Two quotes come to mind:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

It is true that Tyre consisted of 2 urban centers, one on the shore and one on the island. But the island city was the main hub, while the shore city was more of a suburban center and used by the island for natural resources. The 2 cities even occasionally battled one another.

Alexander didn’t decide to attack Tyre simply because they snubbed him in refusing to let him sacrifice at their temple. Rather it showed that though Tyre had pledged their loyalty to Alexander, they did not truly accept his rule and could not be trusted. Tyre sympathized with Persia and had a strong navy. Alexander was rightly worried that Tyre would turn on him as he furthered his conquests and would delay his progress east. Thus it was important to put them out of commission before continuing on.

Great post.