THE TAKING OF THE CITY OF TYRE.
Now the chief of the band he sent was Meleager, one of Alexander’s
most valiant knights, and he had with him five hundred lances and
their men-at-arms. His orders were to ride through the valley to
the city of Kadesh, which belonged to Tyre, to drive together all
the cattle and flocks in the plains, and to bring them to the army
of Alexander. So he set out, and with him was Sir Sampson, a bold
knight of the land, who knew all the country round about. They were
so successful that they gathered together a host of beasts beyond
number, and soon they turned towards Tyre with delight in their
hearts. But before they had travelled a mile all the country was
alarmed, and rose in arms against them, and a very valiant knight,
Theosell, came riding out to meet them, and to prevent their
getting away before the host appeared. Now Theosell and his men
were armed in plate, and they made such a sudden rush on the Greeks
that they struck many down and overrode them, so that those who
fell to the ground never rose after, and their blows were mighty.
Then Meleager was moved with wrath when he saw the Greeks turn and
flee, and mounted as he was on a young horse he seized his spear
and spurred against the enemy, striking great blows. Sampson, on
the other hand, broke his lance at the first encounter, and struck
out right and left with the broken end, hewing down his foes;
also Aristes, a noble knight, was one of those who were chief in
their resistance to the foe, and Caulus had no less an enemy than
Theosell himself. The first stroke of Caulus’ sword fell on the
helmet of Theosell, and struck down through the wooden crest--the
great wild boar’s head--down into the helmet, and before Theosell
had recovered from the blow a great swing of the sword struck off
his head. Now when this noble knight was fallen to the ground all
the folk that followed him, and were able, fled away, and Meleager
and his men rejoiced that they had slain the leader of their foes
and had won the field.
Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of a horn, and they
saw an army marching out of Kadesh against them under the command
of Beritinus, a great lord of the country. The tale tells that
there were with him thirty thousand lances clad in plate armour
and mounted, with others following on foot, so that clouds of dust
covered them, and the earth seemed to shake at their tread. Then
the Macedonians were sore dismayed to see such a great host come
out against them, and Meleager was in great mind to send a message
to Alexander, asking him for aid before they joined battle. But
there was no man who would go on such an errand, or leave his
comrades in danger of death, and all men set their faces to live
and die together.
The first onset of the foe was a fierce one, and not few of them,
with their chief Beritinus, met their death, but the Macedonians
lost Sampson and many another noble. Then began a long struggle
between the few Macedonians and their foes, till at last they were
beaten down to a little group of tired, wounded, and bleeding
soldiers, breathless and faint, hardly able to strike a blow, yet
resolved not to flee. Then the brave knight Aristes, although sore
wounded himself, slew one of the enemy, and, leaping on his horse,
spurred off to Alexander for help before all the little band was
destroyed. Little need to tell that the king was sore grieved, and
gathering together in haste as many of his knights as he could,
he rode off to the rescue of Meleager through the valley, leaving
Tyre and the camp. And ever as he went his eyes dropped tears as he
thought of his good knights slain, and most of all he grieved for
Sampson, whom he loved well.
But while Alexander was riding through the valley away from Tyre
the men of the town were busy. He had finished a great tower in the
water over against the city wall, and had left a guard within it to
keep it till his return. But Sir Balaan of Tyre, one of the chief
men of the town, prepared great machines and engines for casting
stones into the tower, and when he had driven the guard from its
walls, he sallied out of the town with a host of armed men and
attacked it. Then the men of the tower defended it sharply, and
sent out showers of darts and great stones. But Balaan fought so
bitterly, and sent such a cloud of stones, that none of the Greeks
could show themselves on the tower, and his slaves brought engines
and threw down the top of the tower and tilted it into the sea,
and all the men in it were slain. Then he got boats and barges and
attacked the bottom of the castle, and broke down all its lower
part, and threw the heaps into the sea, and the winds and the sea
helped him, and a storm arose and beat the pieces small, so that
not one beam remained fastened to another. Thus this great work was
destroyed in a day, and Balaan returned to the city and barred the
gate as before.
By this time Alexander had come out of the valley and reached
the plain of Kadesh. Before him he saw here and there a few of
his men fighting in scattered groups, while others of the enemy
were collecting the cattle and sheep to drive them home again.
