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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven of Alexander the Great. This is LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings from the public domain. For more information
or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by
a Lizzie Driver Alexander the Great by Jacob Abbot. The
(00:20):
Siege of Tire. The city of Tire stood on a
small island three or four miles in diameter, on the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, in those
days the greatest commercial city in the world, and it
exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets
and ships, which traversed every part of the Mediterranean. Tire
(00:46):
had rebuilt originally on the mainland, but in some of
the wars which it had to encounter with the Kings
of Babylon in the east, this old city had been
abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one built upon
an island not far from the shore, which could be
more easily defended from an enemy. The old city had
(01:07):
gone to ruin, and its place was occupied by old walls,
fallen towers, stones, columns, arches, and other remains of the
ancient magnificence of the place. The island of which the
Tire of Alexander's day had been built, was about half
a mile from the shore. The water between was about
(01:27):
eighteen feet deep and formed a harbor for the vessels.
The great business of the Tyrians was commerce. They brought
and sold merchandise in all the ports of the Mediterranean Sea,
and transported it by their merchant vessels to and fro.
They had also fleets of war galleys, which they used
to protect their interest on the high seas and in
(01:50):
the various ports which their merchant vessels visited. They were
thus wealthy and powerful, and yet they lived shut up
upon their little island, and were almost entirely independent of
the mainland. The city itself, however, though contracted in extent
on account of the small dimensions of the island, was
(02:11):
very compactly built and strongly fortified, and it contained a
vast number of stately and magnificent edifices, which were filled
with stores of wealth that had been accumulated by the
merchantile enterprise and thrift of many generations. Extravagant stories are
told by the historians and geographers of those days in
(02:33):
respect to the scale on which the structures of Tire
were built. It was said, for instance, that the walls
were one hundred and fifty feet high. It is true
that the walls rose directly from the surface of the water,
and of course a considerable part of their relevation was
required to bring them up to the level of the
surface of the land. And then, in addition to this,
(02:58):
they had to be carried up the whole or ordinary
height of a city wall to afford the usual protection
to the edifices and dwellings within. There might have been
some places where the walls themselves or structures connected with them,
were carried up to the elevation above named, though it
is scarcely to be supposed that such could have been
(03:19):
their ordinary dimensions. At any rate, Tire was a very
wealthy and magnificent and powerful city, intent on its commercial operations,
and well furnished with means of protecting them at sea.
But feeling little interest and taking little part in the
contentions continually arousing among the rival powers which had possession
(03:41):
of the land. Their policy was to retain their independence,
and yet to keep on good terms with all other powers,
so that their commercial intercourse with the ports of all
nations might go on undisturbed. It was, of course a
very serious question with Alexix, under as his route now
(04:02):
lay through Phoenicia and in the neighborhood of Tire, what
he should do in respect to such a port. He
did not like to leave it behind him and proceed
to the eastward, for in case of any reverses happening
to him, the Tyrians would be very likely to act
decidedly against him, and their power on the Mediterranean would
(04:24):
enable them to act very efficiently against him on all
the coasts of Greece and Asia Minor. On the other hand,
it seemed a desperate undertaking to attack the city. He
had none but land forces, and the island was half
a mile from the shore. Besides its enormous walls rising
(04:44):
perpendicularly out of the water, it was defended by ships
well armed and manned. It was not possible to surround
the city and starved into submission, as the inhabitants had
wealth to buy and ships to bring in any con
to do of provisions and stores by sea. Alexander, however,
(05:05):
determined not to follow Darius towards the east and to
leave such a stronghold as this behind him. The Tyrians
wished to avoid a quarrel if it were possible. They
sent complimentary messages to Alexander, congratulating him on his conquests
and disavowing all feelings of hostility to him. They also
(05:27):
sent him a golden crown, as many of the other
states of Asia had done, in token of their yielding
a general submission to his authority. Alexander returned very gracious
replies and expressed to them his intention of coming to
Tire for the purpose of offering sacrifices, as he said
(05:47):
to Hercules. The Tyrians knew that wherever Alexander went, he
went at the head of his army, and his coming
into Tire at all implied necessarily his taking military possession
of it. They thought it might perhaps be somewhat difficult
to dispossess such a visitor after he should once get
(06:09):
installed in their castles and palaces. So they sent him
word that it would not be in their power to
receive him in the city itself, but that he could
offer the sacrifice which he intended on the mainland, as
there was a temple sacred to Hercules among the ruins there.
