Founding of Alexandria (331 BC) by Alexander the Great

The founding of Alexandria in 331 BC was one of the most lasting acts of Alexander the Great. During his stay in Egypt, the young Macedonian king chose a strip of coast west of the Nile Delta and ordered a new Greek city to be built there. Under the Ptolemies Alexandria became the capital of Egypt, home of a famous library and lighthouse, and one of the great cities of the ancient world.

Alexander arrives in Egypt

In 333 BC Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III at Issus. Instead of pursuing him into Mesopotamia, Alexander marched down the coast of the Levant, taking the Phoenician ports. The great island city of Tyre fell after a seven-month siege in 332 BC, and Gaza followed.

In late 332 BC Alexander entered Egypt, which had been ruled by Persia since 343 BC. The Persian satrap surrendered without a fight, and many Egyptians welcomed the Macedonians as liberators. At Memphis, the old capital, Alexander made offerings to the Egyptian gods, including the sacred Apis bull.

From Memphis he sailed down the western branch of the Nile to the coast. It was there, near the small Egyptian settlement of Rhakotis, that he chose the site for a new city.

Choosing the site

The site had several advantages. A narrow limestone ridge ran between the Mediterranean and Lake Mareotis, a large lake linked to the Nile. Just offshore lay the island of Pharos, which sheltered the coast and created natural harbours.

The location also lay some 20 to 30 km west of the Canopic mouth of the Nile. Currents carried the river’s silt eastward, so the harbours would not clog up as the Delta ports did. A canal through Lake Mareotis connected the city to the Nile, allowing grain and goods from all of Egypt to reach its quays.

Ancient writers say Alexander was attracted by the site’s natural beauty and its potential as a trading port. Plutarch adds that he dreamed of Homer reciting lines about the island of Pharos, which convinced him to build there. Whatever his motives, the city gave Egypt a port facing the Greek world.

Laying out the city

According to Arrian and Plutarch, Alexander marked out the main features himself: the agora, the temples to Greek gods and to Isis, and the line of the walls. The planning is credited to the architect Deinocrates of Rhodes, who designed a regular grid of streets.

A famous story tells that there was no chalk to mark the outline, so the builders used barley meal. Flocks of birds then came and ate it. The king was alarmed, but his seers declared that the city would be rich and would feed people from many lands. The story is told in slightly different forms by Plutarch, Arrian and other writers.

The city was laid out with a broad main avenue, later called the Canopic Way, running east to west, crossed by a second major street. A causeway called the Heptastadion, seven stadia long (about 1.2 km), was later built to connect Pharos to the mainland, dividing the sea front into two harbours.

The date of the foundation

The exact date is uncertain. A tradition preserved in the Alexander Romance places the foundation on 25 Tybi in the Egyptian calendar, equivalent to 7 April 331 BC. Arrian says Alexander founded the city before his journey to the oracle of Ammon at Siwa, while other sources say he founded it on his return.

Either way, Alexander did not stay long. In spring 331 BC he left Egypt for Mesopotamia, where he defeated Darius again at Gaugamela that October. He never saw his city built.

Building and growth

Construction was overseen by Cleomenes of Naucratis, a Greek from Egypt whom Alexander put in charge of the country’s finances. Cleomenes raised money through harsh taxes and grain dealing and moved the trade of the older port of Canopus to Alexandria.

After Alexander died in 323 BC, Egypt went to his general Ptolemy, the subject of Ptolemy I Soter. Ptolemy had Cleomenes killed, seized Alexander’s body on its way to Macedonia and brought it to Egypt. He moved his government from Memphis to Alexandria, probably by about 311 BC, and the king’s body was eventually buried there in a tomb known as the Soma.

Under the first Ptolemies the city flourished. They founded the Mouseion, a research institute, and the Library of Alexandria, which attracted scholars from across the Greek world. The Lighthouse of Alexandria on Pharos, completed in the early 3rd century BC, became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

A city of many peoples

Alexandria was a Greek city in Egypt, rather than an Egyptian city. Its citizens were mainly Greeks and Macedonians, but it also had a large Egyptian population, centred in the old district of Rhakotis, and one of the largest Jewish communities in the ancient world. It was in Alexandria that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the version known as the Septuagint.

By the 1st century BC the historian Diodorus estimated its free population at about 300,000. Modern historians suggest the total population, including slaves, may have reached 500,000 or more, making it one of the largest cities of its time.

Key people

• Alexander the Great: King of Macedon (336-323 BC), who chose the site and ordered the foundation during his conquest of the Persian Empire.
• Deinocrates of Rhodes: The architect credited with the city’s regular street plan.
• Cleomenes of Naucratis: Alexander’s financial administrator in Egypt, who oversaw the early building work.
• Ptolemy I Soter: Alexander’s general and later king of Egypt, who made Alexandria his capital.

Later history

Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt under the Ptolemies until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, and then under Roman and Byzantine rule. It was a leading centre of early Christianity and the seat of a powerful patriarch. After the Arab conquest in AD 641 the capital moved inland to Fustat, near modern Cairo, and the city slowly declined.

Much of ancient Alexandria now lies beneath the modern city or under the sea, as earthquakes and rising water levels submerged parts of the old royal quarter. Since the 1990s underwater archaeologists have mapped remains in the Eastern Harbour, including statues, columns and blocks thought to come from the lighthouse.

By the numbers

Timeline

• 333 BC, November: Alexander defeats Darius III at Issus.
• 332 BC: Alexander takes Tyre and Gaza and enters Egypt.
• 331 BC, early (traditionally 7 April): Alexandria is founded.
• 331 BC, spring: Alexander leaves Egypt for Mesopotamia.
• 323 BC, June: Alexander dies in Babylon; Ptolemy becomes satrap of Egypt.
• c. 311 BC: Ptolemy’s government is based in Alexandria.
• c. 280 BC: The Lighthouse of Alexandria is completed.
• 30 BC: Rome annexes Egypt; Alexandria becomes the second city of the Roman Empire.
• AD 641: The Arab conquest of Egypt; the capital later moves inland.

Why it matters

Alexander founded many cities named after himself, but Alexandria was by far the most successful. For almost a thousand years it was the capital of Egypt and a centre of trade, science, scholarship and religion, linking the Greek world with Egypt and the East. It remains Egypt’s second largest city, and its foundation is a clear example of how Alexander’s conquests reshaped the map of the ancient world.