| Siege of Tyre (332 BC) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great | |||||||||
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Siege_tryre.gif) Map of troop movements during Alexander's siege | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Macedonian Empire Hellenic League | Phoenician city-state | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Alexander the Great Hephaestion |
Azemilcus  | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 120 ships[1] | 80 ships[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 400 killed[3] |
6,000–7,000 killed in action 2,000 executed[4] 13,000–30,000 civilians enslaved[5] | ||||||||
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Lebanon_location_map_Topographic.png)  Tyre Location within Lebanon &sq=&lang=&file=File:West_Asia_non_political_with_water_system.jpg) Tyre Location within Western Asia | |||||||||
820miles
The siege of Tyre was orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Persians. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city, which was a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea, through conventional means because it was on an island and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway and placing siege towers with catapults built on top at the end after his soldiers discovered that they could not extend it any further due to a steep drop under the surface of the water. This allowed him to breach the fortifications.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defence of their city and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. According to Arrian, 8,000 Tyrian civilians were massacred after the city fell. Alexander granted pardon to all who had sought sanctuary in the temple, including Azemilcus and his family, as well as many nobles. 30,000 residents and foreigners, mainly women and children, were sold into slavery.
- ^ Lenderıng, Jona (March 2019). Büyük İskender. Kronik. p. 158. ISBN 9789752430396.
- ^ Lenderıng, Jona (March 2019). Büyük İskender. Kronik. p. 158. ISBN 9789752430396.
- ^ Arrian Anabasis 2.24.4
- ^ Arrian Anabasis 2.24.4; Diodorus Library 17.46.4 claims 7,000, with 2,000 having been crucified; Quintus Curtius 4.4.16 claims 6,000, with 2,000 having been crucified on the beach
- ^ Arrian Anabasis 2.24.5; Diodorus 17.46.4 claims 13,000