Alexander then called a council of his officers and stated
(06:31):
to them his views. He said that, on reflecting fully
upon the subject, he had come to the conclusion that
it was best to postpone pushing ex expedition forward into
the heart of Persia until he should have subdued Tire
completely and made himself master of the Mediterranean Sea. He
(06:52):
said also that he should take possession of Egypt before
turning his arms towards the forces that Darius was gathering
against him in the east. The generals of the army
concurred in this opinion, and Alexander advanced toward Tire. The
Tyrians prepared for their defense. After examining carefully all the
(07:14):
circumstances of the case, Alexander conceived the very bold plan
of building a broad causeway from the mainland to the
island on which the city was founded out of the
ruins of old Tire, and then marching his army over
it to the walls of the city, where he could
then plant his engines and make a breach. This would
(07:36):
seem to be a very desperate undertaking. It is true
the stones remaining on the site of the old city
afforded sufficient materials for the construction of the pier. But
then the work must go on against a tremendous opposition,
both from the walls of the city itself and from
the Tyrian ships in the harbour. It would seem to
(07:58):
be almost impossible to protect the men from these attacks
so as to allow the operations to proceed at all,
and the difficulty in danger must increase very rapidly as
the work should approach the walls of the city. But
notwithstanding these objections, Alexander determined to proceed. Tire must be taken,
(08:21):
and this was obviously the only possible mode of taking it.
The soldiers advanced to undertake the work with great readiness,
their strong personal attachment to Alexander, their confidence that whatever
he should plan an attempt would succeed. The novelty and
boldness of this design of reaching an island by building
(08:42):
an isthmus to it from the mainland, these and other
similar considerations excited the ardor and enthusiasm of the troops
to the highest degree. In constructing works of this kind
in the water, the material used is sometimes stowe and
sometimes earth. So far as earth is employed, it is
(09:05):
necessary to resort to some means to prevent its spreading
under the water or being washed away by the dash
of the waves at its side. This is usually affected
by driving what are called piles, which are long beams
of wood pointed at the end and driven into the
earth by means of powerful engines. Alexander sent parties of
(09:28):
men into the mountains of Lebanon were vast forests of cedars,
which were very celebrated in ancient times, and which are
often alluded to in the sacred scriptures. They cut down
these trees and brought the stems of them to the shore,
where they sharpened them at one end and drove them
into the sand in order to protect the sides of
(09:50):
their embankment. Others brought stones from the ruins and tumbled
them into the sea in the direction where the pier
was to be built. It was some time before the
work made such progress as to attract much attention from
tire at length. However, when the people of the city
saw it gradually increasing in size and advancing toward them,
(10:15):
they concluded that they must engage in earnest in the
work of arresting its progress. They accordially constructed engines on
the walls to throw heavy darts and stones over the
water to the men upon the pier. They sent secretly
to the tribes that inhabited the valleys and ravines among
the mountains to attack the parties at work there. And
(10:38):
they landed forces from the city at some distance from
the pier, and then marched along the shore and attempted
to drive away the men that were engaged in carrying
stones from the ruins. They also fitted up and manned
some galleys of large size, and brought them near to
the pier itself, and attacked the men who are at
(10:58):
work upon it. Was stones, darts, arrows and missiles of
every description, but all was of no avail. The work,
though impeded, still went on. Alexander built large screens of
wood upon the pier, covering them with hides, which protected
his soldiers from the weapons of the enemy, so that
(11:19):
they could carry on their operations safely behind them. By
this means, the work advanced for some distance further. As
it advanced, various structures were erected upon it, especially along
the sides and at the end toward the city. These
structures consisted of great engines for driving piles and machines
(11:41):
for throwing stones and darts, and towers carried up to
a great height to enable the men to throw stones
and heavy weapons down upon the galleys which might attempt
to approach them at length. The Tyrians determined on attempting
to destroy all these wooden works by means of what
is called in modern times a fire ship. They took
(12:03):
a large galley and filled it with combustibles of every kind.
