Alexander besieging Tyre

[Continued from Alexander preparing for the siege of Tyre] 

As soon as the newly formed fleet was duly organized and manned, Alexander set sail down to Tyre, leading the right-wing as usual. Imagine how impressive this flotilla of nearly 200 vessels must have appeared in the 4th century BC! The Tyrians inside their fortress did not know that the Cypriots and Phoenicians had changed side and they certainly did not expect this armada of ships. With hindsight, the outcome of the Battle of Issus enabled this change. Alexander’s victory was far beyond his confrontation with Darius and played a more significant role among all parties concerned. 

The gods definitely were on Alexander’s side because, at this time, about 4,000 mercenaries were brought in by general Cleander from the Peloponnese. Another welcome reinforcement of his troops after the losses suffered at Issus.

As Alexander’s fleet sailed at full speed towards Tyre, the enemy, surprised to see their previous allies at Alexander’s side, decided to simply block the entrance to both ports. In turn, the king blockaded the town. The contingent from Cyprus was to cut off access to the northern harbor, the one facing Sidon. The Phoenicians did the same at the southern harbor facing the mole turned towards Egypt. 

The true genius of Alexander sprang into action at this point. It had taken the king a full seven months to finish the nearly one-kilometer-long mole to the island before he could bring in his heavy artillery. By now, he had constructed many war engines, some of which stood on the mole. He also mounted battery rams to his transport ships and slower-sailing triremes - a first in the history of using floating siege craft weapons. All war engines were moved into action around the walls of Tyre. 

His plan came together, and in a coordinated attack with his land forces, he led his decisive battle in the summer of 332 BC. This is the simple way to put it as, in reality, the situation was far more complicated. 

Alexander decided to start his attack on the island's south side because the northern harbor entrance was very narrow and lacked space to maneuver. As soon as Alexander’s fleet came within range, the Tyrians attacked the approaching vessels from atop their strong walls with fire-arrows. They also had thrown many large blocks in the sea at the foot of their stronghold, forcing Alexander’s ships away from the walls. As a matter of course, Alexander ordered to remove those heavy stones that impaired his maneuver, but the enemy responded by sending divers to cut the anchor ropes that held the ships in place. The Macedonians replaced the ropes with iron cables which the Tyrians couldn’t cut. At the same time, troops from the mole managed to pass ropes around the stones and pull them away into deeper water. The ships could now approach the walls and easily close-in. 

Feeling seriously threatened, the defenders of Tyre turned their attention to the harbor on the Sidon side. Until then, they had hidden their fleet from view using rigged sails. They brought their plan into action from behind the screen, one day at noon when they knew the Macedonians were taking a break, and Alexander moved to his quarters on the other side of the island. They lowered the screen and silently slipped out in single file. As soon as they were within reach of the enemy ships, the men shouted and cheered, rowing forward at full speed. The Tyrian surprise attack proved successful until Alexander unexpectedly appeared on the scene and called all hens on deck! He ordered most of his ships as soon as they were ready for action to block off the south harbor entrance to prevent another sortie on that side. He took his quinqueremes and triremes to sail them round to the northern harbor – in fact, to the back of the Tyrian fleet. Their sailors noticed Alexander’s approach too late, and most of the vessels were rammed, whereas one quinquereme and one quadrireme were captured right at the port entrance. 

Tyre could no longer depend on their fleet, and this was the time for the Macedonians to bring forward their artillery. They started on the mole, but on that side, the walls of Tyre were too thick to be breached. Another attempt was made from the northern harbor, without success either. Then Alexander probed the southern wall where he found a weak spot and scored the first success, but the breach was just wide enough to throw the first bridge across. Consequently, the attack was repulsed. 

Alexander deemed the conditions right to bring his ship-borne artillery into action three days later. This time, his attack caused much damage, enough anyway to bring in his vessels equipped with gangways that could be thrown across the breach. Keeping the enemy focused on this attack, Alexander ordered some of his triremes round to both harbors, hoping they could force an entrance. Other ships carrying archers and ammunition for the artillery were instructed to sail around the island and fill the gaps left by the vessels caught up in the fight. The entire city-island was surrounded by a ring of fire. 

By now, the Macedonian navy attacking at the southern port had firm ground under their feet and forced the enemy lines over the entire width of the breach. Immediately, Alexander moved forward, making his way to the royal quarters. 

The king’s ships, meanwhile, proved to be as successful. The Phoenicians at the southern harbor smashed their way through the enemy lines, ramming some vessels and driving others ashore. The Cypriots joined in and sailed right into the northern port from where they gained control over that section of the city. The Macedonians swarmed out over Tyre and attacked its inhabitants with savage ferocity – fed up as they were by this long siege. 

Curtius tells us that 6,000 Tyrians were killed in the complete carnage, and 2,000 more were crucified outside the city walls. Another 30,000 people were sold into slavery. This is not exactly a pretty sight, but all wars have their own atrocities. 

Military speaking, Tyre is one of Alexander’s greatest and boldest sieges, and I genuinely regret not visiting this place for myself. However, it would have been tough to imagine the history written here. After two thousand years, the mole has transformed the landscape into a wide bay and assimilated the very island. 

Tyre was thoroughly destroyed by Alexander in his rage for having defied him for so long.