According to Wikipedia, "Despite the widespread modern myth that the library was 'burned' once and cataclysmically destroyed, the library actually declined gradually over the course of roughly 800 years, starting with the purging of intellectuals from Alexandria in 145 BC during the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon, which resulted in Aristarchus of Samothrace, the last recorded head librarian, resigning from his position and exiling himself to Cyprus. The library was accidentally burned by Julius Caesar during his civil war in 48 BC, but it is unclear how much of the library was actually destroyed and it may have been rebuilt shortly thereafter."
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