The Rise and Fall of Alexandria Essays

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria Essays The Rise and Fall of Alexandria Essay The Rise and Fall of Alexandria Essay How the modern world was actually established is often overlooked and attributed to the powers and domination of Athens and Rome. What authors Justin Pollard and Howard Reid urge readers to understand, however, is the significance that the city of Alexandria had on Western Civilization. Both authors have worked in British and American television, and are accomplished in the film/documentary industry.Reid has also previously written five other books. In their narrative book, The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, they seek to emphasize just how important this little city was to the foundation of the modern world through accounts of history. Alexandria was built on the foundation of knowledge and intellect, with some of the greatest minds in the fields of Philosophy and Astronomy behind the operation. Alexandria was the birthplace of some of history’s most influential people and the ideas that accompanied them.The ideas of these influential people, such as Herophilus and his discovery of the human organs, and Aristarchus with his idea of a heliocentric universe, have been carried down for centuries and will never be forgotten. Alexandria was home to the incredible library and museum where some of the world’s greatest thinkers pondered and hypothesized the abstracts and ideas that were foreign to their time. Along with all of these historical facts about Alexandria, the city also houses one of the Seven Wonders of the World- the magnificent lighthouse, the Pharos.Alexandria, one of the most influential cities in the foundation of the modern world and a city whose â€Å"unique soul† (p. 1) has been overlooked by history. But, through The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, readers are able to experience the climb to knowledge and intellect, as well as the rise and fall of this â€Å"most extraordinary city on earth† (p. 176). Alexander founded the city of Alexandria in 331 BC. Alexandria was in a prime location for a provincial capital with its †Å"access to Egypt’s wealth and connections on to the Red Sea† (p. 7). He wanted Egypt as part of his growing empire.Not long after in 323 BC, however, Alexander died and left this newly established city to his half brother and baby son. Alexander’s childhood friend, Ptolemy, soon came to rule over the city and Alexandria began rising. Ptolemy had plans for the city and began building innovative roads and two sea harbors. With these new developments, authors note, the â€Å"fundamental plan of the greatest city in the ancient world was complete. † Houses, slaves, cattle, and taxpayers were being taken from surrounding villages and given to the capital city of Alexandria.When Ptolemy’s son and successor (Ptolemy II) began his rule on the city, he, too, threw himself into developing Alexandria and created a currency that could be used to sell and trade. Structures were built, such as temples and the lighthouse, and Alexandria was becoming known as â₠¬Å"the light of the world† (p. 92). Along with the furthering of physical growth to the city of Alexandria, there was also growth politically and religiously. Ptolemy wished to fuse ancient thinking with the modern thinking of the Greeks, so he devised a plan and created a cult through a fusion of two gods: the god of the dead and the living bull.And this Greco-Egyptian cult was created and called Serapis. Through this newly founded religion and the constant furthering of the city’s buildings and technology, Alexandria began to rise. One of the main and most important themes found in the history of Alexandria is how much the city and that period in time contributed to the knowledge of the world. Some of the most brilliant people influenced that particular time, including the great philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as others such as Euclid of Alexandria, Herophilus, Aristarchus, and Eratosthenes.Alexandria was rich in knowledge because of the great mi nds that utilized and contributed to the city’s institutions, such as the library and the lighthouse, to hypothesize theories and concepts. For example, Eratosthenes observed ships on the horizon from atop the lighthouse in Alexandria and eventually was the first to compass the world and describe the globe. Aristotle, being the private tutor of Alexander, could be credited for laying the intellectual foundation for the city of Alexandria. He, too, contributed to the Library of the city.Behind the brilliance of Aristotle, one can find the influences of the great philosophers that preceded him: Socrates and Plato. Because of its saturation of intellects and the availability of resources (the library and museum), Alexandria was a city thriving with knowledge and new schools of thought. Alexandria was the birthplace of the modern world, â€Å"not led by legions of soldiers, but by dynasties of scholars navigating on a sea of books† (p. 1). Alexander was considered to be a living god by the Egyptians for over 3,000 years, but the Greeks, however, did not so easily accept this notion.At the death of Alexander, dispute over who should rule over the largest empire on earth was in play. Finally, Alexander’s childhood friend, Ptolemy who looked like an Egyptian and spoke like a Greek, became Pharaoh. The reign of Ptolemy, including his heirs, was one that lasted for five generations. As even the beginning of the Alexandria Empire showed a trend of a constant power struggle among kings and pharaohs, so it continued this way until its fall. With rulers coming in and out of power, Alexandria was under a constant power struggle.Since Alexander’s death, â€Å"the eastern Mediterranean had been involved in an almost continuous struggle among the descendants of his heirs for control over† Alexandria (p. 156). A power that was becoming stronger and more threatening was that of Rome. Whether it was the grain that attracted the Romans to Alexand ria, or the hunger for