(335-332 B. C.)
AZELMIC,
THE LAST OF THE TYRIAN MONARCHS.
REVIEW OF THE KINGDOM OF TYRUS,
AT
THE INVASION OF ASIA BY ALEXANDER OF MACEDON.
THE INVESTMENT OF TYRUS, &c.
We have now to investigate and delineate the most remarkable Siege in ancient record,—not remarkable from its duration of time, but from its important consequences,—the ingenuity employed in its final success,—the courage of the attack and defence,—and from the demoniac horrors and cruelties practised by the Conqueror upon its eventful termination. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was 400 years after this total annihilation of Tyrus as a Nation,—and, therefore, to the period of which we are now writing, Alexander's Siege of Tyrus stands unequalled for courageous assault, heroic resistance, and for refined cruelty practised upon the defeated. Upon this great National event is founded the essential basis of this History,—it is the absolute commencement of the Annals of Ancient America. Isaiah, Plutarch, and Arrian are our authorities,—the description of the Invasion and the Siege,—however humble the delineation, is our own;—we mention this, that in case it should fail to reach the full imagination of the reader, that the demerits may fall upon the right party,—or should it be the reverse, there may then be an inclination to render the opposite tribute of justice—not to the writer,—but to the reader,—that from the horrors of War, he may turn with a Christian's feeling to contemplate the Divine blessings of Peace,—and as a consequence, practical good-will and deeds to all men.
It will be necessary to present a review of the political and commercial position of Tyrus at the time that Alexander of Macedon (at the age of 20!) commenced his victorious march from his throne in Europe, through the great capitals of Asia and Africa. 336—5 B. C.
335 B. C.] Azelmic, the descendant of Strato, wielded the Sceptre with patriotic energy and justice, and at this period Tyrus was at the very height of splendour and renown. The "Queen of the Sea" had extended her navigation beyond any other period of her past history. Her throne being now upon the Island only,—which was citadelled and bastioned, with the Mediterranean itself for a water-moat, (and that nearly half a mile in width,) and flowing between the mainland and the outward walls, and they proudly rising to an elevation of one hundred and fifty feet,—this combination for defence caused her to defy every assault from man, or even the warfare of elements!
Upon the Island arose her gorgeous Palaces and Edifices, and conspicuous above them all, soared the lofty and brilliant Temple of Hercules-Apollo, the chosen Deity of the Tyrians. In the centre of the Mansion of their Religion, stood a Statue of pure and beaten gold, sacred to the glowing Sun-God; in the front of Apollo's image was the Altar of the Country, composed of precious stones and metals,—of engraved and sparkling gems,—sculptured gold and silver,—wrought by the descendants of the Hiramic artists, whose renowned works gave extended and lasting fame to the truly Sacred Temple of Jerusalem. Upon the authority of the foredooming Prophet,—Ezekiel—who spoke of Tyrus two centuries and a half prior to this period, her Commerce (and which now was of the Phœnix character,—and from which fact writers have traced her name of Phœnice)—her Commerce and Shipbuilding were as renowned as her adventurious spirit was proverbial.
Even in that time her builders had perfected her beauty. The Tyrian Galleys were of peculiar strength and elegance, and their "means and appliances" are especially dwelt upon by the Prophet. Senir furnished the fir-wood for planks and decks,—Lebanon the cedar for masts, yards, and timber,—Bashan the oak for the powerful oars,—the Rowers' benches were of Ivory from Ethiopia and India,—the sails were of embroidered fine linen from Egypt,—and the awning canopies of blue and purple cloths, tinted with the renowned colour of her robes of royalty. Mariners were constantly received from Sidon and Arvad,—the important business of the caulkers was confined to the "wise men" of Gebal,—but the builders and pilots were Tyrians only. To all the Nations enumerated by Ezekiel from whence riches were received in exchange for merchandise, are now [335 B. C.] to be added the Islands in, and the capitals bordering upon, the Mediterranean,—viz., Rhodes, Sardinia, Sicily, Melita, Corsica, and the Baleares; Ægina, Crete, Candia, Cyprus, Corcyra, and all the Grecian and Ionian Isles; the newly-discovered lands of Britain and Hibernia, the former being named by the Tyrians;—every Port from the mouth of the Menander to the "Pillars" at Gibraltar; from the borders of Dalmatia to the opposite shores of the Adriatic;—from the shores of Gaul and Iberia to the harbours of Etruria,—and to all these commercial tributaries of Tyrus, are to be added those giants of antiquity, Athens, Rome, and Carthage! Truly, then, in the language of the inspired writer, Zechariah,—
"Tyrus did build herself a strong hold; and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the street."
