Alexander besieged Gaza, one of the keys of Egypt, for two months. We
do not think we should have noticed this siege, had it not been for the
strange manner in which Alexander dismissed all the good feelings which
so frequently distinguished him, after the conquest. Alexander is one
of those great historical personages, who have so many fine redeeming
qualities, that we feel inclined to pardon their errors and excuse
even their crimes; but in this instance he sunk into a mere brutal and
revengeful conqueror. He had an inclination to be compared to Achilles,
and he boasted of being the son of Jupiter; but this siege proved
that he was not invulnerable, like the former, nor exempt from human
accidents, as the offspring of an immortal; he received two wounds in
this siege, which perhaps was the cause of his wrath. He treated the
inhabitants with the utmost cruelty, putting ten thousand to the sword.
Betis, the governor of Gaza, was taken in one of the last assaults.
Alexander was either angry or jealous at the courage with which he
had seen him face death, and ordered him to appear before his throne:
“Wretch!” cried he, “thou shalt not die sword in hand, as thou didst
hope; expect to suffer all the torments vengeance can contrive.” To
imitate Achilles, who dragged the body of Hector three times round the
walls of Troy behind his chariot, he ordered the unfortunate Betis to
be pierced through the heels, and to be fastened to a chariot, which he
drove round the walls of Gaza; thus depriving the brave governor of the
little life left by his wounds.
Demetrius lost a great battle on the plains of Gaza, against Ptolemy,
one of Alexander’s officers, who had made himself king of Egypt,--A.C.
312.