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RHODES

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 259 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RHODES , the most easterly of the islands of the See also:

Aegean See also:Sea, about ro m. S. of Cape Alypo in See also:Asia See also:Minor. It forms, with the islands of See also:Syme, Casos, Carpathos, Castelorizo, Telos and Charki, one of the four sanjaks into which the See also:Archipelago vilayet of See also:Turkey is divided. The See also:governor-See also:general of the vilayet resides at the See also:town of Rhodes. The length of the See also:island is about 45 M. from N.E. to S.W., its greatest breadth 22 m., and its See also:area nearly 424 sq. m. The See also:population of the island comprises 7000 Moslems, 21,000 Christians, and 2000 See also:Jews. The island is diversified in its See also:surface, and is traversed from See also:north to See also:south by an elevated See also:mountain range, the highest See also:pint of which is called Atairo (anc. Atabyris or Atabyrium) (4560 ft.). It commands a view of the elevated See also:coast of Asia Minor towards the north, and of the Archipelago, studded with its numerous islands, on the north-See also:west; while on the south-west is seen See also:Mount See also:Ida in See also:Crete, often veiled in clouds, and on the south and south-See also:east the vast expanse of See also:waters which See also:wash the See also:African See also:shore. The See also:rest of the island is occupied in See also:great See also:part by ranges of moderately elevated hills, on which are found extensive See also:woods of See also:ancient pines, planted by the See also:hand of nature. These forests were formerly very thick, but they are now greatly thinned by the See also:Turks, who cut them down and take no care to plant others in their See also:place. Beneath these hills the surface of the island falls See also:lower, and several hills in the See also:form of amphitheatres extend their bases as far as the sea.

Rhodes was famed in ancient times for its delightful See also:

climate, and it still maintains its former reputation. The winds are liable to little variation; they See also:blow from the west, often with great violence, for nine months in the See also:year, and at other times from the north; and they moderate the summer heats, which are chiefly See also:felt during the months of See also:July and See also:August, when the hot winds blow from the coast of See also:Anatolia. Rhodes, in addition to its. See also:fine climate, is blessed with a fertile See also:soil, and produces a variety of the finest fruits and vegetables. Around the villages are extensive cultivated See also:fields and orchards, containing fig, See also:pomegranate and See also:orange trees. On the sloping hills carob trees, and others both useful and agreeable, still grow abundantly; the See also:vine also holds its place, and; produces a See also:species of See also:wine which was highly valued by the ancients, though it seems to have degenerated greatly in See also:modern times. The valleys afford See also:rich pastures, and the plains produce every species of See also:grain. The See also:commerce of the island has been of See also:late years increasing at a rapid See also:rate. Many See also:British manufactures are imported by indirect routes, through See also:Smyrna, See also:Constantinople, Beyrout and other places. See also:Cotton stuffs, calicoes and See also:grey See also:linen are among the goods most in demand; they are exported to the neighbouring coast of Anatolia, between Budrum and See also:Adalia, and thence conveyed into the interior. The expansion of the See also:trade has been very much owing to the See also:establishment of See also:steam See also:navigation See also:direct to the island, which is now visitedregularly by See also:French and See also:Austrian steamers, as well as by some from See also:England to Symrna. The only town of any importance in the island is the See also:capital, Rhodes, which stands at the north-east extremity. It rises in an imposing manner from the sea, on a See also:gentle slope in the form of an See also:amphitheatre.

It is surrounded with walls and towers, and defended by a large moated See also:

castle of great strength. These fortifications are all the See also:work of the Knights of St See also:John. The interior of the See also:city does not correspond to its outward See also:appearance. No trace exists of the splendour of the ancient city, with its See also:regular streets, well-ordered See also:plan and numerous public buildings. The modern city of Rhodes is in general the work of the Knights of St John, and has altogether a See also:medieval aspect. The picturesque fortifications also by which the city is surrounded remain almost unaltered as they were in the 15th See also:century. The See also:principal buildings which remain are the See also:church of St John, which is become the principal See also:mosque; the See also:hospital, which has been transformed into public See also:granaries; the See also:palace of the See also:grand See also:master, now the See also:residence of the See also:pasha; and the See also:senate-See also:house, which still contains some See also:marbles and ancient columns. Of the streets, the best and widest is a See also:long See also:street which is still called the Street of the Knights. It is perfectly straight, and formed of old houses, on which remain the armorial See also:bearings of the members of the See also:order. On some of these buildings are still seen the arms of the popes and of some of the royal and See also:noble houses of See also:Europe. The pnly See also:relics of classical antiquity are the numerous inscribed altars and bases of statues, as well as architectural fragments, which are found scattered in the courtyards and gardens of the houses in the extensive suburbs which now surround the town, the whole of which were comprised within the limits of the ancient city. The See also:foundations also of the moles that See also:separate the harbours are of Hellenic work, though the existing moles were erected by the Knights of St John.

