Antique library. History of the book

I have never counted how many books I have from the ancient series, but now I suddenly wanted to find out.
I acquired ancient literature at different times and did not strive for the books to be in one series, and the “Library of Ancient Literature” series began to be published in 1963. Then the volume “Hellenic Poets” appeared on sale.
For me, this literature began with Homer’s “Iliad” in the Academia edition. I bought it when I was a schoolboy. It is now that academic publications have become highly valued and expensive, but then, in the early fifties, I got the book for 30 rubles. This is a mere trifle in these times! True, the book was missing a dust jacket, but the book was beautifully made. An academic publication is even pleasant to hold in your hands!
Thin, beautiful paper, a portrait of Homer, painting the head (the upper part of the edge of the book's sheets) and even the ribbon - a bookmark! I'm not even talking about the content, the rich reference material - this is the highest level of editorial skill. Accordingly, academic publications are the most authoritative among all others.
Unfortunately, the Academia publishing house did not exist for long: from about 1930 until the 1941 war.
The book was printed at the Red Proletarian printing house. Yes, in 1935 there were still old, experienced craftsmen working there who knew a lot about publishing books. How perfectly all the sheets are folded, there is not a single distortion, the margins are even. It’s not for nothing that I dwell on this for so long, because now books are done much worse, sometimes simply carelessly.

Over time, I was interested to learn that not a single manuscript of ancient authors has reached us - everything was preserved only in the later census. And recently, they even began to say that ancient literature, ALL of it, is a later forgery!

Ancient literature is difficult to read: it is far from us both in writing style and in subject matter. But this does not mean that she has lost reader interest! After all, it was from her that the development of all later literature in the world began. Poems, poems, epics, novels - everything originated in ancient Greece or Rome in ancient times.

Pushkin wrote in his novel “Eugene Onegin” that “he read Apuleius willingly, but did not read Cicero.”
But with what pleasure I read the two-volume work of Cicero, given to me for my birthday! His accusatory speeches are the most interesting detective novels, not to mention the style! Besides, I was simply interested in learning about the life of the Romans. Later I managed to acquire Cicero’s speeches on aesthetics.

I said that the beginning of the ancient series of books in my library was laid by the Iliad, but I knew about the existence of another poem by Homer - the Odyssey. It appeared to me after the publication of the collected works of V. Zhukovsky in 4 volumes. The Odyssey he translated was in the last volume.

It should be noted that the authority of Greece in the ancient world was very high. So high that all the gods of the Roman pantheon are analogues of Greek deities: Zeus - Jupiter, Aphrodite - Venus, etc. And if we talk about literature, many plays by Greek authors were remade by Roman playwrights in a local way and became original works - Roman literature. I'm not talking about fables.

Greek science was also valued throughout the world. Greek philosophers are even mentioned in the poems of Arab poets about Alexander the Great (in the poems about Iskander). So we can say with confidence that copies of books by ancient authors were distributed widely around the world.

The Greeks are considered the founders of drama (Aeschylus and Aristophanes). Herodotus is called the father of history. The Greek Aristotle was a very erudite man. He studied philosophy, logic, literary criticism, etc. On the occasion of the 2000th anniversary of his birth, Moscow State University published a collection book “Ancient Rhetorics”, where Aristotle’s article “Rhetoric” introduces us to the theory of the great thinker on this topic. Rhetoric is also taught in modern conditions.

We know that ancient scientists laid the foundations of materialism. And Lucretius, in his poem “On the Nature of Things,” told his fellow citizens about them in poetic form.
Over time, I acquired Apuleius’s novel “The Golden Ass.”
This is the so-called wandering plot. In 1992, the publishing house “Znanie” published the book “The Lucky One or the Donkey.” This is the folk version of the Golden Ass. It turns out that in those distant times folk art fed professional literature!

Another thing to note is that not all Roman writers were Romans. Thus, Plutarch, who created “Selected Biographies,” was a Greek by origin who was captured by the Romans. And the famous author of the “Jewish War,” Flavius, was a Jew. The very first Roman poet, Andronicus, was Greek. Why did these people, born in other countries, become Roman writers, and not Greek or Jewish? The point is not at all where a person was born, but how he thinks. If the Romans saw a reflection of their thoughts and aspirations in the books of these writers, then these were their authors!
A person can write in any language, but reflect the thoughts of his people, and not those whose language he uses. Many writers from Asia or Africa, for example, write in English or French only because their national language is not yet sufficiently developed for literature.

