| | Located at the entrance of the harbor of Rhodes in Greece, the lifespan of The Colossus of Rhodes was a mere 56 years.
The small island of Rhodes was a combination of three independent city-states of Greece - Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos. In 408 BC they united to form one territory, with a unified capital - Rhodes. The city harbored strong economic ties with, Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt and thrived commercially. |
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In 305 BC, rivals of the Rhodians and the Pyolemies, the Antigonids of Macedonia, attacked Rhodes with intentions of breaking the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance. They failed. In 304 BC a peace agreement was reached, and the Antagonids left, leaving considerable amounts of military equipment behind. The Colossus of Rhodes - financed by selling the Antagonids' military equipment - was erected in celebration of their unity and dedicated to their sun god, Helios.
The project was entrusted to the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos. His workers cast the outer bronze skin parts and made the base of white marble. The feet and ankle of the statue were first fixed, and the structure was then gradually erected with bronze fortified form with an iron and stone framework. A temporary ramp was built around the statue to reach the higher parts. The Colossus of Rhodes measured110 ft in height.
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| The construction was finished in 282 BC - that is over 12 years. A strong earthquake rocked and badly damaged Rhodes in about 226 BC, and the Colossus of Rhodes was broken at its weakest point -- the knee. Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt immediately offered to restore it and bear the burden of all restoration costs, but an oracle forbade the re-erection and Ptolemy's offer was declined. |
For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. The Arabs disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria after they invaded Rhodes in 654AD.
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