straight main streets, crossing each other at right angles in a large square, and adorned with handsome houses, temples, and public buildings. The most magnificent quarter of the city was that called the Brucheion, which ran from the center to the eastern harbor. This quarter of the city contained the palaces of the Ptolemies, the Museum, for centuries the focus of the intellectual life of the world, and the famous library; the mausoleum of Alexander the Great and of the Ptolemies the temple of Poseidon, and the great theater. To the S. was the beautiful gymnasium. The Serapeum, or temple of Serapis, stood in the western division of the city, which formed the Egyptian quarter, and was called Rhacōtis; a small town of that name had occupied the site before the foundation of Alexandria. To the W. of the city lay the great Necropolis, and to the E. the race-course and suburbs of Nicopolis. From the time of its foundation, Alexandria was the Greek capital of Egypt. After the death of Alexander the Great, Alexandria became the residence of the Ptolemies. They made it, next to Rome and Antioch, the most magnificent city of antiquity, as well as the chief seat of Greek learning and literature.
Alexandria had reached its greatest splendor when, on the death of Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemies, in 30 B. c, it came into the possession of the Romans. In the reign of Caracalla, however, it suffered severely; and the rise of Constantinople promoted the decay of Alexandria. Christianity was introduced, according to tradition, by St. Mark. In the 2d century its adherents were very numerous. The Serapeum, the last seat of heathen theology and learning, was stormed by the Christians in 389 A. D., and converted into a Christian church. Alexandria was a chief seat of Christian theology till it was taken by the Arabs, under Amru, in 641, at which time it was much injured. The choice of Cairo as capital of the Egyptian caliphs hastened the now rapid decay of the city, and when, in 1517, the Turks took the place, the remains of its former splendor wholly vanished, walls and buildings being reduced to ruins. Under Mehemet Ali, however, the tide turned, and the city recovered rapidly. It is now again one of the most important commercial places on the Mediterranean. In 1882, during the rising of Arabi Pasha, serious damage was done to the city. The Europeans were maltreated; and as Arabi would not desist from strengthening the fortifications, an English fleet, in the interests of the Khedive, bombarded the forts of Alexandria, and British forces occupied the city.
The present city (called Skanderieh by the Arabs) is not situated exactly on the site of the old one, but is chiefly built on the mole. The ever increasing Frankish quarters have quite a European appearance, and swarm with cafés shops, theaters, and the like. The castle stands near the old Pharos, and the handsome new lighthouse has a revolving light, visible at a distance of 20 miles.
Of the few remaining objects of antiquity the most prominent is Pompey's Pillar, as it is erroneously called. Pop. about 450,000.
ALEXANDRIA, a city of Louisiana, the county-seat of Rapides parish, about 192 miles N. W. of New Orleans. It is on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the Louisiana and Arkansas, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, and other railroads. It is also on the Red river. The city is the center of important commercial and industrial interests, has manufactures of cotton, cottonseed oil, sugar, molasses, and lumber, and is also important as an agricultural center, producing corn, rice, fruit, and vegetables. The city has a handsome Government building, public library. Elks' Home, and an opera house. Pop. (1910) 11,213; (1920) 17,510.
ALEXANDRIA, a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Alexandria co., Va.; on the Potomac river, the Pennsylvania and Southern railroads and trolley line connecting with Washington, D. C., and Mt. Vernon; 6 miles S. of Washington. The river here expands to the width of a mile, and gives the city an excellent harbor that will accommodate the largest ships. The city is an important trade center; has manufactures aggregating $20,000,000 in value annually; and is noted for its educational institutions, which include Washington High School, Potomac, Mt. Vernon and St. Mary's Academies, and, near by, the Theological Seminary and High School of the Diocese of Virginia (Protestant Episcopal). There are two National banks, public school property valued at $35,000, and daily and weekly periodicals. General Braddock made his headquarters here in 1755, and Colonel Ellsworth was shot in the Marshall House, while removing a Confederate flag, in 1861. Pop. (1910) 15,329; (1920) 18,060.
ALEXANDRIAN CODEX, an important manuscript of the sacred Scriptures in Greek, now in the British Museum. It is written on parchment in finely formed
