CHAP. XXXVIII. Siege of Tyre.-Desperate Resistance of Gaza.-Easy Conquest of Egypt.-Foundation of Alexandria.-Alexander visits the Temple of Jupiter Ammon.-Marches into Assyria.—Battle of Gaugamela.-Darius betrayed and slain.-Alexander pursues the Murderers of Darius.-Bactrian and Scythian War.Siege of the Sogdian Fortress.-Surrender of Chorienes.Commotions in Greece-Checked by Antipater.-The Cause of Ctesiphon and Demosthenes.-Eschines banished.-State of Greece during Alexander's Reign. Alexander embassy receives an from Tyre. In his precipitate flight across the ridges of Amanus, Darius was gradually joined by about four thousand men, chiefly Greeks. Under this feeble escort, he departed hastily from Sochos, pursued his march eastward, and crossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus, eager to interpose that deep and rapid stream between himself and the conqueror.* Alexander's inclinations to seize the person of his adversary could not divert him from the judicious plan of war to which he immoveably adhered. In a council of his friends, he declared his opinion, that it would be highly imprudent to attempt the conquest of Babylon, until he had thoroughly subdued the maritime provinces; because, should he be carried with an unseasonable celerity into Upper Asia, while the enemy commanded the sea, the war might be removed to Europe, where the Lacedæmonians were open enemies, and the Athenians doubtful friends. Having appointed governors of Cilicia and * Ως ταχιςα μεσον αυτού τε και του Αλεξάνδρου τον Ευφράτην ποιησαι. Arrian. p. 40. Colo-Syria, he therefore directed his march southward along the Phoenician coast. Aradus, Marathus, and Sidon,* readily opened their gates. The Tyrians sent a submissive embassy of their most illustrious citizens, among whom was the son of Azelmicus, their king, who had himself embarked with Autophradates in the Persian fleet. They humbly informed Alexander, that the community+ from which they came, was prepared to obey his commands. Having complimented the city and the ambassadors, he desired them to acquaint their countrymen, that he intended shortly to enter Tyre, and to perform sacrifice there to Hercules. Upon this alarming intelligence, the Tyrians Description and state of discovered much firmness. A second embassy Tyre. assured Alexander of their unalterable respect, but at the same time communicated to him their determined resolution, that neither the Persians nor the Macedonians should ever enter their walls. This message appears remarkable in a nation of merchants, long unaccustomed to war. But the resources of their wealth and commerce seem to have elevated the courage, instead of softening the character, of the Tyrians. Their city, which, in the language of * I omit the story of Abdelerminus, whom Alexander raised from the humble condition of a gardener, to the throne of Sidon. Vid. Curt. 1. iv. c. i. Diodorus, 1. xvii. relates the same story as happening in Tyre. Plutarch, de Fortun. Alexand. translates the scene to Paphos. Amidst such inconsistencies, the silence of Arrian seemed worthy of imitation. f Arrian says, that these ambassadors were απο του κοινου εξαλμενοι. It should seem that the king of Tyre was a very limited prince, and the government rather republican than monarchical. The reader may recollect, that Philip sent a similar message to Atheas, king of the Scythians. Such pious pretences, were often employed by antiquity to justify very unwarrantable transactions. || Old Tyre was built on the continent by the Sidonians, 1252 B. C. It was besieged by Salmanesar, 719 B. C; and by Nebuchadnezer, 572 B. C. The latter took the place after a siege of thirteen years; but part of the inhabitants had previously fled with their effects to a neighbouring island, and founaed the city described in the text. Vid. Joseph. 1. viii. cap. ii. l. ix. cap. xiv. & l. x. cap. xi. the East, was styled the eldest daughter of Sidon,* had long reigned queen of the sea. The purple shell-fish, which is found in great abundance on their coast, or rather their exclusive knowledge of the kermes, which affords a beautiful red colour, put them in possession of a most lucrative branch of trade, and confined chiefly to the Tyrians the advantage of clothing the princes and nobles in most civilized countries of antiquity.+ Tyre was separated from the continent by a frith half a mile broad; its walls were an hundred feet|| in height, and of proportionate solidity. The convenience of its situation, the capaciousness of its harbours, and the industrious ingenuity of its inhabitants, rendered it the commercial capital of the world. Its magazines were plentifully provided with military and naval stores, and it was peopled by numerous and skilful artificers in stone, wood, and iron.§ Alexander besieges Tyre. olymp. cxii. 1. A. C. 332. Notwithstanding the strength of the city, Alexander determined to form the siege of Tyre; and the difficulty of an undertaking, which seemed necessary in itself, and essential to the success of still more important enterprises, only stimulated the activity of a prince, who knew that, on many emergencies, boldness is the greatest prudence. the frith; The first operation which he directed, was to run Throws a mole across a mole from the continent to the walls of Tyre, where the sea was about three fathoms deep. The necessity of this measure arose from the imperfection of the battering engines of antiquity, which had little power, except at small distances. On the side of the continent, the work was carried on with great * Isaiah. xxiii. 