Latin Background Information

Location of Alexandria: 

• had 3 harbours: the Great harbour, Western Harbour and Lake Harbour. 
• Lake Harbour: goods were brought by a further canal, or overland, to the Red Sea; this was the route that led to India 
• city was chosen by the Greek king, Alexander the Great, when he came to Egypt in 331 BC; was to be the new centre of trade and civilisation
• excellent agricultural land, fine harbour, good anchorage, healthy climate and fresh water, and limestone quarries
• by the 1st century AD, Egypt had become part of the Roman empire
• excellently placed for trading on large scale: stood at meeting place of great trade routes
• good for merchants and businessmen: safe harbour for their ships, large number of dock-workers to handle their cargoes, huge warehouses for storage and busy market for buying and selling
• import: luxury goods (bronze statues from Greece, fine Italian wines) and raw matirials (wood and marble)
• export: wheat, papyrus, glassware...

Alexandria - inside the city: 

• streets set out in a grid system, crossing each other at right angles
• the main street, Canopus Street was more than 30m wide
• some houses were several storeys high
• many public buildings were built of marble
• by the Great Harbour was Royal Quarter: ara containing places…