The presence of the King, and the example he set, fired his troops with
unusual bravery. He himself ascended one of the towers on the mole,
which was of a prodigious height, and there was exposed to the greatest
dangers he had ever yet encountered; for being immediately known by his
insignia and the richness of his armor, he served as a mark for all the
arrows of the enemy. On this occasion he performed wonders, killing with
javelins several of those who defended the wall; then, advancing nearer
to them, he forced some with his sword, and others with his shield,
either into the city or the sea, the tower on which he fought almost
touching the wall.

He soon ascended the wall, followed by his principal officers, and
possessed himself of two towers and the space between them. The
battering-rams had already made several breaches; the fleet had forced
its way into the harbor; and some of the Macedonians had possessed
themselves of the towers which were abandoned. The Tyrians, seeing the
enemy masters of their rampart, retired toward an open place, called
Agenor, and there stood their ground; but Alexander, marching up with
his regiment of bodyguards, killed part of them and obliged the rest to
fly.

At the same time, Tyre being taken on that side which lay toward the
harbor, a general carnage of the citizens ensued, and none was spared,
except the few that fell into the hands of the Siclonians in Alexander's
army, who--considering the Tyrians as countrymen--granted them
protection and carried them privately on board their ships.

The number that was slaughtered on this occasion is almost incredible;
even after conquest, the victor's resentment did not subside. He ordered
no less than five thousand men, who were taken in the storming, to be
nailed to crosses along the shore. The number of prisoners amounted to
thirty thousand and were all sold as slaves in different parts of the
world. Thus fell Tyre, that had been for many ages the most flourishing
city in the world, and had spread the arts and commerce into the
remotest regions.

While Alexander was employed in the siege of Tyre he received a second
letter from Darius, in which that monarch treated him with greater
respect than before. He now gave him the title of king; he offered him
ten thousand talents as a ransom for his captive mother and queen; and
he promised him his daughter Statira in marriage, with all the country
he had conquered, as far as the river Euphra