Hic rex fatigatus statuerat soluta obsidione Aegyptum petere. [2] Quippe cum Asiam ingenti velocitate percucurrisset, circa muros unius urbis haerebat tot maximarum rerum opportunitate dimissa. Ceterum tam discedere inritum quam morari pudebat, famam quoque, qua plura quam armis everterat, ratus leviorem fore, si Tyrum quasi testem, se posse vinci, reliquisset. Igitur ne quid inexpertum omitteret, plures naves ad moveri iubet delectosque militum inponi. [3] Et forte belua invisitatae magnitudinis super ipsos fluctus dorso eminens ad molem, quam Macedones iecerant, ingens corpus adplicuit diverberatisque fructibus adlevans semet utrimque conspecta est: [4] deinde a capite molis rursus alto se inmersit ac modo super undas eminens magna sui parte, modo superfusis fluctibus condita haud procul munimentis urbis se mersit. [5] Utrisque laetus fuit beluae aspectus: Macedones iter iaciendo operi monstrasse eam augurabantur, Tyrii Neptunum, occupati maris vindicem, abripuisse beluam ac molem brevi profecto ruituram. Laetique omine eo ad epulas dilapsi oneravere se vino, quo graves orto sole navigia conscendunt redimita floribus coronisque: adeo victoriae non omen modo, sed etiam gratulationem praeceperant. [6] Forte rex classem in diversam partem agi iusserat xxx minoribus navigiis relictis in litore: (??) quibus Tyrii duobus captis cetera ingenti terruerunt [p. 55] metu, donec suorum clamore audito Alexander classem litori, a quo fremitus acciderant, admovit. [7] Prima e Macedonum navibus quinqueremis velocitate inter ceteras eminens occurrit: quam ut conspexere Tyriae, duae ex diverso in latera eius invectae sunt, in quarum alteram quinqueremis eadem concitata et ipsa rostro icta est et illam invicem tenuit. [8] Iamque ea, quae non cohaerebat, libero impetu est vecta in aliud quinqueremis latus. Invehebatur tum opportunitate mira triremis e classe Alexandri in eam ipsam, quae quinqueremi inminebat, tanta vi, ut Tyrius gubernator in mare excuteretur e puppi. [9] Plures deinde Macedonum naves superveniunt, et rex quoque aderat, cum . Tyrii inhibentes remis aegre evellere navem, quae haerebat, portumque omnia simul navigia repetunt. Confestim rex insecutus portum quidem intrare non potuit, cum procul e muris missilibus summoveretur, naves autem omnes fere aut demersit aut cepit. [10] Biduo deinde ad quietem dato militibus iussisque et classem et machinas pariter admovere, ut undique territis instaret, ipse in altissimam turrem ascendit ingenti animo, periculo maiore: quippe regio insigni et armis fulgentibus conspicuus unus praecipue telis petebatur. [11] Et digna prorsus spectaculo edidit: multos e muris propugnantes hasta transfixit, quosdam etiam comminus gladio clipeoque inpulsos praecipitavit. Quippe turris, ex qua dimicabat, muris hostium propemodum cohaerebat. [12] Iamque crebris arietibus saxo- [p. 56] rum conpage laxata munimenta defecerant et classis intraverat portum et quidam Macedonum in turres hostium desertas evaserant, cum Tyrii tot simul malis victi alii supplices in templa confugiunt, alii foribus aedium obseratis occupant liberum mortis arbitrium, nonnulli ruunt in hostem haud inulti tamen perituri, [13] magna pars summa tectorum obtinebat saxa et, quidquid fors in manus dederat, ingerentes subeuntibus. Alexander exceptis, qui in templa confugerant, omnes interfici ignemque tectis inici iubet. [14] His per praecones pronuntiatis nemo tamen armatus opem a dis petere sustinuit: pueri virginesque templa conpleverant, viri in vestibulo suarum quisque aedium stabant, [15] parata saevientibus turba. Multis tamen saluti fuere Sidonii, qui intra Macedonum praesidia erant. Hi urbem quidem inter victores intraverant, sed cognationis cum Tyriis memores — quippe utramque urbem Agenorem condidisse credebant — multos Tyriorum clam protegentes ad sua perduxere navigia: quibus occultatis Sidona devecti sunt. [16] XV milia hoc furto subducta saevitiae sunt. Quantumque sanguinis fusum sit, vel ex hoc aestimari potest, quod intra munimenta urbis vi milia armatorum trucidata sunt. [17] Triste deinde spectaculum victoribus ira praebuit regis: II milia, [18] in quibus occidendis defecerat