12. Strabo, 1. vi. p. 521. + Homer, Herodot. &c. passim. See likewise vol. i. p. 236. Mr. Bruce, in his Travels, treats the story of the purple shell-fish with contempt; and supposes the Phoenicians concealed under this disguise their knowledge of cochineal. Had he said kermes, his supposition might be approved, as according well with the artful character of the Phoenicians. neus. Arrian says one hundred and fifty feet. The numbers probably are erro § Plutarch, Curtius, Arrian. which is destroyed by the Ty alacrity; but when the Macedonians approached the city, they were much incommoded by the depth of water, and exceed. ingly galled by every kind of missile weapon from the battlements. The Tyrians, likewise, having the command of the sea, annoyed the workmen from their galleys, and retarded the completion of their labours. To resist these assaults, Alexander erected, on the furthest projecture of the mole, two wooden towers, on which he placed his engines, and which he covered with leather and raw hides to resist the ignited darts and fire-ships of the enemy. This contrivance, however, the ingenuity of his adversaries soon rendered ineffectual. Having procured a huge hulk, they filled it with dry twigs, pitch, sulphur, and other combustibles. Towards the prow, they raised two masts, each of which was armed with a double yard, from whose extremities were suspended vast caldrons, filled with whatever might add to the violence of the conflagration. Having prepared this uncommon instrument of destruction, they patiently waited a favourable wind. The hulk was then towed into the sea by two galleys. As she approached the mole, the rowers set her on fire, and escaped by swimming. The works of the Macedonians were soon thrown into a blaze. The enemy, sailing forth in boats, prevented them from extinguishing the flames; and the labour of many weeks was thus in one day reduced to ruins.* rians. Alexander raises a new mole; The perseverance of Alexander was proof against such accidents. He immediately commanded new engines to be made, and a new mole to be raised, stronger and broader than the preceding. The orders of a prince, who directed every operation in person, and whose bodily toils exceeded those of the meanest soldier, were sure of being heard with respect and obeyed with alacrity. The ruins of old Tyre afforded abundance of stone; wood was brought from Anti-Libanus ; and it should seem that a Curtius confounds Anti-Libanus with Mount Libanus. It would be endless His military and naval reinforcements. roving party of Arabs having disturbed the Macedonian workmen, were repelled by Alexander, which gave rise to the idle report of his Arabian conquest. By incredible exertions, the mole was at length built, and the battering engines were erected. The arrival of four thousand Peloponnesian forces seasonably reinforced Alexander, and revived the courage of his troops, exhausted by fatigue and dejected by defeat. At the same time the fleets of the maritime provinces which he had subdued, came to offer their assistance in an undertaking which could scarcely have proved successful, while the Tyrians commanded the sea. The squadrons of Lower Asia were joined by the naval force of Rhodes and Cyprus. The whole armament of Alexander amounted to two hundred and twenty-four vessels,* so that the Tyrians, who hitherto confided in their fleet, now retired behind the defences of their ports for safety. But these persevering islanders, though they prudently declined an unequal combat, were forsaken neither by their activity nor their courage. The hulks and galleys, destined to advance the Singular operations of the siege. to notice his errors, exaggerations, and fictions in the account of this seige, which is one of the most romantic passages in his history. Curtius writes to the fancy, not to the judgment; and to readers of a certain taste the picturesque beauties of his style will atone for errors in matter of fact. He may be allowed to raise an imaginary storm, who can describe it like Curtius. "Tum inhorrescens mare paullatim levari, deinde acriori vento concitatum, fluctus ciere, et inter se navigia collidere. Jamque scindi cœperant vincula, quibus connexæ quadriremes erant, ruere tabulata, & cum ingenti fragore in profundum secum milites trahere." It is Alexander, whose actions he disfigures and renders incredible, not the reader, whose fancy he amuses, that has just cause of anger with Curtius. * Curtius, l. iv. c. iii. says, that it consisted of one hundred and eighty sail. Plutarch. in Alexand. says, that the haven of Tyre was blocked up with two hundred triremes. Arrian distinctly mentions the number and species of ships sent by each city or province. From Macedon there came, he says, a vessel of fifty oars, Evτηxovτopos; a circumstance which proves that, on this emergency, Alexander had taken pains to collect ships from all quarters. † Such vessels were used for this purpose, as were the stoutest sailors. Arrian, p. 46. |