Settlements > Sidon

Sidon

Background

Sidon after hearing about Alexander's exploits against defeating the Achaemenid Persian Empire submitted peacefully to Alexander the Great during his conquest in 332 BCE. Unlike its compadre Tyre, Sidon was saved from utter decimation. However, this does not mean their fates were not intertwined. When requested, Sidon even contributed to creating Alexander's navy that was to be used to surround Tyre and cut off its supply routes during the Siege of Tyre.

The people of Sidon actually went so far as to depose their King Straton II before Alexander even arrived as he was aligned with Darius III. After Alexanders unexpected death his empire was fractured and Sidon was assimilated into the Seleucid Empire under Seleucus I along with the remaining part Phoenicia in the eastern Mediterranean region.

Sidon existed under the Seleucid Empire until it was annexed by the Roman Republic in 64 BCE under Pompey. Eventually it became part of the Eastern Byzantine Empire. During this final period of its ancient history it was wrecked by many earthquakes, natural disasters and the plague which all contributed to its slow death. The entire region was decimated between 395 BCE -600 CE and then eventually taken over by the Islamic Arab Muslims who inhabited the apocalyptic wasteland of the time.

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