Siege of Tyre, 332 BC
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Ancient Era
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3 comments
| Citizens versus Alexander the Great: The Tyrian citizens refuse to surrender their walled, island fortress to a Macedonian army under Alexander. Which side will prove to be overconfident in their abilities? Click the image below to view.
 Tyre was under complete siege a total of six times, Alexander being the only one to capture the island fortress. This is impressive, considering that one of the sieges took place in the twelfth century where technology far outmatched the Macedonians.
Persistence comes to mind when explaining why Alexander was able to conquer Tyre while others were not. In Battles that Changed Warfare 1457 BC – AD 1991, DeVries plays with a theory that Alexander’s new torsion catapults played a decisive role. The untrained citizens of Tyre compared to its other sieges must have also played a part; the breach in the south was easily overrun by veteran Macedonian forces.
 It is always precarious to try and animate – that is show rapid, constant movement – a siege in which both sides sit still. Every siege I animate is a new challenge but I feel my first two, Tyre and Alesia, have been up to standards. By completing this animation I have completed the first commander spotlight in which I animate three battles fought by the same commander. A note on casualties: figures only include casualties suffered before the city surrendered and the Tyrian percentage only accounts for men of military age.
- Jonathan Webb
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            Tags: alexander, Ancient Era, archer, catapult, citizens, infantry, macedonia, macedonians, naval, navy, siege, tyre, tyrians
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3 Comments to “Siege of Tyre, 332 BC”
The information about Tyre being the only city on the coast to oppose Alexander is not correct. The city of Gaza held out for two months under Batis only to meet a similar fate; a general massacre and the brave Persian commander emulating Hektor; being dragged behind a chariot.
By Shahrbaraz on Oct 8, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Gaza did also oppose Alexander; this will be corrected in the next wave of edits. In the near future, I hope to enlist a research assistant and general editor to ensure no errors slip through into the animations.
By Jonathan Webb on Oct 17, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Some of your explanation of how the battle proceeded is incorrect. The Macedonians never manage to create a breach in the wall facing the mole, according to Arrian the wall at this point was a 150 feet tall and porportionally think and although they do attempt to breach it with rams, they do not make a mark. It is true however that Alexander does attempt to assault this part of the wall (he does this mainly by usuing ladders and is reported by Diodorus) but still fails. The probing itself was not immediate too, once the ships manage to create a breach in the south wall Alexander immediately sends a battalion to try to attack it and are defeated (Diodorus tells us that at this point Alexander considered giving up the siege). So Alexander waits three days, for better weather, then he sends in his ships with torsion catapults mounted on them to enlarge the breach he then runs a gangway from the boats to the breach and leads his hyspastists through it (according to Arrian Alexander was the second man through).
By Mason on Dec 4, 2009 at 12:29 am