rabies, crucibus adfixi per ingens litoris spatium pependerunt. Carthaginiensium legatis pepercit addita denuntiatione belli, quod praesentium rerum necessitas moraretur. [19] Tyros septimo mense, quam oppugnari coepta erat, capta est, urbs et vetustate originis et crebra fortunae varietate ad memoriam posteritatis insignis. Condita [p. 57] ab Agenore diu mаrе non vicinum modo, sed, quodcumque classes eius adierunt, dicionis suae fecit. Et, si famae libet credere, haec gens litteras prima aut docuit aut didicit. Coloniae certe eius paene orbe toto diffusae sunt: Carthago in Africa, in Boeotia Thebae, Gades ad Oceanum. [20] Credo libero conmeantes mari saepiusque adeundo ceteris incognitas terras elegisse sedes iuventuti, qua tunc abundabant, sive quia crebris motibus terrae — nam hoc quoque traditur — cultores eius fatigati nova et externa domicilia armis sibimet quaerere cogebantur. [21] Multis ergo casibus defuncta et post excidium renata nunc tandem longa pace cuncta refovente sub tutela Romanae mansuetudinis adquiescit.
IV. At this point Alexander from utter weariness had determined to raise the siege and go to Egypt. For after he had overrun Asia with great speed he was lingering around the walls of a single city, thus losing - the opportunity for so many mighty exploits. But he was as much ashamed to withdraw baffled, as to delay, thinking that his reputation also, by which he had overthrown more than by his arms, would be impaired if he should leave Tyre as a witness that he could be defeated. Therefore, in order to leave nothing untried, he ordered more ships to be brought up and the best of his soldiers to be embarked upon them. And it chanced that a sea-monster, of a size never before seen, rising even above the waves with its back, brought its huge body up to the causeway which the Macedonians had built, and striking the surges asunder as it lifted itself, was seen by both sides. Then from the peak of the causeway it again plunged under the sea, and now rising above the surface with a great part of its bulk, now hidden as the waves dashed over it, it disappeared under water not far from the walls of the city. The appearance of the monster gave joy to both sides; the Macedonians interpreted it as showing the direction in which to go on building up the work; the Tyrians thought that Neptune, as an avenger of the usurped sea, had brought the monster against the causeway, and that it would surely soon fall in ruins. Rejoicing in the omen, the Tyrians turned aside to feasting and loaded themselves with wine, and still under its influence at sunrise, they embarked upon ships wreathed with flowers and garlands; so over-hasty were they to perceive, not only an omen of victory, but even an occasion for celebrating one.
[6] As it happened, the king had ordered his fleet to be brought to the opposite side of the harbour, leaving thirty of the smaller ships at the shore; of these the Tyrians captured two and greatly terrified the rest, until Alexander, hearing the shouts of his men, moved his fleet to the part of the shore from which the uproar had come. The first of the Macedonians ships to reach the spot was a five-banker, conspicuous among the rest for speed; when the Tyrian ships caught sight of it, two of them charged its sides from opposite directions, against one of which the five-banker rushed, and was itself rammed by the beak of the other and in turn held it fast. And then the other Tyrian ship, which was not held fast, made a free attack on the other side of the five-banker. Then with wonderful timeliness a three-banker of Alexander’s fleet charged upon the very ship which was threatening the five-banker, with such force that the Tyrian steersman was hurled from the stern into the sea. Then more Macedonian ships came up, and the king also was close at hand, when the Tyrians backed water and with difficulty tore away the ship which was entangled, and all their vessels together made for the port. Immediately Alexander pursued them; he was unable to enter the harbour, since he was thrust far from the walls by missiles, but he captured or sank nearly all the ships.
