![]() ConstructionĬonstruction on the Colossus of Rhodes began in 292 BC, the methods of which vary slightly. This would have been more than enough money to commission something of this nature and the process began. The equipment and weapons were sold for around 300 talents which considering each talent is 928 ounces of silver, at a rate of $16.00 per ounce of silver the total value of these reported weapons was about $4.5 million. Called the Colossus of Rhodes, it was one of the largest statues ever created in history and the fate of which is generally unknown. Some suggest that the Colossus was built on the framework of these massive siege towers but that does not make sense given their wooden construction.Īfter the soldiers ran away, the people of Rhodes collected the enemies supplies and salvaged or sold them off to build a great statue in honor of their patron god Helios that they believe granted the victory. ![]() ![]() Upon the arrival of Ptolemy I Soter and his navy the soldiers retreated, leaving behind all their equipment and weapons included the massive siege towers. When Rhodes decided to back Ptolemy and his Ptolemaic Kingdom, Antigonus I Monophthalmus sent his son Demetrius I Poliorcetes to conquer and subdue the city with 40,000 men in 304 BCE.ĭuring the Siege of Rhodes, Demetrius attacked the walls of the city with siege towers 150 feet tall but was unable to capture the city. Upon his sudden and mysterious death, his kingdom was broken up and divided among 3 of his generals in a series of conflicts that became known as the Wars of the Diadochi. The origins of the Colossus of Rhodes go all the way back to Alexander the Great and his conquest of the known world. Artists have widely different interpretations of the statue and until we recover the statue which is highly unlikely these questions may never be answered. Archaeologists have attempted to uncover these clues but have come up empty. No one knows exactly what it looked like, where it was positioned or how it was constructed. The Colossus of Rhodes was the tallest bronze statue in the ancient world and there are numerous mysterious that surround it. Its beauty and wonder have lived on long past its existence however, inspiring countless other sculptures and statues and living on in the imagination of scholars and artists the world over. Only standing intact for five decades, the statue was toppled early in its existence by earthquakes much like the Pharos Lighthouse. The Colossus is one of the most magnificent and short lived of the ancient world wonders. Victorious, they collected all the remnant weapons and gear and salvaged it to create the massive statue.Ĭolossus of Rhodes - Maerten van Heemskerck (1572) Ptolemy representing the Ptolemaic Kingdom used his Hellenistic Egyptian navy to defend Rhodes and prevented an invasion from Antigonus I Monophthalmus from neighboring Cyprus during the Siege of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes was created during the late 4th century (early 300's) BCE when the city-state of Rhodes allied with the Macedonian general Ptolemy I during the Wars of the Diadochi in the aftermath of the death of Alexander III the Great. This list includes other structures such as the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. It is featured as one of the four Greek structures to be picked as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue created at the Greek city-state of Rhodes. Hellenistic Structures > Colossus of Rhodes Colossus of Rhodes Background
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |