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 because it was on an island. Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway that allowed him to breach the fortifications.
About Siege of Tyre (332 BC) in brief
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. Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway that 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. 30,000 residents and foreigners, mainly women and children, were sold into slavery. However his previous conquests of Issus and Byblos meant that he would not be able to take Tyre without a navy.
This gave him command of a new fleet of 80 ships. With his new fleet, Alexander sailed on to Tyre and blockaded the city and its ports. With the arrival of 120 galleys sent by Cyprus, who had heard of his victories and wished to join him, the king of Cyprus sent a fleet of 23 ships to join Alexander’s forces. The city was quickly blockaded and Alexander’s new fleet sailed on and blocked Tyre’s ports, giving him control of both ports and giving him the command of the Greek states of Ionia, Sidon and Issus, which had composed most of the Persian navy. At the time of the siege, the city held approximately 40,000 people, though the women and Children had been evacuated to Carthage.
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