At first the Tyrians treated his project as a joke. They would row across to watch, and sit there, just out of range, making rude comments. They jeered at the soldiers for carrying loads on their back like beasts of burden. They inquired, facetiously, whether Alexander had become so swollen-headed that he was now setting up in competition with Poseidon. But the rapid, efficient progress of the work soon made them change their tune. They evacuated some of their women and children, and began to construct extra artillery for the landward defences. Far from laughing at Alexander’s mole, they now made a vigorous attempt to destroy it before it could become a real menace.
Author’s Note:
Both Curtius (4.4.3-4) and Diodorus (17.41.5) report that a large sea-monster appeared from the deep and crashed into the mole during these operations, though without doing it any damage. Tyrians and Macedonians alike took this as a favourable omen, the former going so far as to hold all-night revels in celebration, and to man their ships the following morning while still tipsy and garlanded.
Note:
[I find it humorous to imagine Alexander building this immense land-bridge to besiege a seemingly unconquerable rock fortress, and then (presumably) a whale accidentally smacks into it.]
Source:
Green, Peter. “Intimations of Immortality.” Alexander of Macedon: 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Univ. of California Press, 2005. 252. Print.
Original Source(s) Listed:
Diod. 17.41.1.
QC 4.2.20.
Further Reading:
Alexander III of Macedon / Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας (Alexander the Great)
If you enjoy this type of content, please consider donating to my Patreon!
No comments, yet...