TYRE IS STORMED BY ALEXANDER
Alexander did not cross the Euphrates in search of Darius. He knew that
the great king could do him no harm, even should he again assemble a
large army. So for a time he left Darius to do as he pleased, while he
himself went on with his own plan.
Nearly all the towns in Syracuse were ready to open their gates to
Alexander. Some that had found Darius a hard master, hailed him as a
deliverer.
Tyre alone, while saying that she was ready to do as the king willed,
refused to receive either a Persian or a Macedonian into the city.
Alexander wished to offer sacrifice to the deity of Tyre, whose temple
was within the city, and when the people refused to open their gates,
he was so angry that he at once laid siege to the town.
Tyre stood on an island, about half a mile from the mainland. Near the
coast the water was shallow, while close to the walls of the city it
was deep.
The Tyrians believed that they could hold their city against Alexander,
for the walls were built high, on the top of a steep and dangerous
cliff.
As the king had no fleet, he could not attack the city until he had
built a causeway from the mainland to the island, so he ordered his men
to begin the work without delay.
But when the causeway stretched almost to the island, the Tyrians
did all that they could to hinder the workmen. They sent among them
showers of arrows, and hurled down upon them great pieces of rock, so
that they found it impossible to complete the causeway.
But the king was not easily beaten. He ordered the men to build towers
along the causeway, and to tie leather screens from one tower to
another, so that they might be protected from the arrows and missiles
of the enemy.
Then the Tyrians dragged a ship, loaded with dry wood, as near to the
causeway as they dared to venture, and set it on fire. The towers were
soon in flames, and while the Macedonians tried in vain to extinguish
them, the enemy never ceased to send showers of arrows among the
unfortunate men, so that many of them lost their lives.
Although the Tyrians had destroyed the work of months, Alexander still
refused to give in. He now sent to the cities round about, and bade
them send ships to guard his soldiers until the causeway was finished.
In seven months from the time it was begun, the causeway reached to the
foot of the rock on which the city stood.
In July 332 B.C. a breach was made in the wall, and, led by Alexander
himself, the Macedonians rushed in triumph into the city that had so
long defied them.
The Tyrians fought fiercely, for they knew they need not look for mercy
if the city was taken. But they were soon overpowered, and the town was
given up to plunder. The soldiers were eager for spoil, but spoil alone
could not satisfy them. As they thought of the weary months which they
had spent in trying to reach the island, they wreaked their rage on the
miserable citizens, massacring all on whom they could lay their hands.
After Tyre had fallen, Alexander was master of Syria, and could control
the eastern Mediterranean.
From Tyre, the king marched southward until he reached Egypt. Here,
after making himself lord of the country, he founded the city which is
still called after him, Alexandria.
During the siege of Tyre, Darius had again sent to Alexander, offering
to him a large ransom for his family, as well as the hand of his
daughter and all the provinces west of Euphrates.
While Alexander and his generals were talking over the offer of Darius,
Parmenio exclaimed, ‘If I were you I should accept these terms.’
‘And I,’ answered the king, ‘would accept them if I were Parmenio.’
To Darius, Alexander’s reply was haughtier than ever. ‘If thou comest,’
so ran his words, ‘and yield thyself up into my power, I will treat
thee with all possible kindness; if not, I will come myself to seek
thee.’
Soon after this the wife of Darius died. Alexander had always treated
her well, and now he buried her with great honour.
One of her servants fled to Darius to tell him the sad tidings. He told
him, too, of the kindness Alexander had ever shown to his royal captive.
‘O king,’ said the servant, ‘neither your queen when alive, nor your
mother, nor children wanted anything of their former happy condition,
unless it were the light of your countenance. And after her decease,
Statira, the queen, had not only all due funeral ornaments, but was
honoured also with the tears of your very enemies; for Alexander is as
gentle after victory as he is terrible in the field.’