(M742) Such was the decisive battle of Issus, where the cowardice and
incompetency of Darius were more marked than the generalship of Alexander
himself. No victory was ever followed by more important consequences. It
dispersed the Persian hosts, and opened Persia to a victorious enemy, and
gave an irresistible prestige to the conqueror. The fall of the empire was
rendered probable, and insured successive triumphs to Alexander.

(M743) But before he proceeded to the complete conquest of the Persian
empire, Alexander, like a prudent and far-reaching general, impetuous as
he was, concluded to subdue first all the provinces which lay on the
coast, and thus make the Persian fleet useless, and ultimately capture it,
and leave his rear without an enemy. Accordingly he sent Parmenio to
capture Damascus, where were collected immense treasures. It was
surrendered without resistance though it was capable of sustaining a
siege. There were captured vast treasures, with prodigious numbers of
Persians of high rank, and many illustrious Greek exiles. Master of
Damascus, Alexander, in the winter of B.C. 331, advanced upon Phoenicia,
the cities of which mostly sent letters of submission. While at Maranthus,
Darius wrote to Alexander, asking for the restitution of his wife, mother,
sister, and daughter, and tendering friendship, to which Alexander replied
in a haughty letter, demanding to be addressed, not as an equal, but as
lord of Asia.

(M744) The last hope of Darius was in the Phoenicians, who furnished him
ships; and one city remained firm in its allegiance--Tyre--the strongest and
most important place in Phoenicia. But even this city would have yielded on
fair and honorable conditions. This did not accord with Alexander's views,
who made exorbitant demands, which could not be accepted by the Tyrians
without hazarding their all. Accordingly they prepared for a siege,
trusting to the impregnable defenses of the city. It was situated on an
islet, half a mile from the main land, surrounded by lofty walls and
towers of immense strength and thickness. But nothing discouraged
Alexander, who loved to surmount difficulties. He constructed a mole from
the main land to the islet, two hundred feet wide, of stone and timber,
which was destroyed by a storm and by the efforts of the Tyrians. Nothing
daunted, he built another, still wider and stronger, and repaired to
Sidon, where he collected a great fleet, with which he invested the city
by s