About the ancient theater.
The ancient theater differs sharply from the modern one, first of all, in that in the ancient theater they did not yet know the psychological display of heroes - the characteristics of the hero were conveyed by a mask and gesture. It was by the appearance of the mask that the audience could understand who was on stage - a villain or a virtuous hero.
In my library I have Herod’s book “Mimiambas”, which contains sketches for mime actors. Although it was not customary for women to play in the ancient theater, they took part in mimic plays.

From some plays by ancient authors, only titles or individual scenes and phrases have reached us.
Ancient literature is the childhood of literature in general. This is precisely why she is interesting to us. Just as it is interesting to follow the life of a great man, it is also interesting to follow the history of the development of literature. Reading the prefaces to such books, you are surprised to learn that we know only crumbs from the entire ancient heritage. A lot of works were lost from natural disasters, from wars, and from the destruction of ancient libraries by Christians.

Often, in order to write Christian texts, monks cleared out the text of ancient manuscripts - parchment was a very expensive material, and they did not always have the means to purchase it. But the most important thing is that interest in ancient literature appeared only somewhere in the 10th century, during the Renaissance. And yet we have a fairly complete understanding of ancient literature.

In my library there is a two-volume edition of the tragedies of Euripides and the complete poetry of Horace.
I was especially interested in comparing Horace’s poem from the third book of odes - “My monument is created” -
with poems on the same topic by Derzhavin and Pushkin.
See for yourself.

My monument has been created. It's more timeless
Copper, and the pyramids are higher than the royal ones.
The corroding rain will not destroy it,
Nor the cruel Boreas...
Horace

I erected a wonderful, eternal monument to myself,
It is harder than metals and higher than the pyramids;
Neither the whirlwind nor the fleeting thunder will break it,
And time's flight will not crush it.

Derzhavin

I erected a monument to myself, not man-made,
The people's path to him will not be overgrown,
He ascended proudly with his rebellious head
Alexandrian Pillar.
Pushkin

The theme of all these verses seems to be the same, but how different they are from each other!
Derzhavin seems to be following Horace. But it only seems so. Both Derzhavin and Pushkin brought so much of their own, original, Russian, originality into the plot that their poems are not a wonderful translation, but an integral fact of Russian literature.

Only great poets could speak so boldly and proudly about the significance of their personality for the future.
There is no doubt that Horace, Derzhavin, Pushkin were and are great titans for literature not only of their country, but also for humanity in general.
We can only be amazed at what magnificent words they found to embody their thoughts!
And learn to find topics for yourself again and again and reveal them in your own way.

Ancient authors are interesting not only as creators of works of art.
I read with great interest the Annals of Tacitus, the Orations of Lysias, and the political writings of Aristotle. It is especially interesting to read them, knowing the current state of science and art. Antiquity has left a deep imprint on all the literatures of the world. And not only in literature, but also in the art of painting, music, and architecture.

The authors of those times sometimes achieved great skill in displaying epic paintings. Just remember the description of the shield of Zeus or the picture of the assembly of ships for the Trojan War. Only a person who carefully observed the life around him could describe this scene so colorfully. But we are accustomed to consider Homer blind!
And here again I would like to say a big thank you to the translators who opened up the fabulous world of antiquity for us.

How did I learn about what writers existed in those distant times?
Yes, of course, from books! From the encyclopedia, from history textbooks, from books on the history of ancient Greece and Rome that I inherited from my father. Popular science books for schoolchildren taught me a lot.
Acquaintance with antiquity highlights even more clearly the achievements that we have in the literature of our days. After all, the task of each new author is to move literature forward at least one step - otherwise there will be no progress.

At the end of the existence of ancient states, a decline was felt in literature. How can we explain this?
Only the decline of the state itself. People feel the precariousness of their position: rulers are fighting for power, everything old and familiar is collapsing, and people want to get away from the horrors of reality.
And they go... into mysticism, into the fairy-tale world of literature. Poets begin to write in a complex and difficult way. And this happens at all times, when one system is replaced by another: people are looking for a niche where they can hide from reality, at least for a while, forget about everything.

The impotence of power unleashes the basest passions. That is why we now have so much obscenity and pornography in our books - no one cares about literature, no one follows its development.
I’ve even heard the following opinion: “Why do we need criticism?” At the same time, the authors referred to the fact that Belinsky himself was sometimes tormented by doubts and did not always correctly evaluate some books. But without criticism there is no movement forward!

