— Daily Roman Updates (@UpdatingOnRome) June 11, 2024
When Alexander the Great reached Tyre in January 332 BC he found a rich mercantile city perched on an island a kilometer off the coast of modern Lebanon. This is what confronted him.
Determined to obtain the submission of the city and deny the Persian Empire an important naval base, Alexander and his army laid siege to the city for seven months, eventually constructing a causeway across most of the gap and breaching the fortifications. Like most sieges in ancient times where the attacker prevailed, it ended badly for the people of Tyre with those not killed sold into slavery.
Over the centuries the causeway changed the flow of ocean currents allowing sediment to collect and creating a land bridge between the island and the mainland.
No comments:
Post a Comment