In October, 333 BC, Alexander the Great won the battle of Issus against Darius and the Persian army. Darius fled from the battle, but Alexander did not pursue him at that time, because he had a higher priority.

Alexander allowed Darius to escape, because it was more important to him to capture Phoenicia, the site of the naval bases for the Persian fleet.
The Phoenician cities were panic-stricken. The Persian fleet was manned by Phoenician crews, and the kings of the Phoenician cities were at the time at sea with the fleet. Independently of each other, each city adopted a position that suited it best.

Aradus (Ruad) was the most northern of the Phoenician city states. According to Arrian (2.13.7-8), the king's son, Straton, hastened to welcome Alexander and put a golden crown on Alexander's head. Straton gave Alexander the island of Aradus, and Marathus, a great and prosperous city which lay opposite on the mainland (modern Tartous).

Byblos (Gebal) surrendered without resistance. Alexander left Byblos behind him and marched on to Sidon.

Sidon had been dealt a severe blow in 351 BC when Artaxerxes took the city. Many Sidonians had perished in the flames and the memory of that disaster lived on. The city was ruled by a puppet of the Persians and Alexander determined to get rid of him. Alexander gave the task of choosing a new king to his beloved companion Hephaestion. Hephaestion found two Sidonians whom he judged worthy to rule, but there was a requirement that the king should come from the royal family. There was such a distant relation, but he was a poor man, living in the suburbs of Sidon, where he cultivated a small garden. Hephaestion sent the two Sidonians to bring the man, Abdalonymous, before Alexander. They found Abdalonymous weeding his garden. When he stood up to greet the men, they dismounted from their horses and hailed him as king. They gave him royal garments to wear and brought him to Alexander. Alexander told Abdalonymous that after all the years he had lived in poverty and privation, he would now become powerful and rich. Quintus Curtius (4.1.24-28) records that the new king of Sidon put out his grimy, work-worn hands and replied, "These hands having nothing, I lack nothing" Alexander was impressed by these words and leaving him to rule Sidon, marched south to Tyre.

At Tyre, a delegation headed by the king's son came out to meet Alexander. It was of strategic importance for Alexander to take Tyre as the city was an important base for the Persians. Once Tyre was his, Alexander believed, all the Phoenician ships would desert the Persian king and come over to his side. Alexander used the pretext that he wished to enter Tyre in order to sacrifice to Heracles, for the kings of Macedon held they were descended from that hero. Confident in the fortifications of their island city, the Tyrians objected. They realized that it was dangerous to allow Alexander enter their city. So they sent envoys to Alexander telling him that there was a temple of Heracles on the mainland at Palaetyrus (old Tyre), and suggesting that he offer sacrifices to the god there. Alexander was furious at this affront. He threatened to join the island fortress to the mainland by an artificial isthmus, to turn Tyre into a peninsula and bring his powerful siege engines up to the city's walls. That night Alexander had a dream in which he saw Heracles stretching out his right hand to him to lead him into the city. The seers were summoned by him at once, and they told him that Tyre would be taken with great toil and difficulty, because toil was the mark of Heracles' achievements.
It took Alexander seven months of siege before he could enter Tyre. A strait four stadia wide separated the island city from the mainland and was especially exposed to southwest winds. Alexander ordered that large stones and tree trunks from the mountains of Lebanon be brought down to the coast and cast into the sea. As long as the building of the mole was near the mainland, work went on smoothly enough but as the workers got into deeper water and nearer the city, volleys of arrows fell around them from archers positioned on the walls. The Tyrians sailed up on either side, mocking and harassing the workers on the mole. Alexander ordered that two towers equipped with siege engines should be built on the mole. Hides and skins covered the towers so that they could not be attacked with fire darts. The Tyrians filled a large transport ship with dry wood and other combustible materials. They fixed two masts on the prow, each with a projecting arm from which was suspended a cauldron filled with bitumen, sulfur, and other highly inflammable materials. The stern of the vessel was loaded with stone and sand co as to depress it. In this way the prow was elevated so that it could easily slide over the mole and reach the towers. The Tyrians waited for a wind blowing towards the mole and then towed the ship astern with triremes. Running the fire-ship at full speed up onto the mole, they set torches to the combustible materials. They dashed the ship violently against the mole and the cauldrons scattered the fiery mass in all directions. The crew of the burning ship quickly swam away to safety.

