers of poetry and prose, with each section divided into smaller subsections.{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} Each section listed authors in alphabetical order.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} Each entry included the author's name, father's name, place of birth, and other brief biographical information, sometimes including nicknames by which that author was known, followed by a complete list of all that author's known works.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} The entries for prolific authors such as [[Aeschylus]], [[Euripides]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Theophrastus]] must have been extremely long, spanning multiple columns of text.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} Although Callimachus did his most famous work at the Library of Alexandria, he never held the position of head librarian there.{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} Callimachus' pupil [[Hermippus of Smyrna]] wrote biographies, [[Philostephanus of Cyrene]] studied geography, and [[Istros the Callimachean|Istros]] (who may have also been from Cyrene) studied Attic antiquities.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}} In addition to the Great Library, many other smaller libraries also began to spring up all around the city of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}

[[File:Archimedes-screw one-screw-threads with-ball 3D-view animated small.gif|thumb|According to legend, the Syracusan inventor [[Archimedes]] invented the [[Archimedes' screw]], a pump for transporting water, while studying at the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}}]]

After Zenodotus either died or retired, Ptolemy II Philadelphus appointed [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] (lived {{circa|295|215 BC}}), a native of Alexandria and a student of Callimachus, as the second head librarian of the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} Philadelphus also appointed Apollonius of Rhodes as the tutor to his son, the future [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]].{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}} Apollonius of Rhodes is best known as the author of the ''[[Argonautica]]'', an epic poem about the voyages of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]], which has survived to the present in its complete form.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} The ''Argonautica'' displays Apollonius' vast knowledge of history and literature and makes allusions to a vast array of events and texts while simultaneously imitating the style of the Homeric poems.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}} Some fragments of his scholarly writings have also survived, but he is generally more famous today as a poet than as a scholar.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}

According to legend, during the librarianship of Apollonius, the mathematician and inventor [[Archimedes]] (lived {{circa}} 287 –{{circa}} 212 BC) came to visit the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} During his time in Egypt, Archimedes is said to have observed the rise and fall of the [[Nile]], leading him to invent the [[Archimedes' screw]], which can be used to transport water from low-lying bodies into irrigation ditches.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} Archimedes later returned to Syracuse, where he continued making new inventions.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}}

According to two late and largely unreliable biographies, Apollonius was forced to resign from his position as head librarian and moved to the island of Rhodes (after which he takes his name) on account of the hostile reception he received in Alexandria to the first draft of his ''Argonautica''.{{sfn|Montana|2015|pages=109–110}} It is more likely that Apollonius' resignation was on account of Ptolemy III Euergetes' ascension to the throne in 246 BC.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}}

===Later scholarship and expansion===
The third head librarian, [[Eratosthenes of Cyrene]] (lived {{circa}} 280–{{circa}} 194 BC), is best known today for his scientific works, but he was also a literary scholar.{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=114}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} Eratosthenes' most important work was his treatise ''Geographika'', which was originally in three volumes.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=115}} The work itself has not survived, but many fragments of it are preserved through quotation in the writings of the later geographer [[Strabo]].{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=115}} Eratosthenes was the first scholar to apply mathematics to geography and map-making{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=116}} and, in his treatise ''Concerning the Measurement of the Earth'', he calculated the circumference of the earth and was only off by less than a few hundred kilometers.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=116}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=41}} Eratosthenes also produced a map of the entire known world, which incorporated information taken from sources held in the Library, including accounts of [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Alexander the Great's campaigns in India]] and reports written by members of Ptolemaic elephant-hunting expeditions along the coast of [[East Africa]].{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=41}}

Eratosthenes was the first person to advance geography towards becoming a scientific discipline.{{sfn|Montana|2015|pages=116–117}} Eratosthenes believed that the setting of the Homeric poems was purely imaginary and argued that the purpose of poetry was "to capture the soul", rather than to give a historically accurate account of actual events.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=115}} Strabo quotes him as having sarcastically commented, "a man might find the places of Odysseus' wanderings if the day were to come when he would find the leatherworker who stitched the goatskin of the winds."{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=115}} Meanwhile, scholars at the Library of Alexandria displayed interest in other scientific subjects.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pages=6–7}} [[Bacchius of Tanagra]], a contemporary of Eratosthenes, edited and commented on the medical writings of the [[Hippocratic Corpus]].{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}} The doctors [[Herophilos|Herophilus]] (lived {{circa}} 335–{{circa}} 280 BC) and [[Erasistratus]] ({{circa}} 304–{{circa}} 250 BC) studied [[human anatomy]], but their studies were hindered by protests against the [[dissection]] of human corpses, which was seen as immoral.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=7}}