The same false Commercial policy was pursued by the Tyrians, as in their more ancient days, when Pride and Envy were their injurious counsellors. Their hands were raised against every nation seeking to enrich itself through the means of Navigation;—those countries were viewed by the Tyrians as the mere instruments of their own advancement. Sidon and Carthage were alone excepted from the National jealousy; and even this exception to the rule was founded upon selfishness, arising from the memory of blood and kindred, and not from any sentiment of liberal policy. The Metropolis being now on the Island, they felt safe from the approach of an enemy by land,—while their surrounding walls rendered them "quiet and secure" from every assault by Naval warfare as then practised. In this imperial state of confident security, founded upon Pride, locality, but above all by commercial Monopoly, stood the Island-Kingdom of Tyrus, as her death-knell was sounded from afar by the rising Monarch of Macedonia.
Throughout the surrounding Nations the Islanders had "sown the wind,"—they were now, as a consequence, "to reap the whirlwind," and no one to check, or blight, the pride-harvest of the hurricane!
Alexander commenced his triumphant march in the year 336 B. C., and not having a sufficient cause for his foreign invasions (Persia and Media excepted), may be justly looked upon, at this day, as the human Juggernaut of Antiquity! The Prophet Daniel, two centuries before the period of which this event treats, stigmatized this vaunted hero, when comparing him with the Kings of Media and Persia,—the latter to the horns of the Ram, while the former is likened unto the brute Goat of the mountains.
"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia." [Daniel viii. 21.]
It is not necessary to trace the progress of Alexander in Asia, only so far as it may have had an influence upon the fate and fall of Tyrus.
After the Passage of the Granicus, and in the next year, the great victory at Issus, whereby the Persian kingdom was shaken, the lesser nations begun to contemplate the increasing power of Alexander with alarm, and to reflect upon the best means of averting impending ruin. The only alternative from battle was to become tributary, or to obtain the special favour of the Invader.
Sidon made application, through ambassadors, to Alexander for his protection, and was thus saved from destruction by anticipating the conflict through a tributary surrender:—and which voluntary act satisfied the Macedonian, who stipulated, however, that he should place a new King upon the throne. This was agreed to, and Byblos and Aradnus joined in the humiliating surrender.
In compliment to his favourite,—Hephæstion,—the Conqueror allowed him to appoint whom he pleased for King of Sidon. Hephæstion, thereupon, selected a poor man of the Capital by the name of Strato, and instantly raised him to the dignity of Sidonian Sovereign. The mendicant was a remote branch of the Royal House, but had been unjustly degraded by the reigning Monarch. When the new-raised King had his first interview with Alexander, his grateful remark was—"I pray that Apollo will enable you, Alexander, to bear prosperity with the same fortitude, with which I have struggled with adversity!"
The Macedonian highly applauded the philosophical point of the remark, and secured him in his new possession.
As no great gift can be without a referential motive, either to the past, or for the future,—the donation by Hephæstion, where no past service had deserved it (and there were nearer branches of the Royal House than Strato), must have had, therefore, some deep meaning. It is only long after historic events are passed and analyzed, that they can be calmly or correctly judged; and in tracing Alexander's approach to the celebrated "Daughter of Sidon," this donation of a throne,—and to the party receiving it,—was in direct flattery to Tyrus; as in like manner, at a subsequent period, Marcus Antonius presented provinces to Egypt to secure the sun-clad and voluptuous Cleopatra!
