About this time Gerostratus, King of Aradus, and Enylus, King of Byblus, ascertaining2 that their cities were in the possession of Alexander, deserted3 Autophradates and the fleet under his command, and came to Alexander 125with their naval4 force, accompanied by the Sidonian triremes; so that about eighty Phoenician ships joined him. About the same time triremes also came to him from Rhodes, both the one called Peripolus,317 and with it nine others. From Soli and Mallus also came three, and from Lycia ten; from Macedonia also a ship with fifty oars5, in which sailed Proteas, son of Andronicus.318 Not long after, too, the kings of Cyprus put into Sidon with about one hundred and twenty ships, when they heard of the defeat of Darius at Issus, and were terrified, because the whole of Phoenicia was already in the possession of Alexander. To all of these Alexander granted indemnity6 for their previous conduct, because they seemed to have joined the Persian fleet rather by necessity than by their own choice. While the engines of war were being constructed for him, and the ships were being fitted up for a naval attack on the city and for the trial of a sea-battle, he took some squadrons of cavalry7, the Agrianians and archers8, and made an expedition into the range of mountains called Anti-Lib?nus.319 Having subdued9 some of the mountaineers by force, and drawn10 others over to him by terms of capitulation, he returned to Sidon in ten days.320 Here he found Oleander, son of Polemocrates, just arrived from Peloponnesus, having 4,000 Grecian mercenaries with him.321
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When his fleet had been arranged in due order, he embarked11 upon the decks as many of his shield-bearing guards as seemed sufficient for his enterprise, unless a sea-battle were to be fought rather by breaking the enemy’s line322 than by a close conflict. He then started from Sidon and sailed towards Tyre with his ships arranged in proper order, himself being on the right wing which stretched out seaward; and with him were the kings of the Cyprians, and all those of the Phoenicians except Pnytagoras, who with Craterus was commanding the left wing of the whole line. The Tyrians had previously12 resolved to fight a sea-battle, if Alexander should sail against them by sea. But then with surprise they beheld13 the vast multitude of his ships; for they had not yet learnt that Alexander had all the ships of the Cyprians and Phoenicians. At the same time they were surprised to see that he was sailing against them with his fleet arranged in due order; for Alexander’s fleet a little before it came near the city, tarried for a while out in the open sea, with the view of provoking the Tyrians to come out to a battle; but afterwards, as the enemy did not put out to sea against them, though they were thus arranged in line, they advanced to the attack with a great dashing of oars. Seeing this, the Tyrians decided14 not to fight a battle at sea, but closely blocked up the passage for ships with as many triremes as the mouths of their harbour would contain, and guarded it, so that the enemy’s fleet might not find an anchorage in any of the harbours.
As the Tyrians did not put out to sea against him, Alexander sailed near the city, but resolved not to try to force an entrance into the harbour towards Sidon on account of the narrowness of its mouth; and at the same 127time because he saw that the entrance had been blocked up with many triremes having their prows16 turned towards him. But the Phoenicians fell upon the three triremes moored17 furthest out at the mouth of the harbour, and attacking them prow15 to prow, succeeded in sinking them. However, the men in the ships easily swam off to the land which was friendly to them. Then, indeed, Alexander moored his ships along the shore not far from the mole19 which had been made, where there appeared to be shelter from the winds; and on the following day he ordered the Cyprians with their ships and their admiral Andromachus to moor18 near the city opposite the harbour which faces towards Sidon, and the Phoenicians opposite the harbour which looks towards Egypt, situated20 on the other side of the mole, where also was his own tent.
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1 besieged | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2 ascertaining | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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3 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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4 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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5 oars | |
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6 indemnity | |
n.赔偿,赔款,补偿金 | |
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7 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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8 archers | |
n.弓箭手,射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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9 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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10 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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11 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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12 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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13 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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14 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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15 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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16 prows | |
n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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17 moored | |
adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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18 moor | |
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊 | |
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19 mole | |
n.胎块;痣;克分子 | |
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20 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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