The late fourth century A.D. the Roman Empire began to crumble.
Alexandria, in the province of Egypt, still retaining some of its luster...
...possessed one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world:...
the legendary lighthouse, and the biggest library known.
The library was a not only cultural but a religious symbol...
...a place where the pagans worshiped their ancestral gods.
The traditional pagan worship in the city now coexisted...
...with the Jews, and an unstoppable religion up to now banned,...
...Christianity.
Library of Alexandria, 391 D.C.
After taking the library, many pagans were converted.
Hipatia continued teaching and researching,
while his former students held important positions in the social elite.
The empire was split in two forever.
Many Christians saw this as a sign of the end of the world...
...and decided to prepare by practicing a more holy life.
The order of "Parabolanos" monks was charged to go through the streets...
...and watch for Christian morality...
...now uneven by the presence of the Jews.
The Library, years later.
The body of Hipatia was mutilated and the remains were dragged through the streets and burned in a fire.
Orestes was outlawed forever and Cirilo took control of the power in Alexandria.
Later, Cirilo was declared a Saint and Doctor of the Church.
Although not any of Hipatia works remains, it is known that she was an exceptional astronomer,
well-known for the mathematical study of conical curves.
One thousand, two hundred years later, in the 17th century, astronomer Johannes Kepler described...
...that one of those curves, the ellipse, governs the movement of the planets.