RHODES
(including Ialysos, Kameiros, Lindos, Vroulia,
the city of Rhodes, Mt. Atabyrion) Dodecanese,
Greece.
The island of Rhodes emerged from
the sea, according to Pindar (01. 7.54-76), to be the
portion of the sun god, whose cult continued throughout antiquity more prominent there than elsewhere.
Three grandsons of Helios and the nymph Rhodos,
daughter of Aphrodite, were the eponymous heroes
of the three ancient cities, Ialysos and Kameiros on
the W coast and Lindos on the E. Its size, 80 km N to
S and about half as much E to W, and its situation, “near
the headland of broad Asia” (01. 7.18), with Crete about
140 km away to the SW, have always given Rhodes a
peculiar importance among the islands. The many legends, supported by the archaeological finds, mainly from
the cemeteries, suggest that in prehistoric times it was
both a stepping-stone and in itself an important center,
having connections with Minoan Crete, the Argolid and
the Greek mainland, Phoenicia and Egypt. The Telchines,
fabulous craftsmen, came from Crete by way of Cyprus;
Kadmos stopped at Rhodes on his way from Phoenicia
to Thebes, Danaos on his way from Egypt to Argos;
Thepolemos son of Herakles came from Argos, and led
the Rhodian contingent of nine ships to Troy.
For Homer Rhodes was already old in story (
Il.
2.653-670), with three notable cities, “Lindos, Ielyssos
and shining Kameiros” (the epithet is arginoeis in our
text, but one wonders whether in fact Homer said argiloeis, with reference to the clay used for pottery). As
Hope-Simpson and Lazenby convincingly show, the Homeric Catalogue of Ships has reference to the late Mycenaean period, and there is no good reason to make an exception of the lines on Rhodes. The sites of all three
cities were occupied in Mycenaean times; though in each
case the acropolis has been obliterated, the cemeteries
below, with their tombs containing pottery and jewelry,
have provided evidence. The major site seems to be Ialysos, where the chamber tombs are very numerous. Lindos was relatively modest.
In course of time the Dorians arrived in large numbers, and took over the island and its neighbors; after a
comparatively obscure period, Lindos, Kameiros, and
Ialysos attained cultural and commercial prosperity, and
a renown for seamanship embodied in the saying, “Ten
Rhodians, ten ships.” The Rhodians founded important
and widespread colonies, notably Gela in Sicily (in cooperation with Cretans) early in the 7th c. (
Thuc. 6.4.3-4,
who says that the part of the city first fortified is called
Lindioi). Together with Kos, Knidos, and Hahikarnassos,
the three cities formed a confederation called the Dorian
Hexapolis (
Hdt. 1.144).
The archaic culture of Rhodes is best represented by
the plentiful pottery. The island produced fine work in
the Geometric style (particularly in the later phase, i.e.,
in the 8th c.), found notably at Ialysos, Kameiros, and a
cemetery at an inland site called Exochi. Certain E Greek
fabrics of the 7th c. in orientalizing style have commonly
been called Rhodian, or “Camiran”—vases of the “Wild Goat Style,” so called from the friezes which run round
them, and flat plates with animal figures and occasionally human scenes, such as the plate in the British Museum, on which Hektor and Menelaos fight over the body of Euphorbos. The lively Fikellura style, which followed
in the 6th c., is named after a place in Rhodes, though
it is spread over the S part of the E Greek area. Recent
authorities are more cautious about the indiscriminate
use of the name “Rhodian” (Samos must have been
equally important), but undoubtedly Rhodes played a
major part in the production and distribution of archaic
E Greek pottery, besides importing Corinthian and other
contemporary wares. A group of 6th c. cups which do
indeed seem to belong to Rhodes in particular are known
as Vroulian from their principal place of discovery. As
the 6th c. proceeded, local wares at Rhodes as elsewhere
succumbed to Attic competition.
Among archaic sites, Vroulia at the S end of the island
is of peculiar interest. The name is modern, and the ancient name is unknown. A wall about 300 m long with
a stone sole slightly over one m thick, no doubt originally surmounted by an upper structure of unbaked
brick, encloses a coastal strip of land to the SW. Except
for a section at the W end, the wall is perfectly straight,
and against its inner face was built a continuous row of
simple houses, consisting at most of a couple of rooms
with a little court in front. At a distance of about 25 m
was a second row of houses running parallel. The main
gate was probably at the point where the wall changes
direction; and nearby is a walled area containing two
altars, and an adjacent enclosure which may be an agora.