Rhodes has two harbours. The lesser of these lies towards the east, and its entrance is obstructed by a barrier of rocks, so as to admit the entrance of but one See also:

ship at a See also:time. It is sufficiently sheltered, but by the See also:negligence of the Turks the See also:sand has been suffered to accumulate until it has been gradually almost choked up. The other See also:harbour is larger, and also in a See also:bad See also:condition; here small See also:ships may See also:anchor, and are sheltered from the west winds, though they are exposed to the north and north-east winds. The two harbours are separated by a See also:mole which runs obliquely into the sea. At the eastern entrance is the fort of St Elmo, with a lighthouse. See also:History.—It is as yet difficult to determine the part which Rhodes played in prehistoric days during the See also:naval predominance of the neighbouring island of Crete; but archaeological remains dating from the later Minoan See also:age prove that the See also:early Aegean culture maintained itself there comparatively unimpaired until the historic pefiod. A similar conclusion may be See also:drawn from the See also:legend which peopled See also:primitive Rhodes with a population of skilful workers in See also:metal, the " Telchines." Whatever the racial See also:affinities of the early inhabitants may have been, it is certain that in historic times Rhodes was occupied by a Dorian population, reputed to have emigrated mainly from See also:Argos subsequently to the " Dorian invasion " of See also:Greece. The three cities founded by these settlers—Lindus, Ialysus and Camirusbelonged to the " See also:League of Six Cities," by which the Dorian colonists in Asia Minor sought to protect themselves against the barbarians of the neighbouring mainland. The early history of these towns is a See also:record of brisk commercial expansion and active colonization. The position of Rhodes as a distributing centre of Levantine and especially of Phoenician goods is well attested by archaeological finds. Its colonies extended not only eastward along the See also:southern coast of Asia Minor, but also linked up the island with the westernmost parts of the See also:Greek See also:world.

Among such settlements may be mentioned Phaselis in See also:

Lycia, perhaps also See also:Soli in See also:Cilicia, Salapia on the east See also:Italian coast, See also:Gela in See also:Sicily, the Lipari islands, and Rhoda in north-east See also:Spain. In See also:home waters the Rhodians exercised See also:political See also:control over Carpathos and other islands. The history of Rhodes during the See also:Persian See also:wars is quite obscure. In the 5th century the three cities were enrolled in the Delian League, and democracies became prevalent. In 412 the island revolted from See also:Athens and became the See also:head-quarters of the Peloponnesian See also:fleet. Four years later the in-habitants for the most part abandoned their former residences and concentrated in the newly founded city of Rhodes. This town, which was laid out on an exceptionally fine site according to a scientific plan by the architect See also:Hippodamus of See also:Miletus, soon See also:rose to considerable importance, and attracted much of the Aegean and Levantine commerce which had hitherto been in Athenian hands. In the 4th century its political development was arrested by See also:constant struggles between oligarchs and democrats, who in turn brought the city under the control of See also:Sparta (412-395, 391-378), of Athens (395-391, 378-357), and of the Carian See also:dynasty of Maussollus (357-340). It seems that about 340 the island was conquered for the Persian See also:king by his Rhodian See also:admiral See also:Mentor; in 332 it submitted to See also:Alexander the Great. Upon Alexander's See also:death the See also:people expelled their Macedonian See also:garrison, and henceforth not only maintained their See also:independence but acquired great political See also:influence. The expansion of Levantine trade which ensued in the Hellenistic age brought especial profit to Rhodes, whose See also:standard of coinage and maritime See also:law became widely accepted in the Mediterranean. Under a modified type of See also:democracy, in which the See also:chief See also:power would seem to have rested normally with the six 7rpvTav&ls, or heads of the executive, the city enjoyed a long See also:period of remark-ably See also:good See also:administration.

The chief success of the See also:

