RHODES, an island of Turkey, in the E.gean Sea, near the southwest coast of Asia Minor, from which it is distant about 11 miles. It lies between lat. 35° 52' and 36° 28' N., and long. 27° 40' and 28° 15' E., is about 45 miles long and 25 miles broad, and has an area of about 424 square miles. The island is crossed from north to south by a high mountain range which attains its extreme elevation in the peak of Atairo, the ancient Atabyron, with an altitude of 4,070 feet. Hills of a lower level traverse the island in all directions and are covered with coniferous trees, the considerable remnants of once splendid forests. Along the many moun tain streams tropic plants grow in abundance, chief among them myrtles, oleanders and cactus. The soil is fertile and on the hillsides and in the valleys and plains, vines and olives, figs, pomegranates and oranges are grown. Wheat of an excellent quality is also raised, but not in sufficient quantities to form a commodity of export, Rhodes has been famous since ancient times for the mildness of its climate and its salubrious air. The winds show little variation. The value of the foreign commerce is about $1,000,000, the chief articles of export being sponges, oil and fruit, and the chief imports cotton goods and textiles. There is regular communication by English, French and Austrian steamship lines. The island forms a sanjok or district of the Turkish province of the Isles of the White Sea, and its capital, Rhodes (q.v.), is the seat of a pasha. The population is placed at 30,000 of whom two-thirds are Greeks, about 7,000 Mohammedans and 2,500 Jews.
The original inhabitants of Rhodes are un known, but at the dawn of history the island was inhabited by a mixture of races from Asia Minor, and Phoenicians, the latter of whom seem to have come from Crete. In the earliest period of Hellenic migrations Rhodes was over run by the Dorians who founded the cities of Lindus, lalysus and Kamyrus, the sites of which may still be identified. These cities with the three Dorian cities on• the mainland, Cos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus, constituted the so called Dorian Hexapolis whose common shrine was the temple of Apollo Triopis on the Carian coast. The sun-god was at all times the favorite
deity of the island and from one of his most common emblems, the rose, its name (rhodos in Greek, (rosex) is said to be derived. The Rhodians were among the most enterprising traders in the Mediterranean and their colonies were found in Spain, in southern Italy and Sicily, and on the southern coast of Asia Minor. In 408 B.C. the inhabitants of the three ancient towns abandoned their homes andjoined to form the new city of Rhodes which from now on was the capital of the island. The foundation of Rhodes exercised a tremendous influence on the development of the trade of the island. In the Peloponnesian War, Rhodes sided with Athens until 412 B.C., when it went over to Sparta. In 394 ac., however, it returned to the Athenian allegiance. Occupied by the Macedonians during Alexander the Great's life time, it revolted after his death and defended its independence with splendid success against Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304 ac. The island was now at the very height of its power; its commerce attained an unprecedented develop ment and by means of its strong navy it made itself master of a strip of territory on the Asiatic mainland. The Athenian orator Asch ines (q.v.) established a noted school of oratory in the city of Rhodes, which also became a great centre for the arts, especially sculpture, and one of the leading university towns of the Roman world. Early in the 2d century ac. Rhodes became an ally of Rome and enjoyed its favors. In 42 ac. it was plundered by Cassius because it sided with Julius Caesar, and in 44 A.D. it was united to the province of Asia. In 661 the island was taken by the Arabs, but was recovered by the Byzantines who in 1310 gave it over to the Knights of Saint John. The latter held it against the Turks until 1522, when it was taken by Solyman II, and has since re mained under Turkish domination. The island is subject to earthquakes, in modern times those of 1851 and 1856 being especially disastrous.