Pottery dates all these structures not much later than
700 B.C. Vroulia was only a little town, no doubt subordinate to one of the major cities, presumably Lindos,
but its rectilinear planning represents the first tentative
steps, taken at a remarkably early date, which were to
lead to the sophisticated methods of Hippodamos, notably in Rhodes itself.
To proceed to times for which we have more solid
historical evidence, in the latter part of the 6th c. and
the early years of the 5th Rhodes was subject to the
Persians. After that the three cities were members of the
Delian League, until finally they broke with Athens
(
Thuc. 8.44), resumed their Dorian connection, and combined in 408 B.C. to found a federal city at the N tip of
the island, calling it simply Rhodos. Lindos, Ialysos, and
Kameiros were inevitably reduced and subordinate, but
by no means derelict. In the 4th c. and the Hellenistic
period Rhodes became one of the great cities of the
ancient world, preeminent in commerce and culture, in
spite of vicissitudes consequent upon its choice of alliances in the great conflicts of the age. It triumphantly
withstood a furious attack by Demetrios the Besieger in
305 B.C., vividly described by Diodoros (20.81-88, 91-100), and quickly rose again, with assistance from many
sympathetic cities and kings, after the most disastrous of
several earthquakes in 227 B.C. For a time it held control of an extensive area on the mainland opposite, the
so-called Rhodian Peraea. In the middle of the 2d c. it
incurred the displeasure of Rome, which, by developing
Delos as a major commercial center, struck a severe blow
at Rhodian trade. But though its commerce and naval
power were much curtailed, Rhodes continued to be a
main center of art and literature, philosophy and rhetorical training (Cicero and many other distinguished
Romans studied there). In the Civil War after Caesar's
death, the island was ravaged and the city thoroughly pillaged by Cassius; but Strabo still found it a city of unparalleled beauty (14.2.5, 652). The island suffered disastrous earthquakes again in A.D. 345 and 515, and the
great city was reduced to the comparatively small mediaeval town which was eventually taken over by the
Knights of St. John, and won fresh glory by its heroic
resistance to the Turks.
The new capital was built on a new site, roughly triangular with the apex at the extreme N tip of the island,
measuring about 3,000 m N to S and a little less E to W.
The harbors were on the E side—the main harbor in the
middle, a smaller one to the N, and a more open roadstead to the SE. The moles which protect the natural
bays are ancient in origin. There was also a small harbor, now silted up, on the W coast towards the N. From
the region of the E harbors the ground rises theater-like
SW towards a plateau about 90 m high. This was the
acropolis or upper town of ancient Rhodes, though it was
never a fortified citadel.
The city walls were famous for their strength and
beauty. Very little has survived—the Knights no doubt
used the material to build the tremendous fortifications
of their much smaller town; but sections of the foundation or socle here and there, mostly Hellenistic, are
enough to determine the general course. The wall followed the coast on two sides of the triangle; on the base,
to the S, it took an irregular line in search of defensible
contours.
According to Strabo (
14.2.9, 654), “the city was
founded by the same architect who founded Peiraeus,”
i.e., Hippodamos of Miletos. The famous town-planner
must have been very old by 408 B.C., but that is not a
sufficient reason for denying him the credit. The plan of
Rhodes as we know it is precisely what one has come to
recognize as Hippodamian. Its general scheme has been
drawn by Kondis, Bradford, and Konstantinopoulos. Excavation has necessarily been sporadic and largely fortuitous, since the mediaeval and modern city covers much of the area; but many sections of streets with their adjoining buildings have been uncovered at diverse points,
revealing that the basic plan was a rectangular grid orientated very nearly N to S and E to W. Remains of underground drains and water-channels of various types have been found, and many of these fit into the same
pattern. Once the grid had been determined, it became
clear that some of the streets of the mediaeval town, including the famous Street of the Knights, follow the
course of ancient predecessors; and that important
stretches of the great walls built by Grand Masters Pierre
d'Aubusson and Éméry d'Amboise are based upon the
lines of ancient streets. In addition, air photography has
revealed features which one would hardly notice at
ground level, especially in the SW region of the acropolis. We are told by the rhetorician Aristeides (43.6) that
this part of the town was laid out in a spacious park-like
manner; it is now largely rural in aspect, but the air
photographs show that terraces, field boundaries, and
lanes follow a rectilinear scheme which conforms with
the ancient grid.
