Just how devastating was the destruction of the Library of Alexandria to our documentation of world history?

by keez123

I'm always fascinated with how differently we might remember history had the library not been destroyed. I know the loss of works is immeasurable, but what are some of the more important items that were lost/thought to have been lost that might redefine how we remember our past?

jschooltiger

Hi, this is not to discourage further responses, but there's a whole section of our FAQs devoted to library-related questions. You can find it here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/antiquity#wiki_library_of_alexandria

Spoiler alert: the answer to your question is "not very."