They loaded it first with light dry wood, and they
poured pitch and tar and oil over all this wood
to make it burn with fiercer flames. They saturated the
sails and the cordage in the same manner, and laid
trains of combustible materials through all parts of the vessel,
(12:26):
so that when fire should be set in one part,
it would immediately spread everywhere and set the whole mass
in flames at once. They towed this ship on a
windy day near to the enemy's works, and on the
side from which the wind was blowing. Then they put
it in motion toward the pier at a point where
(12:48):
was the greatest collection of ends and machines. And when
they had got as near as they dared to go themselves,
the men who were on board set the trains on
fire and made their escape in boats. The flames ran
all over the vessel. With inconceivable rapidity. The vessel itself
drifted down upon Alexander's works, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions
(13:13):
of his soldiers to keep it away. The flames and
engines and the enormous and complicated machines which had been
erected took fire, and the whole mass was soon enveloped
in a general conflagration. The men made desperate attempts to
defend their work, but all in vain. Some were killed
(13:34):
by arrows and darts, some were burned to death, and
others in the confusion, fell into the sea. Finally, the
army was obliged to draw back and to abandon all
that was combustible in the vast construction they had reared
to the devouring flames. Not long after this, the sea
(13:56):
itself came to the aid of the Tyrians. There was
a storm, and as a consequence of it, a heavy
swell rolled in from the offing, which soon undermined and
washed away a large part of the pier. The effects
of a heavy sea on the most massive and substantial structures,
when they are fairly exposed to its impulse, are far
(14:18):
greater than will be conceived possible by those who had
not witnessed them. The most ponderous stones are removed, the
strongest fastenings are torn asunder and embankments. The most compact
and solid are undermined and washed away. The storm, in
this case, destroyed in a few hours the work of
(14:39):
many months, while the army of Alexander looked on from
the shore, witnessing its ravages in dismay. When the storm
was over and the first shock of chagrin and disappointment
had passed from the mines of the men, Alexander prepared
to resume the work with fresh vigor and energy. The
(15:01):
men commenced repairing the pier and widening it so as
to increase its strength and capacity. They dragged whole trees
to the edges of it and sunk them, branches and all,
to the bottom to form a sort of platrum there
to prevent the stones from sinking into the slime. They
built new towers and engines, covering them with green hides
(15:23):
to make them fireproof. And thus they were soon advancing
again and gradually drawing nearer to the city, and in
a more threatening and formidable manner than ever. Alexander, finding
that his efforts were impeded very much by the ships
of the Tyrians. Determined on collecting and equipping a fleet
(15:45):
of his own. This he did at Sidon, which was
a small town a short distance north of Tire. He
embarked on board this fleet himself and came down with
it into the Tyrian seas. With this fleet he had
various success. He chained many of the ships together two
(16:06):
and two at a little distance apart, covering the enclosed
space of the platform on which the soldiers could stand
to fight. The men also erected engines on these platforms
to attack the city. These engines were of various kinds.
There was what they called the battering ram, which was
(16:27):
a long and very heavy beam of wood headed with
iron or brass. This beam was suspended by a chain
in the middle, so that it could be swung back
and forth by the soldiers, its head striking against the
wall each time, by which means the wall would sometimes
be soon battered down. They had also machines for throwing
(16:48):
great stones or beams of wood, by means of the
elastic force of strong bars of wood or of steel,
or that of twisted rope, the part of them upon
which the stone was placed, would be drawn back by
the united strength of many of the soldiers, and then,
as it recovered itself, when released, the stone would be
(17:11):
thrown off into the air with prodigious velocity and force.
Alexander's double galleys answered very well as long as the
water were smooth, but sometimes when they were caught out
in a swell, the rolling of the waves would rack
and twist them so as to tail the platforms asunder
and sink the men into the sea. The difficulties, unexpected
(17:36):
and formidable, were continually arising. Alexander, however, persevered through them. All.
The Tyrians, finding themselves pressed more and more, and seeing
that the dangers impeded in them, became more and more
formidable every day, at length concluded to send a great
number of the women and children away to Carthage, which
(17:57):
was a great commercial city in Africa. They were determined
not to submit to Alexander, but to carry their resistance
to the very last extremity, and as the closing scenes
of a siege, especially if the places at last taken
by storm, are beyond description, they wished to save their
(18:18):
wives and daughters and hapless babes from having to witness them.
In the meantime, as the siege advanced, the parties became
more and more incensed against each other. They treated the
captives which they took on either side with greater and
greater cruelty, each thinking that they were only retaliating worse
(18:39):
injuries from the other. The Macedonians approached nearer and nearer.
The resources of the unhappy city were gradually cut off,
and its strength worn away. The enemies approached nearer and
nearer to the walls, until the battering rams bore directly
upon them, and breaches began to be made. At length.
(19:01):
One great breach on the southern side was found to
be practicable, as they call it. Alexander began to prepare
for the final assault, and the Tyrians saw before them
the horrible prospect had been taken by storm. Still they
would not submit. Submission would now have done but little good,
(19:22):
though it might have saved some from the final horrors
of the scene. Alexander had become greatly exasperated by the
long resistance which the Tyrians had made. They probably could
not now have averted destruction, but they might perhaps have
perverted its coming upon them. In so terrible a shape
(19:43):
as the eruption of thirty thousand frantic and infuriated soldiers
through the breaches in their walls to take their city
by storm. The breach by which Alexander proposed to force
his entrance was on the southern side. He repaired a
number of ships with platforms raised upon them in such
a manner that on getting near the walls, they could
(20:05):
be let down and form a sort of bridge over
which the men could pass to the broken fragments of
the wall and thence ascend the breach above. The plan succeeded.
