What if the Macedonian Alexander was a “mariner”…? Why Tyre decided to oppose Alexander army, knowing it was a lost case?
Posted on: April 9, 2025
Tyre was the main port, the jewel port of the Persian empire, the wealthiest and most prominent city on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea.
Tyre is what permitted the Persian armada to invade Greece, in building ships and providing the proven mariners. And eventually Persia entered and burned Athens.
After Alexander defeated in the battle of Issus the Persian army, entered Damascus and got hold of the wealth and treasure of the Persian empire, all the main seashore cities between Tyre and northward were liberated from the Persian garrisons.
Consequently, all these maritime cities hated the prime status of Tyre and actually gathered whatever ships they had to put siege on Tyre and prevent it from receiving logistical supplies.
Tyre could not withstand Alexander siege, but it could not believe that any agreement would not be broken by Alexander who meant revenge and vengeance for Athens burning 2 centuries ago.
Tyre managed to prevent the storming of its island for six months in order to vacate and transfer most of its citizens out of the Island.
Carthage had already supplanted the Phoenicians as the main maritime colonial power, especially in the western part of the Sea. And Carthage knew that defending the faraway Tyre was not feasible.
Instead, Carthage enjoyed a second renaissance from the flocking of the fleeing Tyrians from the besieged island, the wealthy people, the nobles, the priests, the artisans, the women and children.
Tyre vacated everyone who could not contribute to the defense of the island for the limited supplies it had.
Those numbers of 8 thousand killed after Alexander entered the island, the additional thousands captured as slaves and sold are over exaggerated numbers. The island could have held that many before the siege but not later on.
Those “citizens” who remained to defend the island could be considered as sacrificing themselves for the survival of the thousands who would have perished.
If Alexander was a mariner, he would have struck a great deal with Tyre. Tyre was a vassal to Persia for many centuries, and it could easily be a vassal to Alexander with access to all the seas.
After entering Egypt, Alexander could have used the Red Sea as a launching pad to land in any country he wished: The “Arabic” Peninsula, Yemen, East Africa, Persia, the Indus land, and even India.
Alexander had no sea feet, and as a young and impatient land commander, he preferred “Land Invasion” and ventured far eastward after defeating Persia in a second major battle near current Irbil (north Iraq).
How Alexander could have convinced Tyre that he meant no harm? He would have resumed his advance toward Egypt and left a contingent, not militarily threatening to Tyre, to fine tune the deal.
Note 1: During the Greek Seleucid empire, Tyre reclaimed its status as the main port.
Note 2: Before the Persia empire occupied the Canaanite Levant, the Phoenicians were the first maritime colonial power in the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and the Red Sea. It was succeeded by Carthage
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