ALEXANDRIA THE SECOND CITY OF THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE
ALEXANDRIA THE SECOND CITY OF THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE. Alexandria was the second-most important city in the Roman Empire, after Rome itself. Founded in c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. During the Hellenistic period, it was home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which ranked among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as well as the storied Library of Alexandria. In 69 BC Cleopatra was born here and would be declared by Caesar along with her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers of Egypt and maintained a private affair with Cleopatra that produced a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, where she stayed at Caesar's villa and after his death would return to Alexandria and side with her lover Mark Antony in a campaign against Octavian resulting in her suicide and the loss of Egy