government See also:lay in the See also:field of See also:foreign politics, where it prudently avoided entanglement in the ambitious schemes of Hellenistic monarchs, but gained great See also:prestige by energetic interference against aggressors who threatened the existing See also:balance of power or the See also:security of the seas. The chief incidents of Rhodian history during this period are a memorable See also:siege by See also:Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304, who sought in vain to force the city into active See also:alliance with King Antigonus by means of his formidable fleet and See also:artillery; a severe See also:earthquake in 227, the See also:damages of which all the other Hellenistic states contributed to repair, because they could not afford to see the island ruined; some vigorous See also:campaigns against See also:Byzantium, the Pergamene and the Pontic See also:kings, who had threatened the See also:Black Sea trade-route (220 sqq.), and against the pirates of Crete. In accordance with their settled policy the Rhodians eagerly supported the See also:Romans when these made See also:war upon See also:Philip V. of Macedon and See also:Antiochus III. of See also:Syria on behalf of the minor Greek states. In return for their more equivocal attitude during the Third Macedonian War they were deprived by See also:Rome of some possessions in Lycia, and damaged by the partial diversion of their trade to See also:Delos (167). Nevertheless during the two Mithradatic wars they remained loyal to the See also:republic, and in 88 successfully stood a siege by the Pontic king. The Rhodian See also:navy, which had distinguished itself in most of these wars, did further good service on behalf of See also:Pompey in his campaigns against the pirates and against See also:Julius See also:Caesar. A severe blow was struck against the city in 43 by C. See also:Cassius, who besieged and ruthlessly plundered the people for refusing to submit to his exactions. Though Rhodes continued a See also:free town for another century, its commercial prosperity was crippled and a See also:series of extensive earthquakes after A.D. 1S5 completed the ruin of the city. In the days of its greatest power Rhodes became famous as a centre of pictorial and plastic See also:art; it gave rise to a school of eclectic See also:oratory whose chief representative was See also:Apollonius Molon, the teacher of See also:Cicero; it was the birthplace of the Stoic philosopher See also:Panaetius; the home of the poet Apollonius Rhodius and the historian See also:Posidonius. See also:Protogenes embellished the city with his paintings, and See also:Chares of Lindus with the celebrated See also:colossal statue of the See also:sun-See also:god, which was 105 ft. high.

The See also:

colossus stood for fifty-six years, till an earthquake prostrated it in 224 B.C. Its enormous fragments continued to excite wonder in the time of See also:Pliny, and were not removed till A.D. 656, when Rhodes was conquered by the See also:Saracens, who sold the remains for old metal to a dealer, who employed nine See also:hundred camels to carry them away. The notion that the colossus once stood astride over the entrance to the harbour is a medieval fiction. During the later See also:Roman See also:empire Rhodes was the capital of the See also:province of the islands. Itshistory under the See also:Byzantine See also:rule is uneventful,but for some temporary occupations by the Saracens (653-658, 717–718), and the See also:gradual encroachment of Venetian traders since io82. In the 13th century the island stood as a rule under the control of Italian adventurers, who were, however, at times compelled to acknowledge the over-lordship of the emperors of See also:Nicaea, and failed to protect it against the depredations of See also:Turkish corsairs. In 1309 it was conquered by the Knights Hospitallers of St John of See also:Jerusalem at the instigation of the See also:pope and the Genoese, and converted into a great fortress for the See also:protection of the southern seas against the Turks. Under their mild and just rule both the native Greeks and the Italian residents were able to carry on a brisk trade. But the piratical acts of these traders, in which the knights themselves sometimes joined, and the strategic position of the island between Constantinople and the See also:Levant, necessitated its reduction by the See also:Ottoman sultans. A siege in 148o by See also:Mahomet II. led to the repulse of the Turks with severe losses; after a second investment, during which See also:Sultan See also:Suleiman I. is said to have lost 90,000 men out of a force of 200,000, the knights evacuated Rhodes under an See also:honourable See also:capitulation (1522). The population henceforth dwindled in See also:con-sequence of pestilence and See also:emigration, and although the island recovered somewhat in the 18th century under a comparatively lenient rule it was brought to a very See also:low ebb owing to the severity of its governor during the Greek revolution.

The sites of Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus, which in the most ancient times were the principal towns of the island, are clearly marked, and the first of the three is still occupied by a small town with a medieval castle, both of them dating from the time of the knights, though the castle occupies the site of the ancient See also:

acropolis, of the walls of which considerable remains are still visible. There are no ruins of any importance on the site of either Ialysus or Camirus, but excavations at the latter place have produced valuable and interesting results in the way of ancient vases and other antiquities, which are now in the British Museum. Rhodes was again famous for its pottery in medieval times; this was a lustre See also:ware at first imitated from Persian, though it afterwards See also:developed into an See also:independent See also:style of fine colouring and rich variety of See also:design. See See also:Pindar, 7th Olympian See also:Ode; Diodorus v. 55-59, xiii.-xX. passim; See also:Polybius iv. 46–52, v. 88-90, xvi. 2-9, See also:xxvii.-See also:xxix. passim; C. Torr, Rhodes in Ancient Times (See also:Cambridge, 1885), Rhodes in Modern Times (Cambridge, 1887) ; C. See also:Schumacher, De republica Rhodiorum commentatio (See also:Heidelberg, 1886) ; H. See also:van Gelder, Geschichte der See also:alien Rhodier (See also:Hague, 1900) ; B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (See also:Oxford, 1887), pp.

539-542; and See also:

Baron de Balabre, Rhodes of the Knights (1909). (E. H. B.; E.GR.; M. O. B.

End of Article: RHODES

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