13. The Imperial Library of Constantinople had its own team of crack librarians who would translate and copy any manuscript they could get hold of.
At some point in the middle of the 4th century, the Byzantine Emperor Constantius II grew concerned that the papyrus manuscripts he possessed would soon deteriorate and be lost for good. Or, more specifically, he was worried that religious texts, including some of the first Christian writings, would soon be gone for good, plus he also wanted to preserve examples of Greek literature for generations to come. So, he established the Imperial Library of Constantinople. With the legendary Library of Alexandria long gone, it became the last true great library of the ancient world.
Under Constantius II hundreds of Judeo-Christian scripts were copied from papyrus to more robust materials such as parchment or vellum. A special department, known as the Scriptorium, was set up for the job. By the time the Emperor Valens was in charge 20 years later, it employed four Greek experts and three Latin scribes. A series of accidental fires did huge amounts of damage – one, in 473, was said to have resulted in the destruction of as many as 120,000 volumes. It’s believed the library was completely destroyed in the 13th century as the Franks and Vandals sacked the city.