Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/164

 132 HISTORY OF GREECE. the islai .d of Cyprus. If the Phenician towns made submission to Alexander, it was certain that their ships and seamen would either return home spontaneously or be recalled ; thus depriving .he Persian quiver of its best remainmg arrow. But if the Phe- nician towns held out resolutely against him, one and all, so as to put him under the necessity of besieging them in succession — each lending aid to the rest by sea, with superiority of naval force, and more than one of them being situated upon islets — tlie obstacles to be overcome would have been so multiplied, that even Alexander's energy and ability might hardly have proved sufficient for them : at any rate, he would have had hard work before him for perhaps two years, opening the door to many new accidents and efforts. It was therefore a signal good fortune to Alexander when the prince of the islet of Aradus spontaneously surrendered to him that difficult city, and when the example was followed by the still greater city of Sidon. The Phenicians, taking them generally, had no positive tie to the Persians ; nei- ther had they much confederate attachment one towards the other, although as separate communities they were brave and enterprising. Among the Sidonians, there was even a prevalent feeling of aversion to the Persians, from the cause above men- tioned. Hence the prince of Aradus, upon whom Alexander's march first came, had little certainty of aid from his neighbors, if he resolved to hold out ; and still less disposition to hold out single-handed, after the battle of Issus had proclaimed the irre- sistible force of Alexander not less than the impotence of Persia- One after another, all these important Phenician seaports, except Tyre, fell into the hands of Alexander without striking a bloAV. At Sidon, the reigning prince Strato, reputed as pliilo-Persian, was deposed, and a person named Abdalonymus — of the reign- ing family, yet poor in circumstances — was appointed in his room.^ With his usua,l rapidity, Alexander marched onward towards Tyre ; the most powerful among the Phenician cities, though apparently less ancient than Sidon. Even on the march, he was ' Curtius, iv. 1, 20-25 ; Justin, xi. 10. Diodorus (xvii. 47) tells the story as if it had occurred at Tyre, and not at Sidon ; which is highly improb- able.