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Mar20

The reading of "Alexander the Great" is progressing nicely. I am now in Egypt, having fought two major battles, the first at Granicus and the second at Issus. The latter was a full-scale engagement with Darius. Darius was barely able to escape with his life.

Alexander then moved down the Phoenician coast, capturing Tyre and Sidon by seige. There is a vivid description of the various tactics used by both sides during the seige of Sidon. This is where the book comes into its own. I was expecting a fairly detailed description of the major battles, but the importance of seiges, and of Alexander's basic strategy- which was to capture all of the Persian ports and thus deprive its navy of any landing sites, is new to me.

Alexander takes control of Egypt without a fight. Almost immediately he begins planning for a new city, to be called Alexandria, to be built at the mouth of the Nile. This I knew, but I did not know that he then made a pilgrimage to an oracle in Libya for the god Ammon. Fascinating.

Dale Burnett dale.burnett@uleth.ca
First Created  March 20, 2000
Last Revised   March 20, 2000
Copyright Dale Burnett 2000 all rights reserved