The ships advanced to the proposed place of landing, the
bridges were let down, the men crowded over them to
(20:26):
the foot of the wall. They clambered up through the
breach to the battlements above. Although the Tyrians thronged the
passage and made the most desperate resistance, hundreds were killed
by darts and arrows and falling stones, and their bodies
tumbled into the sea, the others paying no attention to
(20:47):
their falling comrades and drowning. The horrid screams of the
crush and the dying with their own frantic shouts of
rage and fury pressed on up the broken wall till
they reached the battlements above the vast throng, then rolled
along upon the top of the wall till they came
to the stairways and slopes by which they could descend
(21:07):
into the city. And, pouring down through all these avenues,
they spread over the streets and satiated the hatred and
rage which had been gathering strength for seven long months,
in bursting into houses and killing and destroying all that
came in their way. Thus the city was stormed. After
(21:30):
the soldiers were weary with the work of slaughtering the
wretched inhabitants of the city, they found that many still
remained alive, and Alexander tarnished the character for generosity and
forbearance for which he had thus far been distinguished by
the cruelty with which he treated them. Some were executed,
(21:51):
some thrown into the sea, and it is even said
that two thousand were crucified along the sea shore. This
may mean that their bodies were placed upon crosses after
life had been destroyed by some more humane method than crucifixion.
At any rate, we find frequent indications from this time
(22:14):
that prosperity and power were beginning to exert their usual
and unfavorable influence upon Alexander's character. He became haughty, imperious,
and cruel. He lost the modesty and gentleness which seemed
to characterize him in the earlier part of his life,
and began to assume the moral character as well as
(22:36):
perform the exploits of a military hero. A good illustration
of this is afforded by the answer that he sent
to Darius about the time of the storming of Tire,
in reply to a second communication which he had received
from him, proposing terms of peace. Darius offered him a
(22:57):
very large sum of money for the ransom of his mother, wife,
and child, and agreed to give up to him all
the country he had conquered, including the whole territory west
of the Euphrates. He also offered him his daughters to
Tira in marriage. He recommended to him to accept these
terms and be content with the possessions he had already acquired,
(23:21):
that he could not expect to succeed if he should
try in crossing the mighty rivers of the east, which
were in the way of his march toward the Persian dominions.
Alexander replied that if he wished to marry his daughter,
he could do it without his consent. As to the ransom,
he was not in want of money. In respect to
(23:44):
Darius's offering to give him up all the west of
the Euphrates, it was absurd for a man to speak
of giving what was no longer his own. That he
had crossed too many seas in his military expeditions since
he left Macedon, to feel any concern about the rivers
that he might find in his way, and that he
(24:05):
should continue to pursue Darius wherever he might retreat in
search of safety and protection, And he had no fear
but that he should find and conquer him at last.
It was a harsh and cruel message to send to
the unhappy monarch, whom he had already so greatly injured.
Parmenio advised him to accept Darius's offer. I would, said he,
(24:29):
if I were Alexander. Yes, said Alexander, And so would
I if I were Parmenio. What a reply from a
youth of twenty two to a venerable general of sixty,
who had been so tried and faithful a friend, and
so efficient a coadjutor, both to his father and to
(24:50):
himself for so many years. The siege and storming of
Tire has always been considered one of the greatest of
Alexander's exploits. The boldness, the perseverance, the indomitable energy which
he himself and all his army manifested during the seven
months of their herculean toil attracted the admiration of the world.
(25:14):
And yet we find our feelings of sympathy for his
character and interest in his fate somewhat alienated by the
indications of pride, imperiousness, and cruelty which began to appear.
While he rises in our estimation as a military hero,
he begins to sink somewhat as a man. And yet
(25:36):
the change was not sudden. He bore during the siege
his part in the privations and difficulty which the soldiers
had to endure, and the dangers to which they had
to be exposed. He was always willing to share. One
night he was out with the party upon the mountains.
Among his few immediate attendants was Lysimachus, one of his
(25:59):
former teachers, who always loved to accompany him at such times.
Lysymachus was advanced in life and somewhat infirm, and consequently
could not keep up with the rest in the march.
Alexander remained with Lysymachus and ordered the rest to go
on the road. At length, became so rugged that they
(26:22):
had to dismount from their horses and walk. Finally, they
lost their way and found themselves obliged to stop for
the night. They had no fire. They saw, however, at
a distance, some camp fire blazing, which belonged to the
barbarian tribes against whom the expedition was directed. Alexander went
(26:44):
to the nearest one. There were two men lying by
it who had been stationed to take care of it.
