The Siege of Tyre: Alexander the Great and the Gateway to Empire

The island city of Tyre along the coast of Lebanon was for centuries an impregnable fortress and key to unlocking Phoenician and Persian power in the Near East. Its fall was first prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel; but it would not be Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who would take the city as the Bible foretold, but a Macedonian warrior king, Alexander. Alexander’s siege of 332 BC was one of the most remarkable events in the classical world. “It was the capture of Tyre that did the most to enhance Alexander's reputation for invincibility,” wrote historian Waldemar Heckel, while classicist Paul Cartledge observed, “If Alexander deserves permanent commemoration as a general, then it is above all in his capacity as a besieger, and of all his sieges Tyre was his masterpiece.” Yet books about Alexander and his conquests often simply retell the story as recorded by ancient authors—even though these accounts often disagree—and ignore competing theories among modern scholars about what may have happened given scientific and textual discoveries.
            The Siege of Tyre: Alexander the Great and the Gateway to Empire by David A. Guenther is the first book-length treatment of this critical and fascinating campaign, featuring catapults, triremes, religious invocations, close combat, and marvels of engineering, including a massive manmade causeway from the mainland to the island. The siege is thoroughly analyzed from the standpoint of what is plausible given the nature of the technology of the time and what we now know of the geology and physical fortifications of ancient Tyre. The book begins with the background leading up to the siege: Alexander’s army, his invasion of Asia Minor, the sieges of Miletus and Halicarnassus, and the battles of the Granicus and Issus. It also describes the culture, people, cities, and economy of ancient Phoenicia to place the story of the siege in a broader context. Critical to the siege were the evolving technologies in the ancient Mediterranean world, including innovations in catapult design, military engineering, and naval architecture. Guenther also takes into account recent scientific discoveries about the geology of the ancient seabed around Tyre and its effect on the siege. Finally, the book points out possible gender-biased views on topics such as sacred temple prostitution among the ancient Phoenicians and the fate of women in besieged cities of the ancient world. An engrossing blend of ancient wonder and historical and technological analysis, The Siege of Tyre is the remarkable story of Alexander the Great’s “masterpiece.”