Page 110 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

110 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

rams, and new siege artillery, based on torsion, rather than the older tension, machines.
Torsion machines used skeins of sinew or hair rope, which were wound around a frame
and twisted so as to power two bow arms; these could develop much greater force than
earlier forms (such as the gastraphetes) reliant on the elastic properties of a bow-stave.
Two forms of such ballista were used by the Macedonians: a smaller bolt-shooting type
called the oxybeles and a larger stone-throwing machine called the lithobolos, the Mac-
edonian ballista. The largest lithoboloi could fire stones up to 80 kg in weight. Such ma-
chines could shower the defenders of a city with missiles and create a breach in the walls
themselves. It is quiet possible, that the siege of Tyre and the challenges Alexander faced,
proved the catalyst for the transition from tension artillery to torsion artillery.
Alexander established a base in Sidon, where his men had undergone a crash course
in naval warfare, taught by highly experienced masters such as Nearchus of Crete, among
others. In spite of the adverse effect on the Tyrian morale, the tenacious defenders struck,
and managed to sink a large part of Alexander’s armada. But the superior numbers even-
tually tipped the balance, and Alexander managed to blockade both ports. He had several
of the slower galleys, and a few barges, refit with battering rams. Finding that large un-
derwater blocks of stone kept the ram carrying ships from reaching the walls, Alexander
had them removed by crane ships. The ram carrying ships then anchored near the walls,
but the Tyrians sent out boats and divers to cut the anchor cables. Alexander responded by
replacing them with chains. The Tyrians then threw large boulders into the sea, so that the
besieging ships would break their wooden bottoms in the swell. Alexander had these boul-
ders removed. This added the element of a crude form of mine warfare and mine sweep-
ing to the siege. With the mole nearly reaching the island, Alexander ordered catapults
forward which began bombarding the city walls. The naval engagements became more
and more fierce and intense, but in spite of some Tyrian achievements, the Macedonians
held the upper hand.
Six months into the siege, the second mole had been completed. Alexander attempted
a few land attacks, which were repulsed with heavy losses. He realized only a combined
assault could subdue Tyre.
Finally breaching the wall in two places in the southern part of the city, Alexander pre-
pared a massive assault on August 3, 332 BCE, seven months after the beginning of the
operation. While his navy launched attacks all around Tyre, and warships broke the chains
blocking the harbour entrances, siege towers were floated against the walls while troop
transports wielding maritime boarding bridges carried the waves of soldiers attacking
through the breach, with Alexander himself the first one off the transports. Despite desper-
ate resistance from the Tyrians, Alexander’s men were able to overwhelm the defenders
and swarmed through the city. Under orders to slay the inhabitants, only those who took
refuge in the shrines and temples were spared as the combined assault carried the island.
6000 Tyrians were killed in the attack, and 2000 more were executed later on the beaches.
Around 30000 were sold into slavery. The number of Macedonian casualties is unknown.
The victory was complete. The lynchpin of possible threat against Alexander’s rear
was gone, and Tyre’s fate served as an example for all potential pockets of resistance.
History’s first large scale combined operation was over. The final word would belong to