Alexandria in trouble

And as Poe observed, almost no one can pack as much information as Gibbon into a single sentence. This one isn’t even especially poetic, but it’s remarkable for its subtle density:

“Diocletian, on his side, opened the campaign in Egypt by the siege of Alexandria, cut off the aqueducts which conveyed the waters of the Nile into every quarter of that immense city, and, rendering his camp impregnable to the sallies of the besieged multitude, he pushed his reiterated attacks with caution and vigour.”

I’m starting to want to write a whole book on Gibbon’s style. And I’m also regretting more and more that nothing much remains of the ancient shape of Alexandria.