A true critic helps not only the author, but also the reader to understand what real literature is, how it differs from bestsellers, and what its enduring value is. After all, ancient literature has passed a serious test - the test of time. She was honored by the writers of the Renaissance, the great Goethe and Pushkin. Shouldn't we learn from ancient authors?!

When I pick up the work of some ancient author, it’s as if I’m sweeping away centuries-old dust from the binding... Pictures of the ancient world appear before me: the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Appian Way. Those landscapes that Huber Robert loved to depict on his canvases. I see triumphal arches, ruins of buildings, sculptures of Skopas or Myron...

Isn’t it interesting to feel like, at least for a moment, a contemporary of Homer or Phidias? After all, these were people who knew how to both suffer and enjoy life with childlike spontaneity.
Elders wise from experience speak to me from the pages of books. They talk about something beautiful and important. And everyone considers this or that aspect of life in their own way, interestingly, deeply, insightfully.

Surrounded by such people, you yourself want to become better, smarter. Life seems to be an uninterrupted phenomenon, for there is no death for the wise! You communicate with them, grow, understand more deeply the surrounding reality, people and yourself. You understand that in ancient times man was at the center of attention of science and literature.
Today?! Alas, today the focus is on secondary things, tinsel is not a person...

How sharply Juvenal criticizes his contemporaries in his accusatory satires! No wonder our Decembrists loved him, and Pushkin said:
Oh, Muse of fiery satire!
Come to my calling cry!
I don't need a thundering lyre,
Give me the Juvenal scourge!

How many beautiful, memorable poems were written by Russian poets on ancient subjects!
This is Batyushkov, and Derzhavin, and Pushkin.

In the ancient world, in addition to written literature, there was also oral creativity - mythology.
There are three books of myths in my library.
Mythology also had a great influence on the development of world art. Getting acquainted with mythology is no less interesting than reading fairy tales and legends of various peoples of the world. Just remember the legend about the sculptor Pygmalion. It served as the basis for B. Shaw's play Pygmalion. And how many plays on ancient themes were created by Shakespeare! For a long time it was believed that myths are just fiction, the fruits of popular imagination. But today, there is every reason to consider myths simply a poeticized reality.

Literature in ancient times played a big role in public life, because the people demanded: “bread and circuses”!
It happened that the author in his comedies made fun of very specific people. For example, in the comedy “Clouds,” Aristophanes ridiculed Socrates and his philosophical teachings. Such plays caused such discontent among ridiculed individuals that the state was forced to prohibit writers from featuring specific personalities in plays.

Sometimes the plays contained a so-called prologue, which briefly spoke about the content.
The division of the play itself is very interesting. Thus, the exodus is the final part of the play, as well as the ceremonial departure of the actor and chorus from the orchestra. The choir in such performances replaced the crowd, the people, and the orchestra was a round platform on which the choir and actor performed.

Often the plays of the ancient Greeks are marked with a note about whose archonry it was placed in, at what festival it was played and what award it received, that is, who received the first, second and third award (premium). Each archon (the highest official in the city-states of Greece) was obliged to organize performances with his own money.

It was in those days that the theory of three unities in plays developed, which later became the norm of classicism: the unity of action, time and place. But ancient plays were not always like this.
It is also interesting that in poetry and prose all large pieces of text were called “books,” although they have nothing in common with the modern book. All works were written on long pieces of parchment, rolled up and stored in special cases.

Each writer lived at the court or villa of some patron. The Roman statesman, Maecenas, became famous for his patronage of poets and artists. Later, his name became a household name, and entered as the concept of patron of art - patron of art, or patronage - into many languages ​​of the world, including Russian.

But it also happened that the state prohibited the reproduction of manuscripts or even expelled unwanted writers from the country. Thus, the lyric poet Ovid was ostracized. He was accused of corrupting youth with his love poems, in particular the book “The Art of Love”. Ovid lived for a long time on the shores of the Black Sea (modern Bulgaria), from where he sent his “Mournful Elegies” and “Letters from Pontus” to his homeland.

In general, reading literature from the past is like traveling in a time machine! The only difference is that you see everyone, but no one sees you. Observe, analyze, choose, argue - a little imagination and the world of bygone times comes to life. Isn't this a real pleasure for a true book lover!

So how many books by ancient authors are in my library?
After all, there is a two-volume book of ancient historians, and a little book by Theophrastus, and excerpts from Petronius, the fables of Aesop and Phaedrus...
A total of fifty books! Of course, this is not all that has come down to us since those times, but it is also quite a lot for a home library.