The subjugation of Tyrus by policy was one of the schemes of Alexander,—for avoiding its destruction,—he would then be sure of Navies, Pilots, and Mariners, to carry his warfare, at a later period, to the river Tiber and to Rome itself;—for his thirst of Conquest,—had it not been allayed by the poison-draught in Asia,—could only have been quenched within the great Capital of Italy. Alexander, therefore, flattered the Tyrians by raising to the throne of Sidon, a man who bore the same name,—(Strato) and was of the same family as the Founder of the present dynasty at Tyrus; and consequently, remotely related to Azelmic, whom Alexander endeavoured (by this act of apparent generosity) to circumvent and overthrow by policy, not warfare. Historians have applauded the justice of Hephæstion,—they should have analyzed the deep-laid scheming of his Master,—who merely employed his favourite, to mask his own deep intent upon the great Commercial emporium of the World. The Tyrians, however, were practical merchant-princes, and were not to be deceived by any species of exchange, although Kings were the commodity.
334 B. C.] The unforeseen capitulation of Sidon,—the Mother-land,—aroused the Tyrians to a sense of their own position,—Sidon, Byblos, and Aradnus, had surrendered,—these Capitals, therefore, could not aid the Merchant-Metropolis. To increase the apprehension of the Tyrians, it was reported through the continued policy of Alexander, that he was, also, attended by a fleet of Galleys to cover any retreat,—or to land, and reconvey his troops from, or to any point, from the Bosphorous to the Nile,—or from thence to Carthage. The Conqueror had, however, in reality, dismissed his fleet before the victory of Issus, in order to inspire his troops with additional courage, from the then apparent fact, that they had no means of retreat from the enemies' country by the means of Galleys. He must have remembered that that feeling of safety of retreat lost the Persians the Battle of Marathon. [490 B. C.] The Macedonian had another motive in reporting that his fleet was approaching,—viz., To take the Tyrian attention from any land defence, by enforcing the belief that the attack would be by means of the Navy. He knew, also, that Azelmic and his People had no extensive knowledge of Military Science,—for they could have no occasion for its exercise, occasioned by their Island locality,—their high-reared walls being their bulwarks:—and they consequently commenced, as he expected, preparations for a Naval Conflict:—but, unknown to Alexander they had formed a masterly design, viz., to attack him both by land and sea, and that simultaneously; thence, if the Macedonian lost a land battle, and his fleet dispersed, (no difficult matter for the Tyrians) it would be easy to arouse other nations to crush the Invader. Tyrus, however, had no army fit to cope with Alexander, in any general engagement, and especially with his Phalanx and Cavalry. Azelmic, therefore, secretly despatched special Envoys to his only remaining ally,—viz., Carthage,—for no other nation could be with safety applied to in any emergency,—except Sidon,—for the treatment by the Tyrians to other countries had alienated every sentiment of National friendship. In their pride and prosperity they had forgotten that adversity may come! Sidon had capitulated, and received nearly an alien King,—Carthage, therefore, alone remained. Azelmic's ambassadors were received by the Tyro-Carthaginians with every demonstration of respect, as being due to a Nation from which they themselves had sprung. The answer to the application for an Army to oppose the advance of Alexander upon Tyrus, could only be divulged by, and within the Senate of the Republic; the Envoys were, therefore, courteously dismissed with presents and honours, together with the assurance that a speedy reply should be sent to the Island-Capital.