Then two days were given to the soldiers for rest, and they were ordered to bring up both the fleet and at the same time the machines, in order that Alexander might terrify the enemy by an attack on all sides; he himself mounted a very lofty tower, with great courage and still greater danger; for being conspicuous for his royal garb and gleaming arms, he more than any other was a special target for missiles.
[11] And his exploits were well worth beholding; many defenders on the ramparts he ran through with his spear, some he attacked hand to hand with sword and shield, and hurled them
headlong from the parapets.
For the tower from which he was fighting was almost joined to the enemies’ walls.
[12] And now, after the blows of many rams had loosened the structure of the stones, the fortifications had begun to give way, and the fleet had entered the port, and some of the Macedonians had made their way into the towers deserted by the enemy, then of the Tyrians, overcome by so many evils at once, some took refuge as suppliants in the temples, others bolted the doors of their houses and anticipated the enemy by a death of their free choice, still others rushed upon the foe to die, but yet not unavenged; a great part manned the roofs of their houses and showered stones and whatever chance had put into their hands upon the Macedonians as they came up. Alexander gave orders that all except those who had taken refuge in the temples should be slain and the houses set on fire. Although this order was proclaimed by heralds, yet not a single armed man could bring himself to seek aid from the gods; boys and maidens had filled the temples, the men stood each in the vestibule of his own house, a throng at the mercy of the raging foe.
[15] To many, however, the Sidonians, who formed a part of the Macedonian forces, were a means of safety. These, it is true, had entered the city among the victors, but mindful of their kinship with the Tyrians — for they believed that Agenor founded both cities — they secretly protected many of the Tyrians and took them to their ships, in which they were hidden and conveyed to Sidon. By this deception 15,000 were saved from the victor’s cruelty. But how great the bloodshed was may be calculated from this alone, that 6000 armed men were butchered within [17] the city’s ramparts. After that the king’s wrath furnished the victors with an awful spectacle; 2000 men, for the slaying of whom frenzy had spent itself, hung nailed to crosses along a great stretch of the shore. He spared the Carthaginian envoys, but added a declaration of war, although the war was delayed by the urgency of present affairs.
[19] Tyre was taken in the seventh month after the beginning of the siege, a city worthy of note in the memory of later times both for its ancient origin and its frequent changes of fortune. Founded by Agenor, it long held under its sway, not only the neighbouring part of the sea, but whatever portion of it its fleets could reach. Also, if one wishes to believe report, this people was the first either to teach, or to learn, the art of writing. At any rate, its colonies were distributed over almost the whole world; Carthage in Africa, Thebes in Boeotia, Gades on the Ocean. I suppose that, as they went to and fro on the free sea, and often visiting lands unknown to other peoples, they selected homes for their young men, of whom they then had an over-abundant supply; or it may be that the Tyrians, exhausted by frequent earthquakes — for this also is reported — were forced to seek new homes for themselves in foreign lands by arms. Having therefore suffered many disasters and having risen again from their ruins, now at last wholly restored by long-continued Peace, they are at rest under the protection of Roman clemency.