He advanced healthily to them and killed them both, probably
while they were asleep. He then took a brand from
their fire carried it back to his own encampment, where
he made a blazing fire for himself and Lysymachus, and
(27:06):
they passed the night in comfort and safety. Each reader
must judge for himself. One thing is certain, however, that
there are many military heroes of whom such stories would
not be even fabricated. End of Chapter seven
Chapter seven of Alexander the Great. This is LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings from the public domain. For more information
or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by
a Lizzie Driver Alexander the Great by Jacob Abbot. The
(00:20):
Siege of Tire. The city of Tire stood on a
small island three or four miles in diameter, on the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was, in those
days the greatest commercial city in the world, and it
exercised a great maritime power by means of its fleets
and ships, which traversed every part of the Mediterranean. Tire
(00:46):
had rebuilt originally on the mainland, but in some of
the wars which it had to encounter with the Kings
of Babylon in the east, this old city had been
abandoned by the inhabitants, and a new one built upon
an island not far from the shore, which could be
more easily defended from an enemy. The old city had
(01:07):
gone to ruin, and its place was occupied by old walls,
fallen towers, stones, columns, arches, and other remains of the
ancient magnificence of the place. The island of which the
Tire of Alexander's day had been built, was about half
a mile from the shore. The water between was about
(01:27):
eighteen feet deep and formed a harbor for the vessels.
The great business of the Tyrians was commerce. They brought
and sold merchandise in all the ports of the Mediterranean Sea,
and transported it by their merchant vessels to and fro.
They had also fleets of war galleys, which they used
to protect their interest on the high seas and in
(01:50):
the various ports which their merchant vessels visited. They were
thus wealthy and powerful, and yet they lived shut up
upon their little island, and were almost entirely independent of
the mainland. The city itself, however, though contracted in extent
on account of the small dimensions of the island, was
(02:11):
very compactly built and strongly fortified, and it contained a
vast number of stately and magnificent edifices, which were filled
with stores of wealth that had been accumulated by the
merchantile enterprise and thrift of many generations. Extravagant stories are
told by the historians and geographers of those days in
(02:33):
respect to the scale on which the structures of Tire
were built. It was said, for instance, that the walls
were one hundred and fifty feet high. It is true
that the walls rose directly from the surface of the water,
and of course a considerable part of their relevation was
required to bring them up to the level of the
surface of the land. And then, in addition to this,
(02:58):
they had to be carried up the whole or ordinary
height of a city wall to afford the usual protection
to the edifices and dwellings within. There might have been
some places where the walls themselves or structures connected with them,
were carried up to the elevation above named, though it
is scarcely to be supposed that such could have been
(03:19):
their ordinary dimensions. At any rate, Tire was a very
wealthy and magnificent and powerful city, intent on its commercial operations,
and well furnished with means of protecting them at sea.
But feeling little interest and taking little part in the
contentions continually arousing among the rival powers which had possession
(03:41):
of the land. Their policy was to retain their independence,
and yet to keep on good terms with all other powers,
so that their commercial intercourse with the ports of all
nations might go on undisturbed. It was, of course a
very serious question with Alexix, under as his route now
(04:02):
lay through Phoenicia and in the neighborhood of Tire, what
he should do in respect to such a port. He
did not like to leave it behind him and proceed
to the eastward, for in case of any reverses happening
to him, the Tyrians would be very likely to act
decidedly against him, and their power on the Mediterranean would
(04:24):
enable them to act very efficiently against him on all
the coasts of Greece and Asia Minor. On the other hand,
it seemed a desperate undertaking to attack the city. He
had none but land forces, and the island was half
a mile from the shore. Besides its enormous walls rising
(04:44):
perpendicularly out of the water, it was defended by ships
well armed and manned. It was not possible to surround
the city and starved into submission, as the inhabitants had
wealth to buy and ships to bring in any con
to do of provisions and stores by sea. Alexander, however,
(05:05):
determined not to follow Darius towards the east and to
leave such a stronghold as this behind him. The Tyrians
wished to avoid a quarrel if it were possible. They
sent complimentary messages to Alexander, congratulating him on his conquests
and disavowing all feelings of hostility to him. They also
(05:27):
sent him a golden crown, as many of the other
states of Asia had done, in token of their yielding
a general submission to his authority. Alexander returned very gracious
replies and expressed to them his intention of coming to
Tire for the purpose of offering sacrifices, as he said
(05:47):
to Hercules. The Tyrians knew that wherever Alexander went, he
went at the head of his army, and his coming
into Tire at all implied necessarily his taking military possession
of it. They thought it might perhaps be somewhat difficult
to dispossess such a visitor after he should once get
(06:09):
installed in their castles and palaces. So they sent him
word that it would not be in their power to
receive him in the city itself, but that he could
offer the sacrifice which he intended on the mainland, as
there was a temple sacred to Hercules among the ruins there.
