to fulfill one of humanity's most audacious goals:

實現人類最具野心的目標：

to collect all the knowledge in the world under one roof.

將全世界的知識匯集於此

In its prime,

在帝國的全盛時期

the Library of Alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls

亞歷山大圖書館的館藏量相當驚人

and attracted some of the Greek world's greatest minds.

也吸引了來自希臘世界的傑出學者們

But by the end of the 5th century C.E., the great library had vanished.

但在西元 5 世紀結束前，這座圖書館卻消失了

Many believed it was destroyed in a catastrophic fire.

很多人認為它毀於一場無情的大火

The truth of the library's rise and fall is much more complex.

但這座圖書館的興亡可能遠比我們想得還要複雜

The idea for the library came from Alexander the Great.

最初，亞歷山大大帝興起了興建圖書館的念頭

After establishing himself as a conqueror,

在他橫掃歐亞非成為征服者之後

the former student of Aristotle turned his attention

這位亞里斯多德的學生便轉而思考

to building an empire of knowledge headquartered in his namesake city.

如何把這座以他的名字來命名的城市打造成知識帝國

He died before construction began,

在圖書館建造之前，亞歷山大大帝就已過世

but his successor, Ptolemy I, executed Alexander's plans for a museum and library.

但他的繼任者 - 托勒密一世實踐了亞歷山大想建造博物館及圖書館的計劃

Located in the royal district of the city,

亞歷山大圖書館座落於王公貴族所活動的區域

the Library of Alexandria may have been built with grand Hellenistic columns,

它也許建有希臘式石柱

native Egyptian influences or a unique blend of the two.

或受埃及本地建築的影響，亦有可能是兩種風格的獨特融合

There are no surviving accounts of its architecture.

但這座建築物的遺址早已消失了

We do know it had lecture halls, classrooms, and, of course, shelves.

我們只知道它有講堂、教室，當然還有許多書櫃

As soon as the building was complete,

當圖書館一落成

Ptolemy I began to fill it with primarily Greek and Egyptian scrolls.

托勒密一世便在裡面擺滿希臘和埃及的典籍

He invited scholars to live and study in Alexandria at his expense.

他也聘請各方學者住在亞歷山卓做研究

The library grew as they contributed their own manuscripts,

隨著學者們的研究手稿逐漸累積，圖書館也日益茁壯

but the rulers of Alexandria still wanted a copy of every book in the world.

但亞歷山卓的統治者們依然渴望將全世界的書都收藏於此

Luckily, Alexandria was a hub for ships traveling through the Mediterranean.

幸運的是，亞歷山卓對那些來往於地中海的船隻來說就是個中繼站

Ptolemy III instituted a policy requiring any ship that docked in Alexandria

所以托勒密三世制定了一項政策，要求任何在亞歷山卓停泊的船隻

to turn over its books for copying.

都要交出他們的書籍以供傳抄

Once the Library's scribes had duplicated the texts,

當圖書館的抄寫員抄寫完畢

they kept the originals and sent the copies back to the ships.

他們就會留下原典，轉而將抄寫完的複本交還

Hired book hunters also scoured the Mediterranean in search of new texts,

受雇的獵書者也會走遍地中海區域以蒐羅新的著作

and the rulers of Alexandria attempted to quash rivals

亞歷山卓的統治者們為了打壓其他圖書館的藏書量

by ending all exports of the Egyptian papyrus used to make scrolls.

便禁止出口用來書寫的埃及沙草紙

These efforts brought hundreds of thousands of books to Alexandria.

這些方法將數十萬的書籍帶入亞歷山卓

As the library grew, it became possible to find information on more subjects than ever before,

當圖書館越來越茁壯，館內可找到的資料也越來越豐富多元

but also much more difficult to find information on any specific subject.

但要從汪洋書海中尋找特定的資訊也成了一件難事

Luckily, a scholar named Callimachus of Cyrene set to work on a solution,

幸好當時的一名學者 - 卡利馬科斯想到了一個妙計

creating the pinakes, a 120-volume catalog of the library's contents, the first of its kind.

他替圖書館的藏書編纂了長達 120 卷的總錄，可說是文獻分類的始祖

Using the pinakes, others were able to navigate the Library's swelling collection.

有了總錄，人們就能從龐雜的書堆中找到他想要的資訊

They made some astounding discoveries.

而圖書館的興起也造就了一些驚人的發現

1,600 years before Columbus set sail,

在哥倫布啟航的前 1600 年

Eratosthenes not only realized the earth was round,

埃拉托斯特尼不僅已經發現地球是圓的

but calculated its circumference and diameter

還計算出地球的圓周及直徑

within a few miles of their actual size.

跟現今測量出的實際長度只有幾哩之差

Heron of Alexandria created the world's first steam engine

希羅發明了世上第一台蒸汽機

over a thousand years before it was finally reinvented during the Industrial Revolution.

經過了一千多年，工業革命時期才將希羅的蒸汽機加以改造

For about 300 years after its founding in 283 B.C.E., the library thrived.

圖書館竣工約三百年後 (西元前 283 年)，它依舊持續蓬勃發展

But then, in 48 B.C.E., Julius Caesar laid siege to Alexandria

但在西元前 48 年，朱利葉斯·凱撒的軍隊包圍了亞歷山卓

and set the ships in the harbor on fire.

並以火攻燒毀港口的船隻

For years, scholars believed the library burned as the blaze spread into the city.

多年來，學者們深信圖書館是被延燒至城市的大火所毀

It's possible the fire destroyed part of the sprawling collection,

大火有可能燒毀這座書城裡部分的書籍

but we know from ancient writings that

但根據過往的紀錄，我們得知

scholars continued to visit the library for centuries after the siege.

在此次的圍攻之後還是有學者不斷造訪亞歷山大圖書館

Ultimately, the library slowly disappeared as the city changed from

而最終，這座圖書館是逐漸隨著政權的移轉而消失

Greek to Roman, Christian, and eventually Muslim hands.

從希臘到羅馬、基督徒，最後到穆斯林手中

Each new set of rulers viewed its contents as a threat rather than a source of pride.

每一批新的統治者都會視這些典籍為威脅，而非以前人的智慧為傲

In 415 C.E., the Christian rulers even had a mathematician named Hypatia

在西元 415 年，基督徒統治者甚至殺了一名叫希帕提亞的數學家

murdered for studying the library's ancient Greek texts,

就因為她研究圖書館的古希臘書籍

which they viewed as blasphemous.

這樣的行為在當時被視為對宗教的褻瀆

Though the Library of Alexandria and its countless texts are long gone,

即便亞歷山大圖書館多不勝數的藏書都已不復存在

we're still grappling with the best ways to collect, access, and preserve our knowledge.

我們仍盡力去收集、取得並保存我們現有的知識

There's more information available today and more advanced technology to preserve it,

當今有越來越多隨手可得的資訊，而且也有先進的科技可以將其留存

though we can't know for sure that our digital archives

雖然我們不確定這些數位檔案

will be more resistant to destruction than Alexandria's ink and paper scrolls.

跟當時亞歷山大圖書館的紙本資料比起來會來得更好保存

And even if our reservoirs of knowledge are physically secure,

又或許即使我們真的將這些知識以非常安全的形式保存

they will still have to resist the more insidious forces that tore the library apart:

它們也必須對抗能夠將圖書館直接摧毀的潛在勢力

fear of knowledge and the arrogant belief that the past is obsolete.

對知識的恐懼以及傲慢地認為過去的一切都是陳腐的

The difference is that, this time, we know what to prepare for.

但跟過去不同的是，這一次我們都知道該如何做好準備了