Isdem ferme diebus Darei litterae adlatae sunt tandem ut regi scriptae. Petebat, uti filiam suam — Statirae erat nomen — nuptiis Alexander sibi adiungeret: dotem fore omnem regionem inter Hellespontum et Halyn amnem sitam, inde orientem spectantibus terris contentum se fore. [2] Ne dubitaret, quod offerretur, accipere: numquam diu eodem vestigio stare fortunam, semperque homines, quantamcumque felicitatem habeant, invidiam tamen sentire maiorem. [3] Vereri se, ne avium modo, quas naturalis levitas ageret ad sidera, inani аc puerili mente se efferret: nihil difficilius esse quam in illa aetate tantam capere fortunam. [4] Multas se adhuc reliquias habere nee semper inter angustias posse deprehendi: transeundum esse Alexandro Euphraten Tigrimque et Araxen et Choaspen, magna munimenta [p. 58] regni sui, veniendum in campos, ubi paucitate suorum erubescendum sit, in Mediam, Hyrcaniam, Bactra: [5] et Indos, Oceani accolas, quando aditurum, ne Sogdianos et Arachosios nominem ceterasque gentes ad Caucasum et Tanain pertinentes? [6] Senescendum fore tantum terrarum vel sine proelio obeunti. Se vero ad ipsum vocare desineret: [7] namque illius exitio se esse venturum. Alexander iis, qui litteras attulerant, respondit, Dareum sibi aliena promittere et, quod totum amiserit, velle partiri. Doti sibi dari Lydiam, Ionas, Aeolidem, Hellesponti oram, victoriae suae praemia. Leges autem a victoribus dici, accipi a victis: in utro statu ambo essent, si solus ignoraret, quam primum Marte decerneret. [8] Seque, cum transiret mare, non Ciliciam aut Lydiam — quippe tanti belli exiguam hanc esse mercedem — , sed Persepolim, caput regni eius, Bactra deinde et Ecbatana ultimique Orientis oram imperio destinasse. Quocumque ille fugere potuisset, ipsum sequi posse: desineret terrere fluminibus, quem sciret maria transisse. [9] Reges quidem haec invicem scripserant. Sed Rhodii urbem suam portusque dedebant Alexandro. Ille Ciliciam Socrati tradiderat Philota regioni circa Tyrum iusso praesidere. Syriam, quae Coele appellatur, [10] Andromacho Parmenio tradiderat bello, quod supererat, interfuturus. Rex Hephaestione Phoenices [p. 59] oram classe praetervehi iusso ad urbem Gazam cum omnibus copiis venit. [11] Isdem fere diebus sollemne erat ludicrum Isthmiorum, quod conventu totius Graeciae celebratur: in eo concilio Graeci, ut sunt temporaria ingenia, decernunt, ut xv legarentur ad regem, qui ob res pro salute ac libertate Graeciae gestas coronam auream donum victoriae ferrent. [12] Idem paulo ante incertae famae captaverant auram, ut, quocumque pendentes animos tulisset fortuna, sequerentur. [13] Ceterum non ipse modo rex obibat urbes adhuc iugum imperii recusantes, sed praetores quoque ipsius, egregii duces, pleraque invaserant, Calas Paphlagoniam, Antigonus Lycaoniam: Balacrus Hydarne, Darei praetore, [14] superato denuo Miletum cepit, Amphoterus et Hegelochus clx navium classe insulas inter Achaiam atque Asiam in dicionem Alexandri redegerunt. Tenedo quoque recepta Chium incolis ultro vocantibus statuerant occupare, [15] sed Pharnabazus, Darei praetor, conprehensis, qui res ad Macedones trahebant, rursus Apollonidi et Athenagorae, suarum partium viris, urbem cum modico praesidio militum tradit. [16] Praefecti Alexandri in obsidione urbis perseverabant non tam suis fisi viribus quam ipsorum, qui obsidebantur, voluntаte. Nec fefellit opinio: namque inter et duces militum orta seditio inrumpendi in urbem [p. 60] occasionem dedit, [17] cumque porta effracta cohors Macedonum intrasset, oppidani olim consilio proditionis agitato adgregant se Amphotero et Hegelocho, Persarumque praesidio caeso Pharnabazus cum Apollonide et Athenagora vincti traduntur, [18] XII triremes cum suo milite аc remige, praeter eas XXX inanes et piratici lembi Graecorumque i n milia a Persis mercede conducta. His in supplementum copiarum suarum distributis piratisque supplicio adfectis captivos remiges adiecere classi suae. [19] Forte Aristonicus, Methymnaeorum tyrannus, cum