Alexander then called a council of his officers and stated
(06:31):
to them his views. He said that, on reflecting fully
upon the subject, he had come to the conclusion that
it was best to postpone pushing ex expedition forward into
the heart of Persia until he should have subdued Tire
completely and made himself master of the Mediterranean Sea. He
(06:52):
said also that he should take possession of Egypt before
turning his arms towards the forces that Darius was gathering
against him in the east. The generals of the army
concurred in this opinion, and Alexander advanced toward Tire. The
Tyrians prepared for their defense. After examining carefully all the
(07:14):
circumstances of the case, Alexander conceived the very bold plan
of building a broad causeway from the mainland to the
island on which the city was founded out of the
ruins of old Tire, and then marching his army over
it to the walls of the city, where he could
then plant his engines and make a breach. This would
(07:36):
seem to be a very desperate undertaking. It is true
the stones remaining on the site of the old city
afforded sufficient materials for the construction of the pier. But
then the work must go on against a tremendous opposition,
both from the walls of the city itself and from
the Tyrian ships in the harbour. It would seem to
(07:58):
be almost impossible to protect the men from these attacks
so as to allow the operations to proceed at all,
and the difficulty in danger must increase very rapidly as
the work should approach the walls of the city. But
notwithstanding these objections, Alexander determined to proceed. Tire must be taken,
(08:21):
and this was obviously the only possible mode of taking it.
The soldiers advanced to undertake the work with great readiness,
their strong personal attachment to Alexander, their confidence that whatever
he should plan an attempt would succeed. The novelty and
boldness of this design of reaching an island by building
(08:42):
an isthmus to it from the mainland, these and other
similar considerations excited the ardor and enthusiasm of the troops
to the highest degree. In constructing works of this kind
in the water, the material used is sometimes stowe and
sometimes earth. So far as earth is employed, it is
(09:05):
necessary to resort to some means to prevent its spreading
under the water or being washed away by the dash
of the waves at its side. This is usually affected
by driving what are called piles, which are long beams
of wood pointed at the end and driven into the
earth by means of powerful engines. Alexander sent parties of
(09:28):
men into the mountains of Lebanon were vast forests of cedars,
which were very celebrated in ancient times, and which are
often alluded to in the sacred scriptures. They cut down
these trees and brought the stems of them to the shore,
where they sharpened them at one end and drove them
into the sand in order to protect the sides of
(09:50):
their embankment. Others brought stones from the ruins and tumbled
them into the sea in the direction where the pier
was to be built. It was some time before the
work made such progress as to attract much attention from
tire at length. However, when the people of the city
saw it gradually increasing in size and advancing toward them,
(10:15):
they concluded that they must engage in earnest in the
work of arresting its progress. They accordially constructed engines on
the walls to throw heavy darts and stones over the
water to the men upon the pier. They sent secretly
to the tribes that inhabited the valleys and ravines among
the mountains to attack the parties at work there. And
(10:38):
they landed forces from the city at some distance from
the pier, and then marched along the shore and attempted
to drive away the men that were engaged in carrying
stones from the ruins. They also fitted up and manned
some galleys of large size, and brought them near to
the pier itself, and attacked the men who are at
(10:58):
work upon it. Was stones, darts, arrows and missiles of
every description, but all was of no avail. The work,
though impeded, still went on. Alexander built large screens of
wood upon the pier, covering them with hides, which protected
his soldiers from the weapons of the enemy, so that
(11:19):
they could carry on their operations safely behind them. By
this means, the work advanced for some distance further. As
it advanced, various structures were erected upon it, especially along
the sides and at the end toward the city. These
structures consisted of great engines for driving piles and machines
(11:41):
for throwing stones and darts, and towers carried up to
a great height to enable the men to throw stones
and heavy weapons down upon the galleys which might attempt
to approach them at length. The Tyrians determined on attempting
to destroy all these wooden works by means of what
is called in modern times a fire ship. They took
(12:03):
a large galley and filled it with combustibles of every kind.
