From: rking164@comcast.net   
      
   The siege of Gaza, as part of the Wars of Alexander the Great, took place in   
   October of 332 BC. Resulting in a victory for Macedon, it ended the 31st   
   Dynasty of Egypt, which functioned as a satrapy under the Achaemenid Persian   
   Empire.   
      
   Alexander succeeded in reaching the walls of Gaza by utilizing the engines   
   that he had employed earlier that year, during the siege of Tyre. Following   
   three unsuccessful assaults, the Macedonian army was able to storm and take   
   the Gazan stronghold.   
      
   Batis, the military commander of Gaza's fortress, expected to hold the city as   
   well as the rest of Egypt in complete subjection until the raising of another   
   army by Persian king Darius III; confronting Alexander at Gaza was crucial to   
   denying the    
   Macedonians a route into the Egyptian mainland. The fortress was located on an   
   eminence, on the edge of a desert from which the surrounding area could be   
   easily controlled, including the main road from Assyria to Egypt. The city,   
   over 18 metres (60 ft)    
   high, was traditionally employed to control the surrounding area, which, even   
   then, was a hotbed of dissent. Batis was aware that Alexander was leading his   
   army southward after successfully conquering Tyre, and therefore provisioned   
   Gaza for a long siege    
   by the Macedonian army. It is also likely that he was aware of Alexander's   
   intention to secure absolute control over the Mediterranean coast before   
   mounting an invasion of the Persian mainland.   
      
      
   Upon arriving, Alexander camped near the southern side of the city and deemed   
   the southern walls as the weakest. It is alleged that the mounds were built   
   quickly, despite the engineers' belief they could not be completed due to the   
   nature of Gaza's    
   fortifications.   
      
   One day during the siege, the Gazans made a sortie against enemy siege   
   equipment constructed on site, and Alexander led his shield bearing guards   
   into counterattack .Alexander's shoulder was injured in the attempt. According   
   to Arrian, the rest of the    
   mound was completed shortly after, around the whole of Gaza. At some undefined   
   period after this, the siege equipment from Tyre arrived, and was put into use   
   also. It was after this that major sections of the wall were broken by the   
   Macedonians. After    
   three attempts to enter the city, the Macedonians finally entered the city.   
   The Gazans fought bitterly; at one point, an Arab mercenary pretended to   
   surrender and after being taken to the Macedonian camp, attacked Alexander who   
   suffered a minor injury    
   before the Arab was struck down.   
      
   Consequences of the siege   
   Batis refused to surrender to Alexander. When Gaza was taken, the male   
   population was put to the sword and the women and children were sold into   
   slavery.   
      
   According to the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, Batis was killed by   
   Alexander in imitation of Achilles' treatment of the fallen Hector: A rope was   
   forced through Batis's ankles, probably between the ankle bone and the   
   Achilles tendon, and Batis    
   was dragged alive by chariot beneath the walls of the city until he died.   
   Alexander, who admired courage in his enemies and might have been inclined to   
   show mercy to the brave Persian general, was infuriated at Batis's refusal to   
   kneel and by the enemy    
   commander's haughty silence and contemptuous manner.   
      
   As a result of the siege, Alexander was allowed to proceed south into Egypt   
   securely, without his line of communications being threatened from the North   
   by Batis from Gaza.   
      
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