a place in history with the greatest conqueror, Alexander, the Romans were drawn to Alexandria. While under the rule of Cleopatra, the city of Alexandria was invaded by the Romans and the city was set in flames.The great Library of Alexandria lost some 4,000 papyrus scrolls, which although was not the end of the library, was the symbol of the city falling as the heart of it had been burned. In the spring of 30 BC, Alexandria was again invaded by Octavian and his army, and on August 1, â€Å"the Ptolemaic kingdom came to an end† (p. 172). Alexandria became a city in which it was dangerous to express one’s religious beliefs or opinions. In the middle of this dangerous time, the last scientist who worked in the library was a woman named Hypatia.The fact that she was a woman and that she was friends with the Roman governor made the Archbishop of Alexandria, Cyril, hate her. Hypatia was killed, and soon after, the Library was destroyed. The heart and mind, the central being, the core of Alexandria was destroyed with the Library, and â€Å"with the death of Hypatia, her city also began to die (p. 280). The streets were filled with religious extremism and violence and with ethnic tension; the customs were changing and even the language was transforming as influenced by the Egyptians (p. 80). Eventually the great city of Alexandria was torn down by the Muslim general and the place that had once flourished with civilization and knowledge became nothing but ruins covered in flour and grain- and so was the fall of Alexandria. Alexandria was a city that started out strong and promising, with its dedicated rulers and the plans they had to nurture and expand the empire. It was the center of knowledge and wisdom, a magnet for those with great minds and ideas about the world.The heart of the city was its beloved library. Intellects swarmed this great city to teach, to learn, to ponder, and to discover. Aristarchus â€Å"put the earth in heavens in motion† (p. 108) when he proposed a model of the solar system; Eratosthenes found the solution to the â€Å"Delian Problem† (p. 122); Archimedes figured out how to calculate the volume of a sphere: all these discoveries out of the city in Egypt. As I read through this book, I felt as though I was in the middle of it all.It felt like I was watching the birth of a baby as the city was founded, the hard life of growing up as the city underwent so many changes, and eventually the death of a legacy as the city was torn down. The city of Alexandria served its purpose of facilitating the minds of philosophical geniuses and an important chunk of history in our world. Through this book, Justin Pollard and Howard Reid were able to bring to life a long-lost empire that rose and fell, but will never be forgotten. Pollard, Justin and Howard Reid. The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.

How to Determine Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years

How to Determine Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years Have you ever been in an interview, or an annual performance review, and found yourself a little stymied by the very simple question, â€Å"where do you see yourself in 5 years?† It’s a question right out of the Interviewing 101 handbook, and the asker is probably more interested in making sure that your answer isn’t â€Å"following Phish around the country† than in hearing the nitty-gritty of your next 10  career steps. But that doesn’t make it any easier to answer, if you haven’t put much thought or energy beyond your next step. And it also doesn’t mean you should phone it in. 1. Why Have a Career Plan?2.  Okay, I Need a Plan- Now What?3. How Do I Figure Out What I Want to Do?4. Setting Your Goals5.  How Do I Come Up With a Strategy?6.  Be Ready to ReviseWhy Have a Career Plan?Even if you haven’t been called out on your long-term career plans directly, it’s an exercise worth doing for your own sake. What do you want out of your career? It can be so easy to get caught up in what’s happening now, or what’s happening immediately next. If you don’t have a career plan, no one’s going to blackball you as a slacker. Still, here are five irrefutable (okay, not easy to refute) reasons you should consider making a career plan for yourself.1. It gives you a foundation for your career.It’s good to have a base to come back to- a sense of what your purpose is. Coming up with a career plan lets you put specific goals around ones that might be a little on the vague side. â€Å"Become a manager† or â€Å"get promoted to VP† are great goals, but they’re short on specifics. The career plan can help you figure out the milestones you need to hit in the interim. This is especially true if you’re looking for a job, or are trying to break into a particular field. Knowing what you want ahead of time can help you figure out what the best opportunities a re.2. It’s not set in stone.A career plan can seem like a commitment, especially if you’re relatively new to your field. But this isn’t about putting a ring on it for good- it’s about sketching out your preferred outcomes, so that you can make your current and near-future actions more productive. You can change it up later, if you decide this career isn’t for you after all, or you want to take a totally different approach.3. Strategy puts you in more control of your own success. If you have an upcoming fantasy football draft, or you’re into hunting Pokemon, these hobbies have something in common: you have a strategy for success. Maybe you’ve obsessed over stats, injury reports, and sports gossip sites checking to see if that quarterback is going to bounce back from his rehab stint. Or you got a hot tip about where that rare Flareon is hanging out, and you want to figure out the best time to go hunting. Either way, you’re making a plan for success. Think of yourself as the general here. Are you guaranteed a specific outcome? Nope. But does your plan give you better odds of succeeding than wandering (or drafting) aimlessly would? Absolutely.4. You’ll learn more about yourself.Your values and priorities change over time- so