They loaded it first with light dry wood, and they
poured pitch and tar and oil over all this wood
to make it burn with fiercer flames. They saturated the
sails and the cordage in the same manner, and laid
trains of combustible materials through all parts of the vessel,
(12:26):
so that when fire should be set in one part,
it would immediately spread everywhere and set the whole mass
in flames at once. They towed this ship on a
windy day near to the enemy's works, and on the
side from which the wind was blowing. Then they put
it in motion toward the pier at a point where
(12:48):
was the greatest collection of ends and machines. And when
they had got as near as they dared to go themselves,
the men who were on board set the trains on
fire and made their escape in boats. The flames ran
all over the vessel. With inconceivable rapidity. The vessel itself
drifted down upon Alexander's works, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions
(13:13):
of his soldiers to keep it away. The flames and
engines and the enormous and complicated machines which had been
erected took fire, and the whole mass was soon enveloped
in a general conflagration. The men made desperate attempts to
defend their work, but all in vain. Some were killed
(13:34):
by arrows and darts, some were burned to death, and
others in the confusion, fell into the sea. Finally, the
army was obliged to draw back and to abandon all
that was combustible in the vast construction they had reared
to the devouring flames. Not long after this, the sea
(13:56):
itself came to the aid of the Tyrians. There was
a storm, and as a consequence of it, a heavy
swell rolled in from the offing, which soon undermined and
washed away a large part of the pier. The effects
of a heavy sea on the most massive and substantial structures,
when they are fairly exposed to its impulse, are far
(14:18):
greater than will be conceived possible by those who had
not witnessed them. The most ponderous stones are removed, the
strongest fastenings are torn asunder and embankments. The most compact
and solid are undermined and washed away. The storm, in
this case, destroyed in a few hours the work of
(14:39):
many months, while the army of Alexander looked on from
the shore, witnessing its ravages in dismay. When the storm
was over and the first shock of chagrin and disappointment
had passed from the mines of the men, Alexander prepared
to resume the work with fresh vigor and energy. The
(15:01):
men commenced repairing the pier and widening it so as
to increase its strength and capacity. They dragged whole trees
to the edges of it and sunk them, branches and all,
to the bottom to form a sort of platrum there
to prevent the stones from sinking into the slime. They
built new towers and engines, covering them with green hides
(15:23):
to make them fireproof. And thus they were soon advancing
again and gradually drawing nearer to the city, and in
a more threatening and formidable manner than ever. Alexander, finding
that his efforts were impeded very much by the ships
of the Tyrians. Determined on collecting and equipping a fleet
(15:45):
of his own. This he did at Sidon, which was
a small town a short distance north of Tire. He
embarked on board this fleet himself and came down with
it into the Tyrian seas. With this fleet he had
various success. He chained many of the ships together two
(16:06):
and two at a little distance apart, covering the enclosed
space of the platform on which the soldiers could stand
to fight. The men also erected engines on these platforms
to attack the city. These engines were of various kinds.
There was what they called the battering ram, which was
(16:27):
a long and very heavy beam of wood headed with
iron or brass. This beam was suspended by a chain
in the middle, so that it could be swung back
and forth by the soldiers, its head striking against the
wall each time, by which means the wall would sometimes
be soon battered down. They had also machines for throwing
(16:48):
great stones or beams of wood, by means of the
elastic force of strong bars of wood or of steel,
or that of twisted rope, the part of them upon
which the stone was placed, would be drawn back by
the united strength of many of the soldiers, and then,
as it recovered itself, when released, the stone would be
(17:11):
thrown off into the air with prodigious velocity and force.
Alexander's double galleys answered very well as long as the
water were smooth, but sometimes when they were caught out
in a swell, the rolling of the waves would rack
and twist them so as to tail the platforms asunder
and sink the men into the sea. The difficulties, unexpected
(17:36):
and formidable, were continually arising. Alexander, however, persevered through them. All.
The Tyrians, finding themselves pressed more and more, and seeing
that the dangers impeded in them, became more and more
formidable every day, at length concluded to send a great
number of the women and children away to Carthage, which
(17:57):
was a great commercial city in Africa. They were determined
not to submit to Alexander, but to carry their resistance
to the very last extremity, and as the closing scenes
of a siege, especially if the places at last taken
by storm, are beyond description, they wished to save their
(18:18):
wives and daughters and hapless babes from having to witness them.
In the meantime, as the siege advanced, the parties became
more and more incensed against each other. They treated the
captives which they took on either side with greater and
greater cruelty, each thinking that they were only retaliating worse
(18:39):
injuries from the other. The Macedonians approached nearer and nearer.
The resources of the unhappy city were gradually cut off,
and its strength worn away. The enemies approached nearer and
nearer to the walls, until the battering rams bore directly
upon them, and breaches began to be made. At length.
(19:01):
One great breach on the southern side was found to
be practicable, as they call it. Alexander began to prepare
for the final assault, and the Tyrians saw before them
the horrible prospect had been taken by storm. Still they
would not submit. Submission would now have done but little good,
(19:22):
though it might have saved some from the final horrors
of the scene. Alexander had become greatly exasperated by the
long resistance which the Tyrians had made. They probably could
not now have averted destruction, but they might perhaps have
perverted its coming upon them. In so terrible a shape
(19:43):
as the eruption of thirty thousand frantic and infuriated soldiers
through the breaches in their walls to take their city
by storm. The breach by which Alexander proposed to force
his entrance was on the southern side. He repaired a
number of ships with platforms raised upon them in such
a manner that on getting near the walls, they could
(20:05):
be let down and form a sort of bridge over
which the men could pass to the broken fragments of
the wall and thence ascend the breach above. The plan succeeded.
