There's a great article on the Ptolemaic dynasty in the latest issue of the London Review of Books. Tons of fascinating detail. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper

There's a great article on the Ptolemaic dynasty in the latest issue of the London Review of Books. Tons of fascinating detail. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/robert-cioffi/pharaoh-in-all-but-name https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/robert-cioffi/pharao... For instance, the Library of Alexandria had up to 500,000 scrolls (which of course were all handwritten). And it was partly stocked by confiscating all the books from any ship that happened to dock in the nearby port.