All over the plain he saw his men struck down surrounded by heaps
of the enemy. Then his eyes flamed out with wrath at the sight
of their danger, and he struck spurs into Bucephalus his horse,
and springing out with a spear rode straight at the thickest of
his foes; and ever as he rode he struck them to earth, so that
through the thickest of the throng his way was marked by a clear
wide path and his nobles rode after him. And when his lance broke
he drew out his long sword and struck down all before him till no
man of the enemy was on the plain who was not stricken down and a
prisoner. Then he turned to those of his men who were still alive
and comforted them with fair words, and much he praised their
valour, and then bound up their wounds, and the king left order
that the dead should be buried under stone or marble monuments, and
gathering together the prey, great and small, flocks and herds, he
returned with his men to Tyre.
The tale tells that as he rode out of the valley and came into view
of Tyre his first look was towards the great tower he had built,
and sore was he grieved when he found that it had been destroyed,
and that his soldiers that were in it had perished; and all the
Macedonians mourned, and they trusted no longer that Tyre would be
taken. But that same night Alexander was sleeping by himself in his
tent, and he thought that he saw a great vine before him, and that
he put out his hand and plucked one grape out of a ripe cluster.
Then he flung it on the floor and put his foot on it, and when he
had broken it, lo! wine flowed out, so much that it was a wonder to
see. In the morning, when the king rose, he called to him a wise
man, and bade him tell what the dream should mean; and the wise man
said: “O king, fear not; Tyre is thine own; for this berry that
thou didst break is the town of Tyre, and thou shalt tread under
thy feet its towers within few days.” Then the king rejoiced, and
set about to make many plans, if by any means he might come within
the walls of Tyre.
Soon another tower was in building, right in the same place as the
first had been, half as large again and higher than the town-walls,
firmly anchored and fastened so that it could not move, close
against the sea-wall of the town. And when the tower was built
Alexander clad himself in armour of steel, its plates shining in
the sun, and went to the top of it and looked over the town and
saw its walls, and then he looked to his camp and saw the Greeks,
and he resolved to make no more delay but to take it by storm at
once. So he ordered the Macedonians to make ready for the battle,
and when they saw him on the walls of Tyre to lose no time, but
each man to follow him. Then began the beating of drums and the
loud blare of the trumpets till the town and camp rang with their
brazen strokes, and all men rushed to the assault of the walls.
The archers came within bowshot of the walls, covered with great
shields which they held before them, each shield covering two men,
and shot keenly at every mark that showed itself, and their arrows
were deadly as adders; nor were they of the town less eager to
return their bowshot, and from the walls they cast great stones
among the Greeks. Suddenly the gates of the town opened, and the
Tyrians made a sally out, wounding and killing many of the archers,
for they were good spearmen, and could cast the dart.
But Alexander and his princes had passed up into the tower, and
some of the lords were armed with lances, and some bore huge
two-handed swords, and many carried the battle-axe, and a few
had cross-bows which shot great bolts of steel. Then from the
tower they passed on to the sea-wall of Tyre and fought their
way among a crowd of foes, Alexander ever the first. Long were
it to tell of the fight and of his valour, for they of the town
worthily withstood him, and ere they made sure their footing on
the town-wall, many knights had been stricken down backward into
the deep water. But when they saw that, the Greeks became maddened
with rage, and no wound could make them pause, and as they obtained
a footing they fell to shooting with cross-bows, and with their
great catapults, each stone like a man’s head, and the yeomen
got out great crowbars and began to tear down the turrets and
battlements; while the knights hurried forward beating down their
opponents. At last a breach in the walls was made, and then the
host of Alexander rushed into the town, eager to revenge the death
of so many of their comrades, and the men of Tyre thronged thick
to the wall to guard the entrance. But Alexander forced his way
through them all and over the broken wall into the city, and the
first man he met was Balaan. Short was the fight, for one stroke of
his mighty sword laid Balaan low, and he was thrown into the sea
beneath the walls. Then when the Tyrians were driven from the walls
the Greeks clambered up them with all manner of ladders, on each
step a cluster, and those who had no ladders climbed up the stones
without them, and in short time Tyre was in their hands, for after
the death of Sir Balaan no man could lead the men of the town or
give them heart to fight.
Then Alexander commanded to cast down the walls of Tyre, and when
it was done it came into his mind to punish the men of Jerusalem
for their refusal to send him help against Tyre, and his army moved
down towards the city. And on his way he conquered the land of the
Philistines, and burned down the city of Gaza.
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