I enjoyed writing my note and, of course, said very little about antiquity. But I wrote it with the hope that the reader himself will continue his amazing acquaintance with the unfading heritage of the ancients.

This term has other meanings, see Library (meanings) ... Wikipedia

Public library- Reading Room of the Library of Congress, USA Library (Greek: βιβλιοθήκη, from βιβλίον “book” and θήκη “place of storage”) an institution that collects and stores works ... Wikipedia

Fundamental Library of the Academy of Sciences of Latvia- Fundamental Library of the Academy of Sciences of Latvia ... Wikipedia

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Library of Alexandria- the largest collection of handwritten books in antiquity (from 100 to 700 thousand volumes). Founded at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. at the Alexandria Museion. Part of the Library of Alexandria burned down in 47 BC. e., part destroyed in 391 AD. e. during the internecine... encyclopedic Dictionary

Zaitsev, Alexander Iosifovich- Wikipedia has articles about other people named Zaitsev, Alexander. Zaitsev Alexander Iosifovich A.I. Zaitsev in 1974 Date of birth: May 21, 1926 (1926 05 21) Place of birth ... Wikipedia

Publius Ovid Naso- Ovid Ovidius ... Wikipedia

ANTIQUITY- [from lat. antiquus ancient], classical antiquity, traditional. Ancient Greco-Roman designation. civilization, in the midst of the swarm the spread of early Christianity and the formation of forms of Christ took place. culture (so for the final stage, ... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Morals (Plutarch)- Moralia (Ἠθικά or “Moralia”) is the general name by which the philosophical journalistic works of the ancient Greek writer Plutarch are known. The question of the authenticity of certain works has been discussed for a long time in science, but has not yet received a definitive answer... ... Wikipedia

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Books

• Library of Ancient Literature-3 in 10 volumes. In the ten volumes of the final third series of the "Library of Ancient Literature" the reader will find for himself a lot of new, interesting things, in tune with modern aspirations of life and literature. Compiled... Buy for 5629 RUR
• Library of Ancient Literature-2 in 10 volumes, Homer, Euripides, Catullus Gaius Valerius, Xenophon, Quintus Horace Flaccus, Pausanias, Plautus, Lucian, Tibullus, Propertius. The ten-volume volume of the second series of the “Library of Ancient Literature” contains outstanding examples of poetry, prose and drama. Fans of ancient Greek literature will add to their home library...

Even before the first bound books appeared, libraries already existed. In cities around the world, these temples of knowledge not only served as storage areas for clay tablets and scrolls, but also served as centers of culture and education. Below you will find interesting facts about eight of the most magnificent libraries of the ancient world.

Ashurbanipal Library

The oldest known library in the world was founded sometime in the 7th century BC. e. for the “royal contemplation” of the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. Located in Nineveh (modern-day Iraq), it included approximately 30,000 cuneiform tablets organized according to themes. Most of these tablets were archival documents, religious incantations, and scientific texts, but several works of literature were also housed here, including the 4,000-year-old Epic of Gilgamesh. A book lover, Ashurbanipal built much of his library by taking works from Babylonia and other territories he conquered. Archaeologists stumbled upon the ruins of this library in the mid-19th century, and most of its collection is currently kept in the British Museum in London. It is interesting to note that although Ashurbanipal obtained many of the cuneiform tablets through plunder, he seems to have been particularly concerned about theft. An inscription on one of the texts warns that if anyone decides to steal the tablets, the gods will “overthrow him” and “erase his name and his seed from the earth.”

Library of Alexandria

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. e. control of Egypt began with its former general Ptolemy I Soter, who sought to create a center of learning in the city of Alexandria. The result was the Library of Alexandria, which ultimately became the intellectual crown jewel of the ancient world. Little is known about the physical layout of the site, but at its peak the library may have included more than 500,000 papyrus scrolls containing works of literature and texts on history, law, mathematics and the sciences. The library and its associated research institute attracted scholars from all over the Mediterranean. Many of them lived on its territory and received government stipends while they conducted research and copied its contents. At various times Strabo, Euclid and Archimedes were among the scientists of this library.

The end of this great library is traditionally dated to 48 BC. BC, when it allegedly burned down after Julius Caesar accidentally set fire to Alexandria harbor during a battle against the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy XIII. But while the fire may have damaged the library, most historians now believe it continued to exist in some form for several more centuries. Some scholars claim that the library finally disappeared in 270 during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian, while others believe that it happened even later in the fourth century.

