Topic summary
Siege of Tyre (332 BC)
Hellenic League
Cyprus
Ionia
Phoenician city-states of Byblos, Arwad and Sidon
Achaemenid Empire
2,000 executed
13,000–30,000 civilians enslaved
The siege of Tyre was carried out by Alexander the Great in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Persians. At first, the Macedonian army was unable to capture the city of Tyre, which was a strategic coastal base on the , through conventional means because it was on an island that was 1 kilometer off the coast of modern-day Lebanon (at the time Phoenicia) and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months and building a causeway. When his soldiers discovered that they could not extend it any further due to a steep drop under the surface of the water, he ordered siege towers with catapults at the top to be moved to the end. This allowed him to breach the fortifications.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged by the Tyrians' fierce defence of the 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. Alexander granted pardon to all who had sought sanctuary in the temple, including Azemilcus and his family, as well as many nobles. 30,000 residents and foreigners, mainly women and children, were sold into slavery.