At this point the kings of Aradus and Byblos heard that their cities were in Alexander's hands. They promptly deserted the Persian fleet and arrived with their contingents and Sidonian triremes to side with Alexander. The kings of Cyprus learnt that Darius had been defeated at Issus, and sailed to Sidon with 120 ships. Triremes arrived from Rhodes, Soli, Mallos, and Lycia, and a fifty-oar ship arrived from Macedon.
According to Arrian (2.20.3), "To all these Alexander let bygones be bygones, supposing that it was rather from necessity than choice that they had joined naval forces with the Persians."
While all the ships were being prepared for battle and his siege engines were being fitted for the final assault, Alexander took some of his archers and cavalry, and marched to the Anti-Lebanon. He conquered part of the country, others surrendered without a fight.
The Tyrians then had no choice but to go on the offensive before Alexander attacked them. The enemy fleet must be sunk, including the ships of their sister-cities. This was difficult because ships from Cyprus were blocking the mouth of the "Sidonian" port, so-called because it faced north towards Sidon. Plans had to be made in secret. So sails were spread before the entrance of the harbor to hide their preparations. At midday when the Cypriot sailors were not on their guard, the Tyrians set sail with their bravest sea-fighting men and attacked, sinking several ships.
Alexander was infuriated by this setback. He ordered his ships immediately to blockade the harbor. The defenders on the walls of Tyre saw what was happening and tried with shouts and gestures to beckon their men to turn back. It was too late. Wheeling their ships about, the Tyrians attempted to sail back to the harbor. A few managed to get to safety but Alexander's naval forces put most of them out of action. Some of the crew jumped overboard and swam to land. The Macedonians then had access to Tyre's city walls. The battering rams were brought up against the walls, but the fortifications were so high that the Macedonians were unable to scale them.
Alexander turned south to the "Egyptian" port - that facing the direction of Egypt - testing the walls as he went. He found a part where the city's fortifications had broken down. Bridges were thrown over the walls but the Tyrians repulsed the attack.
However, a great fear arose in Tyre. Quintus Curtius (4.3.22) tells that a rumor spread like wildfire that the god Apollo was about to leave the city. The Tyrians bound their statue of Apollo with a chain of gold to its base and attached the chain to the altar of Heracles, their patron god, hoping that he would hold Apollo back.
At this point, Alexander had another dream, in which he saw a satyr mocking him at a distance and eluding his grasp when he tried to catch him. Finally after much coaxing, the satyr surrendered. Plutarch (24.5) states that the seers were called in and, dividing the word satyros into two parts, told Alexander that "Tyre (Tyros in Greek) is to be thine."
The final assault began. Triremes were ordered to sail to the "Sidonian" and "Egyptian" ports in an effort to force an entrance. Alexander's ships closed in on the city from all sides and bridges were thrown over the walls from the vessels. Crossing over and advancing through breaches in the walls, the Macedonians fought off the Tyrians. Both harbors were forced and the Tyrian ships were captured.
A large number of Tyrians deserted the walls and barricaded themselves in the Shrine of Agenor. This monument was particularly revered by the people of Tyre for, according to legend, Agenor was their king, and the father of Cadmus and Europa. According to Arrian (2.24.2) it was there that Alexander attacked them with his bodyguards. There was a bloody massacre. The Macedonians were infuriated because the Tyrians had captured some Macedonians, executed them on the walls of the city, and threw their bodies into the sea, in full view of the Macedonian army.
Quintus Curtius (4.2.10-12) states that at that time a Carthaginian delegation was in Tyre to celebrate the annual festival of Melkart-Heracles. The king of Tyre, Azemilcus, the chief magistrates, and the Carthaginian embassy took refuge in the temple of Heracles. Alexander granted a full pardon to them, but he punished the people of Tyre severely. According to Quintus Curtius (4.4.17), 2,000 Tyrians were nailed to crosses along a great stretch of the shore, and about 30,000 were sold into slavery.
Alexander offered a sacrifice to Heracles and held a procession of his armed forces in the city. A naval review was also held in the god's honor. The siege had lasted seven months. Diodorus Siculus (17.46.5-6) ended his account of the dramatic siege of Tyre by telling us that Alexander solemnly removed the golden chains and fetters from Apollo and ordered that henceforth the god be called Apollo "Philalexander" (Friend/Lover of Alexander). He rewarded his men who had distinguished themselves and gave a lavish funeral for his dead.
Alexander left Tyre, took Gaza in the south, and continued southwest to Egypt.