Siege of Tyre
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Tyre was a siege
of the city of Tyre, a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea
, orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC
during his campaigns against the Persians
. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city through conventional means because it was on an island and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded to this problem first by blockading and besieged Tyre for seven months, and by then by building a causeway that allowed him to breach the fortification
s.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. According to Arrian, the Tyrian losses were about 8,000, while the Macedonians
lost 400. Alexander granted pardon to the king and his family, whilst the 30,000 residents and foreigners taken were sold into slavery.
, was located both on the Mediterranean coast as well as a nearby island with two natural harbors on the landward side. The Island lay about half a mile from the coast in Alexander’s day, its high walls reaching 60 m (196.9 ft) above the sea on the east, landward facing, side of the island.
Alexander knew of a temple to Melkart, whom he identified with the Greek god Heracles
, within the new city walls and informed the inhabitants that they would be spared if he were allowed to make sacrifice in the temple (the old port had been abandoned and the Tyrians were now living on an offshore island half a mile from the mainland). The defenders refused to allow this and suggested he use the temple in the mainland, saying that they would not let Persians or Macedonians within their new city. A second attempt at negotiation resulted in his representatives being killed and then thrown from the walls into the sea, and Alexander became enraged at the defiance and ordered the siege to commence.
stretching out to the island on a natural land bridge
no more than two meters deep.
This causeway allowed his artillery to get in range of the walls, and is still there to this day, as it was made of stone. As the work came near the walls, however, the water became much deeper, and the combined attacks from the walls and Tyrian navy made construction nearly impossible. Therefore, Alexander constructed two towers 50 m (164 ft) high and moved them to the end of the causeway. Like most of Alexander’s siege towers, these were moving artillery platforms, with catapults on the top to clear defenders off the walls, and ballista
below to hurl rocks at the wall and attacking ships. The towers were made of wood, but were covered in rawhide to protect them from fire arrows. Although these towers were possibly the largest of their kind ever made, the Tyrians quickly devised a counterattack. They used an old horse transport ship, filling it with dried branches, pitch, sulfur, and various other combustibles. They then hung cauldrons of oil from the masts, so that they would fall onto the deck once the masts burned through. They also weighed down the back of the ship so that the front rose above the water. They then lit it on fire and ran it up onto the causeway. The fire spread quickly, engulfing both towers and other siege equipment that had been brought up. The Tyrian ships swarmed the pier, destroying any siege equipment that hadn’t caught fire, and driving off Macedonian crews that were trying to put out the fires.
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Alexander was convinced that he would not be able to take Tyre without a navy. However, the Persian navy returned to find their home cities under Alexander’s control. The Persians' allegiance to their cities allowed Alexander to command 80 ships. This coincided with the arrival of another 120 from Cyprus
, which had heard of his victories and wished to join him. With the arrival of another 23 ships, Alexander had 223 galleys under his command. Alexander then sailed on Tyre and quickly blockaded both ports with his superior numbers. He had several of the slower galleys, and a few barges, refit with battering rams, the only known case of battering rams being used on ships. Finding that large underwater blocks of stone kept the rams from reaching the walls, Alexander had them removed by crane ships. The rams then anchored near the walls, but the Tyrians sent out ships and divers to cut the anchor cables. Alexander responded by replacing them with chains. The Tyrians launched another counter attack, yet were not so fortunate this time. They noticed that Alexander returned to the mainland at the same time every afternoon for lunch, at the same time much of his navy did. They therefore attacked at this time, but found Alexander had skipped his afternoon nap, and was able to quickly counter the sortie.
6,000 fighting men were killed within the city and 2,000 Tyrians were crucified on the beach. The others, some 30,000 people, were sold into slavery. The severity of reprisals were both because of the length of the siege, and because the Tyrians had executed some captured soldiers on the walls, in sight of the attackers.
the Macedonian, in one of the two stratagems he gives about Alexander's siege of Tyre, proposes another account as to how Alexander conquered the city. According to him, Alexander had marched into Arabia having left Parmenion in charge of the besieging force. The Tyrians found the courage to exit their walls and engage the Greeks, often beating them in battle. Alexander was informed and hurried back, reaching the city exactly when the Tyrians were fighting against a retreating Parmenion. Instead of attacking the Phoenicians, he chose to march directly to the city, which he immediately took by force surprising its remaining garrison.
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
of the city of Tyre, a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC
332 BC
Year 332 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvinus and Arvina...
during his campaigns against the Persians
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city through conventional means because it was on an island and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded to this problem first by blockading and besieged Tyre for seven months, and by then by building a causeway that allowed him to breach the fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. According to Arrian, the Tyrian losses were about 8,000, while the Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
lost 400. Alexander granted pardon to the king and his family, whilst the 30,000 residents and foreigners taken were sold into slavery.
Location
Tyre, the largest and most important city-state of PhoeniciaPhoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
, was located both on the Mediterranean coast as well as a nearby island with two natural harbors on the landward side. The Island lay about half a mile from the coast in Alexander’s day, its high walls reaching 60 m (196.9 ft) above the sea on the east, landward facing, side of the island.
Background
At the time of the siege, the city held approximately 40,000 people, though the women and children were evacuated to Carthage, an ancient Phoenician colony. The Carthaginians also promised to send a fleet to their mother city’s aid. As Alexander did not have much of a navy, he resolved to take the city and thus deny the Persians their last harbor in the region. After months of trying to capture Tyre the Persian fleet surrendered about 332 BC. This enabled Alexander to attack from all sides.Alexander knew of a temple to Melkart, whom he identified with the Greek god Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
, within the new city walls and informed the inhabitants that they would be spared if he were allowed to make sacrifice in the temple (the old port had been abandoned and the Tyrians were now living on an offshore island half a mile from the mainland). The defenders refused to allow this and suggested he use the temple in the mainland, saying that they would not let Persians or Macedonians within their new city. A second attempt at negotiation resulted in his representatives being killed and then thrown from the walls into the sea, and Alexander became enraged at the defiance and ordered the siege to commence.