In the mean time, the policy of Azelmic was still further employed to circumvent that of Alexander's,—for during the absence of the Envoys he endeavoured to flatter the wily Macedonian in his own manner; and thereupon sent as a present to him a splendid golden Crown, as a friendly compliment:—this was received with apparent feelings of amity, and in return, Philip's Son desired to honour Tyrus by worshipping in person, (with his Officers,) in the Temple of Hercules-Apollo! Azelmic sarcastically replied to this effect, on behalf of Tyrus,—viz., that the honour intended by Alexander in entering the Metropolis, and worshipping, with his followers, (for his suite would have been the entire Army) in the Chief Temple of the Nation was duly appreciated, and more than they deserved, or were desirous of receiving,—that since the Hero of Macedon only desired to pay his tribute of respect to the Temple of Hercules-Apollo, that could be done amid the Ruins of the Old Temple on the Mainland; and that from the summit of the walls of the Island-City,—Azelmic, his Nobles, and People, would witness the ceremony! Alexander, of course, declined the offer,—at once perceiving that his scheme of entering Tyrus was frustrated: and he, also, almost simultaneously with this invitation to worship in the Ruined Temple, received intelligence of the important embassy secretly sent to Carthage. Alexander, therefore, instantly found that he had cause to view in Azelmic and his People, foes whose forethought and consequent judgment, might replace any deficiency that might be apparent from the want of an organised Army. The two rival Monarchs awaited with anxiety the reply of Carthage. In the mean time the Republican Senate [333 B. C.] held the final conference upon the subject of the Tyrian solicitation,—and thereupon, deputed thirty of the chief Citizens of Carthage as a delegation, to convey to Azelmic the following unlooked for reply: viz.—That the Senate viewed with deep condolence the present, and approaching condition of the home of their ancestors:—but, upon contemplation of the position of Carthage itself, they deeply regretted to find, that it precluded even the remote possibility of sending troops or succour to Tyrus!
Thus Carthage, apparently safe from the present approaches of Alexander, had her own fears of Invasion; yet had the Senate acceded to the wish of Tyrus, the two nations, by forming a junction, might have successfully opposed the further advance of the enemy; but Carthage had resolved (like Sidon) to save herself by policy, not warfare.
The Senate of Carthage, therefore, (following the Sidonian example) deputed an Ambassador to Alexander in order to secure his favour, or by a tribute to remain in peace. They consequently deputed for the important and National embassy,—Rhodanus,—a man possessing extraordinary address and beauty of person, supported by the fascination of the most accomplished eloquence. The insinuating manners, and flattery of Rhodanus, (who was presented by Parmenio,) together with his gallant bearing, had such a magical effect upon the vain Macedonian, that he instantly cast a friendly eye upon Carthage:—thus, that Country was saved from invasion by the cheapest, yet most valued tribute in the mind of the hero of the Granicus,—viz., Flattery. Jaddus, the High-Priest of Judæa, subsequently saved Jerusalem in the same manner, by producing the Prophecy of Daniel, and identifying Alexander as "the King of Grecia,"—the "rough goat" of the prediction.
Rhodanus accompanied the Son of Philip in all his after-expeditions, and consequently had power, and did transmit to Carthage the plans of his new Master, who had no suspicion of his flatterer's treachery. Rhodanus saved his country,—and yet upon his return to Carthage, he was looked upon as a traitor, from having served in the army of the Grecian, and was thereupon sentenced to death:—ingratitude and barbarity carried the decree into execution.
The reply of the Republic to Azelmic's application for troops, cast a foreboding gloom over the spirits of his subjects. It was too late now to supplicate to Alexander and receive from him the same terms, as had been granted to either Sidon or Carthage; for it was known to the Invader, that a solicitation for an Army had been made to Carthage and refused; which point was naturally not lost by Rhodanus in his eloquent appeal; for he represented the denial as having emanated not so much from fear, or hope of favour, as from admiration and love of Alexander and his Glory!
The Tyrians were, therefore, now left solitary and alone, as a majestic Column in the desert of Nations: they had now to depend upon their own solid base for support. Their chief weapon was their ancient Pride, which was daily being transfused from the brittle character of its metal, into the more pliable and useful temper of true courage; enabling its possessor to correctly analyze and appreciate the powers of an opponent. This courage, and their walled and Island-Citadel, enabled them to laugh to scorn the approach of the Macedonian: for intelligence had been received by them, that his Navy had been dismissed, and that the original report of its bearing down upon Tyrus, was but "a stratagem of the Invader."
Alexander's army now advanced, and commenced hostilities by destroying the suburbs of Tyrus situate upon the mainland; the inhabitants of which had previously entered the Island-Metropolis. Thus was the Last Siege of Tyrus commenced in the eleventh Hebrew month,—Shebat,—(January-February) in the year 332 before the Christian Æra.