assumptions and decisions you made way back when might not even be close to accurate anymore. If you put in the time to take stock of where you are now and where you truly want to go, it puts you in touch with your current self, rather than the self who was making career decisions years ago.5. All the cool kids are doing it.That reason never stops being valid, right?Okay, I Need a Plan- Now What?Here’s where the great idea of planning your career starts getting down and dirty- you need to start doing the actual work. According to Quora, this process can be broken down into a series of steps:Step 1: Conduct a self-assessment.What do you value most? What are your strengths and weaknesses as an employee? What skills and experience do you bring to the table?Step 2: Decide your career options based on the interests and strengths from that self-assessment.Once you have that snapshot of you as a professional person, the next part is hard: finding jobs that line up with your wants and needs. (More on that below.)Step 3: Name your career goals.What do you want to achieve at different points throughout your career? What about six months from now, a year from now, two years from now? You can spin this out as long as you want. (Bonus points if you pass Go.)Step 4: Develop your career strategy. How do you get to those goals? What smaller goals do you need to hit in the meantime to reach those larger ones?Step 5: Review and adjust that strategy as necessary.How does your career outlook change as your life changes? Remember, this is not a one-and-done exercise- you can change it as much as you want.How Do I Figure Out What I Want to Do?Some careers have very specific milestones, if The Sims taught me anything. For example, if you want to become a tenured teacher, first you have to get your degree, be a student teacher, possibly get your Master’s, get certified/licensed, and find a full-time teaching job. That’s pretty straightforward. If your goal is to be a VP of marketing somewhere, it’s less straightforward. Which industry are you marketing in? There may not be a direct line in your field, but rather a ladder of experience that you can gather from different places. If you know what you want to do but are a little unclear on the steps to get there, then internet searches are your best friend. Look for professionalRemember: Passion is Not a PlanWhen you’re making your plan (or even figuring out how to start), it’s important to keep in mind that you don’t need to use this planning process as an altar to your professional passion.Terri Trespicio, a branding strategist and life coach, talks about rejectin g the idea that you have one passion job or career in your life. Your career plan doesn’t have to be a tunnel vision view of your abiding passion in life- it can be as simple as an outline of the kind of experience you want to gain over the next few years. It’s not about limiting yourself to one track, it’s about giving yourself a lifeline you can follow even when things get rough (if you lose your job, if you hate your job, etc.). Think of this as a problem-solving exercise: what problems need to be solved for you to get to the next level?Quiz Your Way to a PlanThe self-assessment may be more than just your strengths and values- it might be even more basic: â€Å"What do I want to do when I grow up?† (If you’re anything like me, you ask yourself that question long after the point when no one would mistake you for not yet grown up.) There are lots of great resources out there that can help you narrow the wide world of careers into a manageable numb er of potential paths for yourself. These are tests, quizzes, and surveys online that you can do at your leisure, and not only offer insight, but recommendations on what you can do with your newfound (or newly confirmed) info.The Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorTruityPymetricsThe Johnson-O’Connor Career Aptitude TestThe MAPP Career Assessment TestThe O*Net Interest Profiler These resources (some free, some premium) can help you get a better snapshot of what you’re well-suited to do. The soul-searching about values and priorities has to come from within, but you can definitely get some outside help on how to translate your skills and abilities into a fulfilling career path, and a set of goals you can meet along the way.Setting Your GoalsAfter you figure out your strengths and what you’d like to do (in general), the next step is figuring out your goals. When you’re thinking about these goals, they should be:SpecificMeasurableAchievableRelevantTime-bound If you m ake your goals as specific and reasonable, and put a schedule around it (approximate is fine), you’re more likely to hit them. Goals that are vague or too difficult will quickly get left behind as you concentrate on other things.How Do I Come Up With a Strategy?The strategic plan is the result of that round of asking yourself questions (or using one of the online self-assessments as an oracle). And it involves†¦more questions.What additional skills/experience do I need to hit my goals?What kind of network will I need?What jobs or companies would help me achieve those goals?What weaknesses can I fix to meet these goals?What kind of experience would be most helpful to me?But at this point, your questions are getting more refined, and more centered around what you want to be doing. You’re ready to start writing down milestones (goals) and a few bullet points for each that provide more information.Be Ready to ReviseRemember, this plan is not an all-or-nothing document , which shall not be changed. You will change, your circumstances might change, and your field might change. All of the potential for shifts in your plan mean you need to be ready to keep thinking about your career plan, and whether it still works for you. Maybe it’s an annual check-in with yourself, with a yearly reminder set for a quiet Sunday. But once you’ve gotten in touch with where you want to be at various points in your career, it’ll be easier to keep the plan in your mind as you move forward with opportunities and make decisions.