Library of Pergamon

Built in the third century BC by members of the Attalid dynasty, the Library of Pergamon, located in what is now Turkey, was once home to 200,000 scrolls. The library was located in a temple complex dedicated to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and is believed to have consisted of four rooms. The books themselves were stored in three rooms, and the fourth served as a conference room for banquets and scientific conferences. According to the ancient chronicler Pliny the Elder, the library of Pergamon eventually became so famous that it competed with the library of Alexandria. Both libraries sought to assemble the most complete collections of texts, and rival schools of thought and criticism developed within them. There is even a legend that the Ptolemies of Egypt stopped the supply of papyrus to Pergamon in the hope of slowing down the development of the library. As a result, the city later became a leading center for the production of parchment paper.

"Villa of the Papyri"

Although it was not the largest library of antiquity, the so-called “Villa of the Papyri” is the only one whose collection has survived to this day. About 1,800 of her scrolls were located in the Roman city of Herculaneum in a villa that was most likely built by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Piso. When Vesuvius erupted nearby in 79 AD, the library was buried under 30 meters of volcanic material, which is the reason for its preservation. The blackened and charred scrolls were rediscovered in the 18th century, and modern researchers have used every possible tool, from multispectral imaging to X-rays, to try to read them. Much of the catalog has yet to be deciphered, but research has already shown that the library contains several texts by an Epicurean philosopher and poet named Philodeus.

Libraries of Trajan's Forum

Somewhere around 112 AD. e. Emperor Trajan completed the construction of a multifunctional complex of buildings in the center of Rome. This forum had plazas, markets and religious temples, but it also included one of the most famous libraries of the Roman Empire. The library technically had two separate rooms: one for works in Latin, the second for works in Greek. The rooms were located on opposite sides of the portico, which housed Trajan's Column, a large monument built to honor the emperor's military successes. Both rooms were made of concrete, marble and granite and included large central reading chambers and two levels of shelf niches containing approximately 20,000 scrolls. Historians are not sure when Trajan's double library ceased to exist. Written references to it survive from the late fifth century AD, suggesting that it existed for at least 300 years.

Library of Celsus

During the imperial era, there were more than two dozen major libraries in Rome, but the capital was not the only place where magnificent literary collections were located. Somewhere around 120 AD. e. the son of the Roman consul Celsus completed the construction of a memorial library for his father in the city of Ephesus (modern Türkiye). The decorative façade of the building still stands today and features a marble staircase and columns, as well as four statues representing wisdom, virtue, intelligence and knowledge. The interior consisted of a rectangular chamber and a series of small niches containing bookcases. The library contained some 12,000 scrolls, but the most striking feature was, without any doubt, Celsus himself, who was buried inside in a decorative sarcophagus.

Imperial Library of Constantinople

The imperial library appeared in the fourth century AD during the reign of Constantine the Great, but it remained relatively small until the fifth century, when its collection grew to 120,000 scrolls and codices. However, the Imperial Library's holdings began to dwindle and it fell into disrepair over the next few centuries due to neglect and frequent fires. It suffered its most devastating blow when the Crusaders captured Constantinople in 1204. Nevertheless, its scribes and scholars copied countless pieces of ancient Greek and Roman literature, making copies of damaged papyrus scrolls.

House of Wisdom

The Iraqi city of Baghdad was one of the world centers of education and culture. Perhaps no institution was more significant to his development than the House of Wisdom. It was created in the early ninth century AD during the reign of the Abbasids and was centered around a huge library filled with Persian, Indian and Greek manuscripts on mathematics, astronomy, science, medicine and philosophy. The books attracted leading scholars of the Middle East, who flocked to the House of Wisdom to study the texts and translate them into Arabic. Their ranks included the mathematician al-Khwarizmi, one of the fathers of algebra, as well as the thinker al-Kindi, often called the “Arab philosopher.” The House of Wisdom remained the intellectual center of the Islamic world for several hundred years, but met a terrible end in 1258 when the Mongols sacked Baghdad. According to legend, so many books were thrown into the Tigris River that its waters became dark with ink.

Initially, each person made for himself a copy of the text he liked. Over time, the rewriting of books was organized for trading purposes. Written sources confirm the existence of book trade in Athens only from the 5th century. BC e. The purchase of books is mentioned in the 5th century. BC e. comedian Eupolis, at the same time the term “bibliopol” - bookseller - appeared.

