RHODES, an ancient and famous maritime city, capital of the island of the same name, and situated on tire n.e. extremity of that island. Lat. of harbor 36' 26' n..
28' 16' east. The modern city, though scarcely one-fourth the size of the former one, has an imposing appearance. Its site is admirable, and it rises in the form of an amphi theater behind the fortified harbors, of which there are two, separated from each other by a narrow quay. At the entrance to the harbors stand the two large quadrangular towers of St. John and St. Michael. The harbors, however, are now neglected, and this once flourishing mart of the cast is now comparatively desolate, and is no longer the seat. of industry or active commerce. The town, overlooked by mosques and minarets. con sists of ill-built houses, and gloomy streets. The earthquakes of 1851, of 1856. and of 1863, as well as the frightful powder-explosion in 1856, caused by a flash of lightning, did much to devastate the town. By the powder-explosion, the church of St. John, built in 1500, and the great tower of the knights of St. John, were shattered, together with 300 houses, under the ruins of which 1000 townspeople lost their lives; and by the earthquake of 1803, 2,000 houses were destroyed, and many lives lost. The palace of the grand master is now in ruins, and the hospital of the knights now serves as a granary. Pop. about 20.000.
The city of Rhodes was founded in 403 B.C., and was built on a regular plan, the unity and harmony of its architecture being secured by the circumstance that the design of the whole was the work of one man. It was girt about by strong walls, surmounted by towers, and was provided with two excellent harbors. But it was remarkable for the number and excellence of its paintings, sculptures, and statues, as well as for the beauty and strength of its architecture. At the entrance of one of its ports stood a
brazen statue of Helios, 70 cubits in height, and called the Colossus of Rhodes. Besides this statue, which is described as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, 3,000 others, of which 100 were colossal, adorned the city. The capital of a fertile and flour &siting island, and the great center of the commerce of the Mediterranean, Rhodes long enjoyed great prosperity. The arts were also prosecuted with assiduity, and intellectual activ:ty manifested itself here long after hind declined in most parts of Greece. From the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war to the middle of the 4th c. B.C., Rhodes was alternately in league with Athens and in arias against that city. Like the rest of Greece, it submitted to the victorious Alexander, and received a Macedonian garrison; but on the death of Alexander, 323 n.c., the Rhodians rose upon and expelled the intruders. From this time to the overthrow of the Macedonian monarchy, Rhodes largely extended its territories, and rose to great commercial- and naval importance. After the death of Caesar, whose side the Rhodiaus had taken against Pompey in the civil war, they were defeated in a naval engagement by Cassius, who in 42 B.C. entered the city by force, massacred the hostile leaders, seized the public property, and rifled the temples. This visitation broke the power of Rhodes, but it long continued to maintain its prestige as a seat of learning. ,During several centuries Rhodes remained in the power of the Greek emperors. In 1310 the grand master of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem settled here, and here the breth ren remained till the 16th century. (See .1011N, ST., KNIGHTS OF). Since this period, Rhodes has remained a possession of Turkey.