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Benvenuti in queste pagine dedicate a scienza, storia ed arte. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Torino

Showing posts with label Alexander the Great. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexander the Great. Show all posts

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Sikandar the Destroyer - Tyre

Sikandar is the Persian name of Alexander the Great. Let us consider his behaviour in the case of the city of Tyre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tyre_(332_BC)
"The Siege of Tyre was orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Persians. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city, which was a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea, through conventional means because it was on an island and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway that allowed him to breach the fortifications.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defence of their city and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. According to Arrian, 8,000 Tyrian civilians were massacred after the city fell. Alexander granted pardon to all who had sought sanctuary (safety in the temple), including Azemilcus and his family, as well as many nobles. 30,000 residents and foreigners, mainly women and children, were sold into slavery. ...  According to Quintus Curtius Rufus 6,000 fighting men were killed within the city and 2,000 Tyrians were crucified on the beach.[7] The others, some 30,000 people, were sold into slavery. 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." This is the justification given by Wikipedia for Alexander's behavior.  Let me stress that Alexander was attaching Tyre not viceversa!
From  http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub366/item2036.html "The victory over Tyre added Lebanon as well as Palestine, Syria and Egypt to Alexander's empire.Alexander was reportedly so enraged by the loss of time and men used to capture Tyre that he destroyed half the city, and rounded up its residents, who were either massacred or sold into slavery. Seven thousand people were slaughtered after the capture, 2,000 young men were crucified and 30,000 people were sold into slavery." Ecco come finanziava la sua guerra Alessandro. Faceva cassa ad ogni città conquistata.
That is, it is clear that the financial support for Alexander's war that of selling people for slavery.

Sikandar the Destroyer - Thebes

Sikandar is the Persian name of Alexander the Great.
Let us consider his behaviour in the case of the city of Thebe, and read together Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thebes
"The Battle of Thebes was a battle that took place between Alexander the Great and the Greek city state of Thebes in 335 BC.  After being made hegemon of the League of Corinth, Alexander had marched to the north to deal with revolts in Illyria and Thrace, which forced him to draw heavily from the troops in Macedonia that was maintaining pressure on the Greek city-states of the south to keep them in subjection. Although Alexander did not desire to destroy Thebes, after sending several embassies requesting their submission on what he considered merciful terms, he eventually decided to destroy the city as an example to others."
How mercyfull Alexander was!
"The Thebans made everything ready to fight to the last man, and put their women and children in the city temples.[1] They were aware that there was to be no quarter. Once the siege began, the Thebans fought desperately, fearing for their homes, wives and children. The battle went on for some time, and it was in doubt. However, Alexander sent in his reserves and the situation started to improve. Despite the Theban's valiant struggle, however, Alexander noticed that a unit of their guard had abandoned one of the gates. It is here that he sent Perdiccas troops to enter and penetrate into the city itself.[1] At this point, realizing that the fight for the city walls was a lost cause, the Thebans retreated and began their final battle within the city itself. It was around this time that Philotas and his garrison broke out of the citadel and began fighting in the battle as well.[1]
Alexander punished the Thebans severely for their rebellion. Wishing to send a message to the other Greek states, he had the 30,000 Thebans not killed in the fighting sold into slavery. The city itself was burnt to the ground, with the exception only of the house of Pindar, which Alexander ordered be left intact out of gratitude for Pindar's verses praising Alexander's ancestor, Alexander I of Macedon.[6] "
This is one of the episodes of Sikandar the Destroyer.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Archaeoastronomy at Alexandria

The town-planning of the ancient Alexandria has an astronomical orientation according to sunrise. This orientation was proposed by Robert Bauval in 2004, as that of the direction of the sunrise on the day of Alexander's birthday as a solar Horus-king. The same orientation was also considered in 2012 by Luisa Ferro and Giulio Magli.

Mora at