Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway and placing siege towers with catapults built on top at the end after his soldiers discovered that they could not extend it any further due to a steep drop under the surface of the water.

Tyre, the largest and most important city-state of Phoenicia, was located both on the Mediterranean coast as well as a nearby island with two natural harbours on the landward side.

The location of Tyre was ideal for the seafaring habits of the Phoenician people, but also proved to make it hard to attack.

The matchup between Alexander the Great’s army and the forces of a Phoenician city state might sound like an unfair fight, but Tyre’s logistics made for a long and grueling siege.

Tyre’s split location between an island[6] about half a mile off the coast of present day Lebanon and the mainland makes it challenging to strategize against.

Alexander the Great, a man praised for his military prowess,[7] wanted to see if he could assert his dominance over the entire Mediterranean region before any other civilizations captured the city.

Tyre was a crucial port city in the Mediterranean trade network, fostering the movement of goods, ideas, and people.

At the time of the siege, the city held approximately 40,000 people, though the women and children had been evacuated to Carthage, the former Phoenician colony and then Mediterranean power.

[10] As Alexander could not attack the city from the sea, he built a kilometre-long two hundred foot-wide causeway (claimed so by Diodorus) stretching out to the island on a natural land bridge no more than two meters deep.

This development coincided also with the arrival of 120 war galleys sent by the king of Cyprus, who had heard of his victories and wished to join him.

Along with the navy he broadened the width of his mole to allow for more defensive engines to provide proper protection from the Tyrians.

Finding that large underwater blocks of stone kept the rams from reaching the walls, Alexander had them removed by crane ships.

For some reason on this day, Alexander had skipped his afternoon nap, and sailed around the city to capture those of the attacking force that had made an attempt to retreat.

The severity of reprisals reflected the length of the siege and Alexander's response to the Tyrians having executed some of his soldiers on the walls, in sight of the attackers.

Instead of attacking the Tyrians, he chose to march directly to the city, which he immediately took by force surprising its remaining garrison.