TOEFL iBT Integrated Writing Task
Listening Passage
The great library of Alexandria no longer exists, but it is not known
for sure when the library was destroyed. There’s actually considerable
debate among historians about who destroyed the library and when.
One culprit who has traditionally been accused of destroying the
library is Julius Caesar. It is true that Julius Caesar led an invasion
of Alexandria in 48-47 B.C. and that, at that time, his forces set the
fleet of ships sitting in the Alexandria harbour on fire. Some
historians believe that this fire in the harbour that was set by
Caesar’s forces , spread into the city of Alexandria and burned the
library down, but this belief is no longer widely held today. The main
reason that the theory that Julius Caesar destroyed the library at
Alexandria isn’t widely believed is that there are numerous references
to the library in works written long after Caesar’s death.
The conclusion that seems to be the most accepted today is that the
library at Alexandria existed, at least in part, until the late fourth
century, centuries after the death of Julius Caesar, so it could not
have been completely destroyed by Caesar. At that time, at the
end of the fourth century, there was a large movement to destroy pagan
temples and libraries. It seems likely that whatever remained of the
library at Alexandria was destroyed at this time.
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