piraticis navibus ignarus omnium, quae apud Chium acta erant, prima vigilia ad portus claustra successit interrogatusque a custodibus, quis esset, Aristonicum ad Pharnabazum venire respondit. [20] Illi Pharnabazum quidem iam quiescere et non posse tum adiri, ceterum patere socio atque hospiti portum et postero die Pharnabazi copiam fore adfirmant. [21] Nec dubitavit Aristonicus primus intrare, secuti sunt ducem piratici lembi, ac, dum adplicant navigia crepidini portus, obicitur a vigilibus claustrum, et, qui proximi excubabant, ab isdem excitantur. Nullo ex iis auso repugnare omnibus catenae iniectae sunt, Amphotero deinde Hegelochoque traduntur. [22] Hinc Macedones transiere Mytilenen. Quam Chares Atheniensis nuper occupatam II milium Persarum praesidio tenebat, sed, cum obsidionem tolerare non posset, urbe tradita pactus, ut incolumi abire liceret, Imbrum petit. Deditis Macedones pepercerunt. [p. 61]
V. At about that same time a letter of Darius was brought, at last written as to a king. He asked that Alexander should take to wife his daughter — her name was Statira; that her dowry would be the entire region lying between the Hellespont and the Halys River, and that Darius would be content with the lands extending eastward from that river. Darius reminded him that he ought not to hesitate to accept the offer; that Fortune never stands long on the same spot, and that men, however great success they may enjoy, are nevertheless exposed to greater envy.
[3] That he feared lest Alexander, like the birds, whose natural lightness drives them on towards the stars, might be carried away by a vain and childish spirit; that nothin
g was more difficult at his time of life than [4] to be able to prove equal to so great a fortune. That Darius still had many lands left, and could not always be caught amid narrow defiles; Alexander had the Euphrates and Tigris to cross, the Araxes and Choaspes, mighty defences of the Persian empire, and must come into open plains, where he would have to blush for the small number of his forces, to Media, [5] Hyrcania, Bactra; and when would he reach the Indi, neighbours of the Ocean, not to mention the Sogdiani and the Arachosii, and the rest of the nations extending to the Caucasus and the Tanais? He must grow old merely in traversing such an expanse of lands, even if he could do so without fighting.
[6] Further, Alexander should cease to summon him to come to him; for he would come of his own accord, to his enemy’s destruction.
[7] Alexander replied to those who had brought the letter that Darius was promising him what was not his own, and wished to give him a share of what he had wholly lost. As a dowry were offered him Lydia, the Ionians, Aeolis, the coast of the Hellespont, the prizes of his own victory! Moreover, conditions were imposed by victors, accepted by the vanquished. If Darius alone did not know in what relation they both stood, let him settle the question as soon as possible [8] on the field of battle. Also let him know that Alexander, when he crossed the sea, had not aimed at the rule of Cilicia or Lydia — for that would be a slight reward for so great a war — but of Persepolis, the capital of Darius’ kingdom, then of Bactra and Ecbatana, and the lands of the remotest Orient. Whithersoever Darius should have been able to flee, he could follow; let him cease to try to frighten with rivers one whom he knew to have crossed seas.
9The kings indeed had exchanged these letters. But the Rhodians were surrendering their city and ports to Alexander. He had entrusted Cilicia to Socrates and ordered Philotas to govern the region about Tyre. The part of Syria which is called Coelê had been handed over to Andromachus by Parmenion, who was destined to share largely in what remained of the war. Alexander, after ordering Hephaestion to coast along the shore of Phoenicia with the fleet, came with all his forces to the city of Gaza.
Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus Page 82