According to Galen, around this time, Ptolemy III requested permission from the Athenians to borrow the original manuscripts of [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Euripides]], for which the Athenians demanded the enormous amount of fifteen [[Talent (measurement)|talents]] ({{convert|1000|lbs|kg|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) of a precious metal as guarantee that he would return them.<ref name="Galenxviia">[[Galen]], xvii.a, [http://www.attalus.org/translate/extracts.html#17a.605 p. 607]</ref>{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=35}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|pages=147–148}} Ptolemy III had expensive copies of the plays made on the highest quality papyrus and sent the Athenians the copies, keeping the original manuscripts for the library {{sfn|Phillips|2010}} and telling the Athenians they could keep the talents.<ref name="Galenxviia"/>{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=35}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|pages=147–148}} This story may also be construed erroneously to show the power of Alexandria over Athens during the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]]. This detail arises from the fact that Alexandria was a man-made bidirectional port between the mainland and the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|Pharos]] island, welcoming trade from the East and West, and soon found itself to be an international hub for trade, the leading producer of papyrus and, soon enough, books.{{sfn|Trumble|MacIntyre Marshall|2003}} As the Library expanded, it ran out of space to house the scrolls in its collection, so, during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes, it opened a satellite collection in the [[Serapeum of Alexandria]], a temple to the Greco-Egyptian god [[Serapis]] located near the royal palace.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=34}}{{sfn|Haughton|2011}}

===Peak of literary criticism===
[[File:Alexandria - Pompey's Pillar - view of ruins.JPG|thumb|Present-day ruins of the [[Serapeum of Alexandria]], where the Library of Alexandria moved part of its collection after it ran out of storage space in the main building{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}]]

[[Aristophanes of Byzantium]] (lived {{circa}} 257–{{circa}} 180 BC) became the fourth head librarian sometime around 200 BC.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=38}} According to a legend recorded by the Roman writer [[Vitruvius]], Aristophanes was one of seven judges appointed for a poetry competition hosted by Ptolemy III Euergetes.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=38}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|pages=148–149}} All six of the other judges favored one competitor, but Aristophanes favored the one whom the audience had liked the least.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=38}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|page=149}} Aristophanes declared that all of the poets except for the one he had chosen had committed plagiarism and were therefore disqualified.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=38}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|page=149}} The king demanded that he prove this, so he retrieved the texts that the authors had plagiarized from the Library, locating them by memory.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=38}}{{sfn|McKeown|2013|page=149}} On account of his impressive memory and diligence, Ptolemy III appointed him as head librarian.{{sfn|McKeown|2013|page=149}}

The librarianship of Aristophanes of Byzantium is widely considered to have opened a more mature phase of scholarship in the Library of Alexandria's history.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=118}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=7}} During this phase, [[literary criticism]] reached its peak{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=118}} and came to dominate the Library's scholarly output.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pages=7–8}} Aristophanes of Byzantium edited poetic texts and introduced the division of poems into separate lines on the page, since they had previously been written out just like prose.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|pages=5, 93}} He also invented the system of [[Greek diacritics]],{{sfn|Dickey|2007|pages=5, 92–93}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=7}} wrote important works on [[lexicography]],{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} and introduced a series of signs for textual criticism.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=93}} He wrote introductions to many plays, some of which have survived in partially rewritten forms.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}

The fifth head librarian was an obscure individual named [[Apollonius Eidographus]], who is known by the epithet {{langx|grc|ὁ εἰδογράφος}} ("the classifier of forms").{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=129}} One late lexicographical source explains this epithet as referring to the classification of poetry on the basis of musical forms.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=129}}

During the early second century BC, several scholars at the Library of Alexandria studied works on medicine.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}} Zeuxis the Empiricist is credited with having written commentaries on the Hippocratic Corpus{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}} and he actively worked to procure medical writings for the Library's collection.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}} A scholar named Ptolemy Epithetes wrote a treatise on wounds in the Homeric poems, a subject straddling the line between traditional philology and medicine.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=117}} However, it was also during the early second century BC that the political power of Ptolemaic Egypt began to decline.{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}} After the [[Battle of Raphia]] in 217 BC, Ptolemaic power became increasingly unstable.{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}} There were uprisings among segments of the Egyptian population and, in the first half of the second century BC, connection with [[Upper Egypt]] became largely disrupted.{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}} Ptolemaic rulers also began to emphasize the Egyptian aspect of their nation over the Greek aspect.{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}} Consequently, many Greek scholars began to leave Alexandria for safer countries with more generous patronages.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}}

[[Aristarchus of Samothrace]] (lived {{circa}} 216–{{circa}} 145 BC) was the sixth head librarian.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} He earned a reputation as the greatest of all ancient scholars and produced not only texts of classic poems and works of prose, but full ''[[hypomnema]]ta'', or long, free-standing commentaries, on them.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} These commentaries would typically cite a passage of a classical text, explain its meaning, define any unusual words used in it, and comment on whether the words in the passage were really those used by the original author or if they were later interpolations added by scribes.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=43}} He made many contributions to a variety of studies, but particularly the study of the Homeric poems,{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} and his editorial opinions are widely quoted by ancient authors as authoritative.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} A portion of one of Aristarchus' commentaries on the ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' of [[Herodotus]] has survived in a papyrus fragment.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=43}} In 145 BC, however, Aristarchus became caught up in a dynastic struggle in which he supported [[Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator]] as the ruler of Egypt.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=130}} Ptolemy VII was murdered and succeeded by [[Ptolemy VIII Physcon]], who immediately set about punishing all those who had supported his predecessor, forcing Aristarchus to flee Egypt and take refuge on the island of [[Cyprus]], where he died shortly after.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=130}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} Ptolemy VIII expelled all foreign scholars from Alexandria, forcing them to disperse across the Eastern Mediterranean.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Meyboom|1995|page=173}}