The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the books present four perspectives on a single set of events and characters in Alexandria, Egypt, before and during World War II.
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and it soon became the capital of Egypt under the dynasty of the Ptolemies, whose last pharaoh was Ptolemy XVI (44-30 B.C.), king of kings, son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.
Alexandria continued to be an important trading post until the end of the XVth century, when the opening of new commercial routes between Europe and India and in 1517 the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, led to its decline.
Notwithstanding the fortress, Alexandria was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517.
Alexandria (Greek: Αλεξάνδρεια, Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə, Arabic: الإسكندرية Al-ʼIskandariya, Egyptian Arabic: Iskindireyya), (population of 3.5 to 5 million), is the second-largest city in Egypt, and its largest seaport.
Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Greek centre in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile Valley.
One of the earliest well-known inhabitants of Alexandria during the Ptolemaic reign was the geometer and number-theorist Euclid.
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