Judging by the reports of other authors, it was possible to buy books at the agora, and people looked for philosophical works there, treatises of Xenophon, and paid a lot of money for them. Already at that time there were many copyists in Greece who diligently reproduced popular books. During the Hellenistic era, the book trade reached enormous proportions, although we do not know a single name of the publisher or bookseller.

The scribes' remuneration depended on the number of lines they copied. To make it easier to count lines, the ancients began to mark every 10-20 lines (sometimes every 100-200 lines) with sequential numbering.

Along with book writing and literature, reading also developed. More and more new libraries appeared - private, school, state. A kind of reading theory also developed: from certain books, readers could obtain useful information about what books existed and which ones were worth purchasing and reading. In the II century. n. e. Telephus from Pergamon, teacher of Verus, brother of Marcus Aurelius, lexicographer and grammarian, compiled an extensive bibliographic reference book. A similar reference book in 12 books “On the acquisition and selection of books” came from the pen of Herennius Philo from the Phoenician city of Byblos: in this work, bibliographic information was distributed into sections corresponding to one or another branch of knowledge.

The first libraries appeared early in Greece. Already in the 6th century. BC e. tyrants in the Greek city-states diligently collected books from their courts. The oldest is considered to be the Polycrates book depository on the island of Samos. Then in the 6th century. BC e. The Athenian tyrant Peisistratus also created his own library. During the Greco-Persian Wars, Xerxes took the library of Pisistratus to his place in Persia, from where it was returned to Athens almost two hundred years later by Seleucus I Nicator, who ruled after the death of Alexander the Great in Syria.

Euripides also collected books, who even kept a special copyist slave to rewrite texts. It is difficult to imagine that other scientists, philosophers and writers of Hellas did not have their own book collections, which they needed for their work. Plato transferred his books to the Academy he founded, and the name of Aristotle forever remained in the history of librarianship, thanks to the fact that he was the first to collect books according to a specific plan and classify them. This rich and carefully selected library, which included works of not only Greek but also eastern authors translated into Greek, passed after the death of the great philosopher into the hands of his student Theophrastus, who in turn bequeathed it to his student Neleus from the city of Skepsis in Malaya Asia.

After the death of Neleus, the most valuable collection was left unattended, since no one was interested in it; Some of the books, apparently, perished, but some of them survived, having been purchased for the library that was being created at that time in Pergamon. Other books from this collection again found their way to Athens, from where in 84 BC. e. Sulla transported them to Rome, treating them as spoils of war.

Since the time of Alexander the Great, Hellenistic rulers of different countries began to create their own libraries. For example, the Macedonian king Perseus owned a wonderful collection. After defeating Perseus at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC. e. Lucius Aemilius Paulus captured these books and brought them to Rome.

Libraries also appeared at schools. Book collections at gymnasiums became especially necessary when the intellectual education of the ephebes came to the fore, pushing physical education into second place. The Ptolemaion gymnasium, founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Athens, had a rich book depository, and in the 1st century. BC e. The Athenians decreed that the ephebes should annually increase the collection of the gymnasium by one hundred scrolls. Many libraries were created on private initiative. So, in the 2nd century. BC e. on the island of Kos, Diocles and his sons founded a library - apparently also at the local gymnasium; They erected a book depository building at their own expense and purchased the first 100 “volumes.” Following the example of Diocles and his sons, other citizens of the policy began to contribute to the development of the library: some paid 200 drachmas, others donated books that belonged to them.

Libraries at higher schools were sometimes specialized. On the island of Rhodes, where speakers were trained, thousands of books on rhetoric were collected. On the island. Kos at the medical school, the first mention of which dates back to the 5th century. BC e., 500 years later, the personal physician of Emperor Claudius, Gaius Stertinius Xenophon, built a large book depository for literature on the art of medicine. Another specialized medical library was located at the Temple of Asclepius in Pergamon. It is also worth remembering the higher school in Athens, called the Stoa of Hadrian and founded in 132 AD. e. There was a huge hall with it, intended for books, with shelves in niches.

Some city libraries were not associated with any public institutions at all. This, apparently, was the library in Athens, created at the expense of the archon Titus Flavius ​​Pontainus, who supplied it with a rich collection of books and dedicated it to Athena and the emperor Trajan (about 100 AD). In the 30s of our century, archaeologists discovered a fragment of the pediment of this building in the Athenian agora, a stone slab with a corresponding inscription - dedication.

Ancient libraries were, in the proper sense of the word, reading rooms, because they did not lend books to people's homes - they could only be used within the walls of the library. Coming readers were served by well-trained slaves, because among the slaves, as we remember, there were often very educated people.