The siege
As Alexander could not attack the city from the sea, he built a kilometer-long causewayCauseway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
stretching out to the island on a natural land bridge
Land bridge
A land bridge, in biogeography, is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonise new lands...
no more than two meters deep.
This causeway allowed his artillery to get in range of the walls, and is still there to this day, as it was made of stone. As the work came near the walls, however, the water became much deeper, and the combined attacks from the walls and Tyrian navy made construction nearly impossible. Therefore, Alexander constructed two towers 50 m (164 ft) high and moved them to the end of the causeway. Like most of Alexander’s siege towers, these were moving artillery platforms, with catapults on the top to clear defenders off the walls, and ballista
Ballista
The ballista , plural ballistae, was an ancient missile weapon which launched a large projectile at a distant target....
below to hurl rocks at the wall and attacking ships. The towers were made of wood, but were covered in rawhide to protect them from fire arrows. Although these towers were possibly the largest of their kind ever made, the Tyrians quickly devised a counterattack. They used an old horse transport ship, filling it with dried branches, pitch, sulfur, and various other combustibles. They then hung cauldrons of oil from the masts, so that they would fall onto the deck once the masts burned through. They also weighed down the back of the ship so that the front rose above the water. They then lit it on fire and ran it up onto the causeway. The fire spread quickly, engulfing both towers and other siege equipment that had been brought up. The Tyrian ships swarmed the pier, destroying any siege equipment that hadn’t caught fire, and driving off Macedonian crews that were trying to put out the fires.
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, which had heard of his victories and wished to join him. With the arrival of another 23 ships, Alexander had 223 galleys under his command. Alexander then sailed on Tyre and quickly blockaded both ports with his superior numbers. He had several of the slower galleys, and a few barges, refit with battering rams, the only known case of battering rams being used on ships. Finding that large underwater blocks of stone kept the rams from reaching the walls, Alexander had them removed by crane ships. The rams then anchored near the walls, but the Tyrians sent out ships and divers to cut the anchor cables. Alexander responded by replacing them with chains. The Tyrians launched another counter attack, yet were not so fortunate this time. They noticed that Alexander returned to the mainland at the same time every afternoon for lunch, at the same time much of his navy did. They therefore attacked at this time, but found Alexander had skipped his afternoon nap, and was able to quickly counter the sortie.
Conclusion of the siege
Alexander started testing the wall at various points with his rams, until he made a small breach in the south end of the island. He then coordinated an attack across the breach with a bombardment from all sides by his navy. Alexander is said to have personally taken part in the attack on the city, fighting from the top of a siege tower. Once his troops forced their way into the city, they easily overtook the garrison, and quickly captured the city. Those citizens that took shelter in the temple of Melkart were pardoned by Alexander, including the king of Tyre. According to Quintus Curtius RufusQuintus Curtius Rufus
Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, writing probably during the reign of the Emperor Claudius or Vespasian. His only surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni, is a biography of Alexander the Great in Latin in ten books, of which the first two are lost, and the remaining eight are...
6,000 fighting men were killed within the city and 2,000 Tyrians were crucified on the beach. The others, some 30,000 people, were sold into slavery. The severity of reprisals were both because of the length of the siege, and because the Tyrians had executed some captured soldiers on the walls, in sight of the attackers.
Alternative conclusion
PolyaenusPolyaenus
Polyaenus or Polyenus vs. e]]; , "many proverbs") was a 2nd century Macedonian author, known best for his Stratagems in War , which has been preserved. The Suda calls him a rhetorician, and Polyaenus himself writes that he was accustomed to plead causes before the emperor...
the Macedonian, in one of the two stratagems he gives about Alexander's siege of Tyre, proposes another account as to how Alexander conquered the city. According to him, Alexander had marched into Arabia having left Parmenion in charge of the besieging force. The Tyrians found the courage to exit their walls and engage the Greeks, often beating them in battle. Alexander was informed and hurried back, reaching the city exactly when the Tyrians were fighting against a retreating Parmenion. Instead of attacking the Phoenicians, he chose to march directly to the city, which he immediately took by force surprising its remaining garrison.
List of sieges
- 724-720 BC: AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n Siege by king Shalmaneser VShalmaneser VShalmaneser V was king of Assyria from 727 to 722 BC. He first appears as governor of Zimirra in Phoenicia in the reign of his father, Tiglath-Pileser III.... - 705 BC: Assyrian Siege by king SennacheribSennacheribSennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
- 663 BC: Assyrian Siege by king AshurbanipalAshurbanipalAshurbanipal |Ashur]] is creator of an heir"; 685 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
- 585-570 BC: BabylonBabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian Siege by king Nebuchadnezzar II - 332 BC332 BCYear 332 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvinus and Arvina...
: Macedonian Siege by Alexander the Great. - 1111-1112 AD: By the CrusadersCrusader statesThe Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and the Holy Land , and during the Northern Crusades in the eastern Baltic area...
of Baldwin IBaldwin I of JerusalemBaldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? – 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...
Sources
- Jongeling, Hans, The Siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. (2008 Master Thesis)
External links
- Siege of Tyre animated battle map by Jonathan Webb