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.
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