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I am curious what the Romans had in Rome. A central repository/archive/library for literature, how-to's, maps .....anything committed, acquired, captured on skins, papyrus, linen.
I understand they had nothing on the scale of Alexandria. Surely with all their engineering and military campaigns they had to have some hard reference they could study.
-Rod Dickson
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They had several libraries, one of them was in Augustus' house on the Palatine
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The one that may still lie under Hadrians 'villa'?? I have also read of libraries in Rome being refurnished after fires.
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I thought that the portico of Octavia, or the builidng there, was a library. That was how it was described to me. Near the foot of the Capitoline.
Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
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The most famous library in imperial Rome seems to have been the Ulpian Library (bibliotheca ulpia) in Trajan's Forum. This was divided between Latin and Greek literature, and apparently survived into the later fifth century.
Besides the temple and porticus libraries mentioned above, there was also a big Latin/Greek library on the Palatine, connected to the imperial palace, and additional ones in the Baths of Caracalla and (possibly) the Baths of Diocletian. An early 4th century survey of the regions of the city and their main buildings lists 28 libraries in Rome, although most are now completely unknown!
Nathan Ross
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Thank you all. This explains a lot to me. C. Magno your recommendation is on my purchase list.
In my minds eye I can now see see politicians, military types, map makers, engineers, artists, medical personnel regularly beating a path to various locations to meet their information needs.
-Rod Dickson