Siege of Tyre
After Issus, Alexander moved south along the Phoenician coast. Most cities submitted, but Tyre refused: the city stood on a rocky island 800 yards from the mainland, protected by walls eighty feet high and a strong fleet. The Tyrians believed their island position was impregnable. Alexander ordered construction of a mole (causeway) from the mainland to the island. Initial progress was fast across shallow water, but as workers approached the island the depth increased, Persian-aligned ships harassed workers, and Tyrian archers on the walls shot down. The mole was twice burned when the Tyrians deployed fire ships. Alexander's situation changed dramatically when the Phoenician cities of Sidon, Byblos, and Aradus submitted and their fleets — some 80 ships — came over to him. Cyprus added 120 more ships. Suddenly Alexander had a fleet of 200 vessels, outnumbering Tyre's. He could blockade the island harbors while continuing work on the mole. When the mole reached the walls, siege towers were brought up. After weeks of battering, a section of wall collapsed. Macedonian troops poured through the breach. The Tyrians fought street by street. Some 8,000 Tyrians were killed; 30,000 civilians were sold into slavery. Two thousand Tyrian men of military age were crucified along the beach. The mole, by silting, eventually became a permanent peninsula connecting Tyre to the mainland — visible to this day.
- Year: 332 BCE
- Category: Military
