In 332 BC, the once great island city of Tire was reduced to charred ruins. Alexander the Great turned its fortress, which was thought to be impregnable, into rubble after a siege that lasted seven months.
A new wall was built amid the ruins of the old wall. However, this wall was not made of bricks and mortar.
Instead, two thousand crosses surrounded the island, each with figureheads hung on them. The last thing their half-dead eyes saw was their victorious enemy walking away, shining in magnificent armor, heading to conquer the world.By the time Alexander the Great was 26, he had been deified as a living god in Egypt, crowned king of the universe in Babylon, and filled his treasury with more gold and spoils than any ruler could ever dream of.The cities he founded became centers of enlightenment, filled with people exchanging ideas from all parts of the known world at that time. In contrast, one percent of the world's population died as a direct result of his military campaigns, which were often carried out in horribly brutal ways. Was he a demented ruler who reveled in endless slaughter, or a hero worthy of his epithet, The Great?