The ships advanced to the proposed place of landing, the
bridges were let down, the men crowded over them to
(20:26):
the foot of the wall. They clambered up through the
breach to the battlements above. Although the Tyrians thronged the
passage and made the most desperate resistance, hundreds were killed
by darts and arrows and falling stones, and their bodies
tumbled into the sea, the others paying no attention to
(20:47):
their falling comrades and drowning. The horrid screams of the
crush and the dying with their own frantic shouts of
rage and fury pressed on up the broken wall till
they reached the battlements above the vast throng, then rolled
along upon the top of the wall till they came
to the stairways and slopes by which they could descend
(21:07):
into the city. And, pouring down through all these avenues,
they spread over the streets and satiated the hatred and
rage which had been gathering strength for seven long months,
in bursting into houses and killing and destroying all that
came in their way. Thus the city was stormed. After
(21:30):
the soldiers were weary with the work of slaughtering the
wretched inhabitants of the city, they found that many still
remained alive, and Alexander tarnished the character for generosity and
forbearance for which he had thus far been distinguished by
the cruelty with which he treated them. Some were executed,
(21:51):
some thrown into the sea, and it is even said
that two thousand were crucified along the sea shore. This
may mean that their bodies were placed upon crosses after
life had been destroyed by some more humane method than crucifixion.
At any rate, we find frequent indications from this time
(22:14):
that prosperity and power were beginning to exert their usual
and unfavorable influence upon Alexander's character. He became haughty, imperious,
and cruel. He lost the modesty and gentleness which seemed
to characterize him in the earlier part of his life,
and began to assume the moral character as well as
(22:36):
perform the exploits of a military hero. A good illustration
of this is afforded by the answer that he sent
to Darius about the time of the storming of Tire,
in reply to a second communication which he had received
from him, proposing terms of peace. Darius offered him a
(22:57):
very large sum of money for the ransom of his mother, wife,
and child, and agreed to give up to him all
the country he had conquered, including the whole territory west
of the Euphrates. He also offered him his daughters to
Tira in marriage. He recommended to him to accept these
terms and be content with the possessions he had already acquired,
(23:21):
that he could not expect to succeed if he should
try in crossing the mighty rivers of the east, which
were in the way of his march toward the Persian dominions.
Alexander replied that if he wished to marry his daughter,
he could do it without his consent. As to the ransom,
he was not in want of money. In respect to
(23:44):
Darius's offering to give him up all the west of
the Euphrates, it was absurd for a man to speak
of giving what was no longer his own. That he
had crossed too many seas in his military expeditions since
he left Macedon, to feel any concern about the rivers
that he might find in his way, and that he
(24:05):
should continue to pursue Darius wherever he might retreat in
search of safety and protection, And he had no fear
but that he should find and conquer him at last.
It was a harsh and cruel message to send to
the unhappy monarch, whom he had already so greatly injured.
Parmenio advised him to accept Darius's offer. I would, said he,
(24:29):
if I were Alexander. Yes, said Alexander, And so would
I if I were Parmenio. What a reply from a
youth of twenty two to a venerable general of sixty,
who had been so tried and faithful a friend, and
so efficient a coadjutor, both to his father and to
(24:50):
himself for so many years. The siege and storming of
Tire has always been considered one of the greatest of
Alexander's exploits. The boldness, the perseverance, the indomitable energy which
he himself and all his army manifested during the seven
months of their herculean toil attracted the admiration of the world.
(25:14):
And yet we find our feelings of sympathy for his
character and interest in his fate somewhat alienated by the
indications of pride, imperiousness, and cruelty which began to appear.
While he rises in our estimation as a military hero,
he begins to sink somewhat as a man. And yet
(25:36):
the change was not sudden. He bore during the siege
his part in the privations and difficulty which the soldiers
had to endure, and the dangers to which they had
to be exposed. He was always willing to share. One
night he was out with the party upon the mountains.
Among his few immediate attendants was Lysimachus, one of his
(25:59):
former teachers, who always loved to accompany him at such times.
Lysymachus was advanced in life and somewhat infirm, and consequently
could not keep up with the rest in the march.
Alexander remained with Lysymachus and ordered the rest to go
on the road. At length, became so rugged that they
(26:22):
had to dismount from their horses and walk. Finally, they
lost their way and found themselves obliged to stop for
the night. They had no fire. They saw, however, at
a distance, some camp fire blazing, which belonged to the
barbarian tribes against whom the expedition was directed. Alexander went
(26:44):
to the nearest one. There were two men lying by
it who had been stationed to take care of it.
He advanced healthily to them and killed them both, probably
while they were asleep. He then took a brand from
their fire carried it back to his own encampment, where
he made a blazing fire for himself and Lysymachus, and
(27:06):
they passed the night in comfort and safety. Each reader
must judge for himself. One thing is certain, however, that
there are many military heroes of whom such stories would
not be even fabricated. End of Chapter seven
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