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¤ ALEXANDER OF SELEUCIA (fl. 2nd century A.D.) Sophist, platonic expert and the head of
Marcus Aurelius' Greek secretariat during the last part of his reign. Alexander was born in Seleucia and
became one of the Empire's leading Platonists, for which he received the name Pelo-plato, the "clay
Plato." His gift for words brought him to the attention of Emperor Antoninus Pius. Admiring him also,
Marcus Aurelius summoned Alexander during the MARCOMANNIC WARS (166-175, 177-180 A.D.)
and sent him to the Danube frontier, where he was given the post of secretary. His time was well
rewarded by Herodes Atticus, the tutor and powerful advisor to the emperor. Alexander died at his post
but was mentioned in the works of the writer Philostratus and by the emperor in his Meditations.
¤ ALEXANDRIA The city in Egypt founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C.; by the 2nd century
B.C., Alexandria was a rival of Rome in prosperity and in trade connections, resting as it did on a
centrally convenient location that served as a meeting place between the Eastern and Western worlds.
Further, the city emerged culturally under the Ptolemies as a center for intellectual achievement. The
Great Library of Egypt was located in Alexandria, and the metropolis was inhabitated by Greeks,
Egyptians, Romans, Syrians, Africans and large groups of Jews.
Ptolemy X, king of Egypt, came to the realization in 80 B.C. that any prolonged resistance to Rome
would be futile and requested incorporation into the provincial system. Troubles seemed to haunt the city
ever after. King Ptolemy XIII, desiring the sole kingship, feuded with his sister, CLEOPATRA; and
Pompey the Great, fleeing to Alexandria in 48 B.C., drew Julius Caesar into the struggle. Caesar
audaciously tried to hold the city against an Egyptian army led by Achillas and Ptolemy and joined by
irate Alexandrians.
Augustus subjected the city to Roman control when he become emperor in 27 B.C.; unlike most
provinces, strict laws were maintained. A prefect was placed over the territory, with his central
administrative office in Alexandria. A large contingent of Roman troops were stationed in the city,
because of the continued unrest in the streets. No city council existed, although the magistrates were
appointed from the local population, and certain ethnic groups, such as the Jews, maintained private
societies.
Social disorder remained a constant factor, but in 200 A.D. Emperor Septimius Severus decreed the
creation of city councils. For the rest of the Roman period Alexandria progressed toward full
municipalization to match the rest of the province and the Empire. But the prefect never lost control, and
Roman garrisons were always alert to trouble.