A thousand readers see a thousand Hamlets. In the pen of European historians, Alexander the Great was an undefeated god of war and a generous and benevolent ruler. However, in the pen of Iranian historians, Alexander the Great was both an emperor with outstanding military achievements and a brutal and murderous soldier.
In July 333 BC, the Persian naval garrison of Tyre was besieged by Greek troops for seven months and surrendered. Enraged by this stubborn resistance, Alexander ordered the massacre of all soldiers and men in the city and the sale of Tyre's thirty thousand women and children into slavery. Gaza, not far from here, also held out for two months, but eventually lost. When the defenders were tied up and brought to Alexander, Alexander ordered him to be executed.
On his way to Persepolis, Alexander, after encountering stubborn resistance from the local tribe and a young Persian chief, Ariobalzan, carried out indiscriminate massacres of local men, women and children. According to the literature, in 331 BC, a fire engulfed the entire persianpolis overnight, and most of the historical memory of Iran treasured in the library was destroyed. Was Alexander's move a revenge for Xerxes' order to burn Athens in 480 BC? Or did he do so at the instigation of the dancer Tais in a feast of indulgence? The first inference seems more credible. In fact, Alexander must have planned to loot the treasures of the palace before burning down the surrounding urban areas. To this end, he specially ordered a thousand pairs of mules and five thousand camels, and the legs of these animals were bent under such weight. Before the arson, cities were looted, men were slaughtered and women and children were sold into slavery. To escape this fate, some families committed suicide and burned down their homes. A layer of opaque smoke envelops the city, making the screams of the dying even more terrifying. In this way, Alexander was given the title of 'devil' by the Iranians... Although he soon ordered that the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great, which had been damaged by his soldiers, be restored intact. ”
"These barbaric acts, 'forgotten' by European historians and the legend of Alexander, made the Macedonian conqueror far less gracious and noble than Cyrus the Great, whom he regarded as a model."