It is fair to assume that this master plan is the one conceived by Hippodamos in 408 B.C. There is no trace of
any which is earlier and divergent. Admittedly the remains are mostly Hellenistic; but here and there they take
us back to the 1st c. of the city. We can imagine that the
Hippodamian method of
nemesis or careful allocation of
sites was applied from the beginning; but the process of
building was a long one, punctuated by destruction, by
siege and earthquake.
Some of the most important elements in the plan cannot now be securely placed. The agora, according to
Bradford, probably extended W from the great harbor.
A street which has been discovered, lined with colonnades in the Roman period, may have led into it from
the S. The theater was somewhere near the wall on the
inland side (cf.
Diod. Sic. 20.98.6, 8).
The Colossus, a huge bronze statue of Helios, set up
to commemorate the successful resistance to Demetrios,
did not of course bestride the harbor mouth; and Maryon
has shown that it could hardly have been constructed at
the end of a mole, and more probably stood in the city
center.
The most visible ancient monument in the lower city
is the foundation of a Temple of Aphrodite, built in the
3d c. B.C. just W of the great harbor; of the superstructure only a few fragments survive. A little to the W are
slight remains of a Shrine of Dionysos, incorporated in
the foundations of a chapel (
Clara Rhodos I 46; cf.
Lucian
Amores 8). To the N, in the neighborhood of the
smaller (N) harbor, remains of ship-sheds have recently
been further investigated.
The ancient buildings most worth seeing are away to
the SW, finely placed on the E brow of the acropolis.
Towards the N end are the foundations of the Temple
of Zeus and Athena. Some distance farther S is the Temenos of Pythian Apollo, a rectangular enclosure, with
a massive retaining wall on the E, where a broad flight
of steps gives access. Within the enclosure is a Doric
temple, built of limestone, in the 2d c. B.C.; several of
the columns on the E facade have been reerected. Just
below this point to the E is the N end of the great stadium, built into the hillside and extending over 183 m
to its semicircular S end. Adjoining the stadium on the
N is a small theater, which has been reconstructed, and
to the E are remains which may belong to a gymnasium.
Beyond the S cross wall lie the extensive cemeteries.
Southeast of the city are remains of an ancient (probably
late Hellenistic) bridge, crossing a ravine. Not far from
the park of Rodini is the most impressive of a number
of rock-cut tombs, fancifully known as the Tomb of the
Ptolemies, with a main chamber and an antechamber and
a facade of half-columns.
When one reflects on the glories of the ancient city,
the extant remains seem meager and disappointing, all the
more so in comparison with the splendid medieaval walls
and houses. Even the known temples are not particularly
grand. Apparently it was the general harmonious effect
which impressed ancient writers. Aristeides (43.6) says
that with all its varied splendors—walls, temples, works
of sculpture, and painting—the city was like a single
great house: Lucian (
Amores 8) compares its beauty to
that of Helios himself.
Outside the capital the most spectacular development
took place at Lindos, in the famous Shrine of Athena
Lindia. The acropolis of Lindos falls in precipitous cliffs,
undercut in places, to the sea on the E. Towards the N
is the main harbor; to the S is the inlet where St. Paul
is said to have landed. The Shrine of Athena on the summit of the acropolis was founded by Danaos, according
to legend. The extant temple had at least two shadowy
predecessors; the tyrant-sage Kleoboulos is said to have
built a temple in the 6th c. B.C., and a rock-cut stairway
probably belongs to this phase. The great architectural
development of the site took place in the 4th c. B.C.,
though some elements may be later; precise dating is disputed. The 4th c. temple, built after a disastrous fire
which is recorded in the inscription known as the “Lindian temple-chronicle,” is modest in size and appearance
compared with its setting, both natural and architectural.
It is a rather narrow building, nearly 22 x 8 m, orientated
NE and SW, with its SE side close to the cliff edge. It
had a porch of four Doric columns at either end, and
like the other buildings of the shrine, it was constructed
of a local limestone. Some of the terracottas found on
the site may give an idea of the cult statue. Not far from
the NW corner of the temple have been found traces of
what may be an altar; Athena Lindia was traditionally
worshiped with fireless sacrifices. According to the scholia in Pindar, Gorgon, historian of Rhodes, said that
the magnificent ode (
Ol. 7) in honor of Diagoras, greatest
of boxers, was inscribed in letters of gold in the Temple
of Lindian Athena, but one might expect this monument
to be set up rather at Diagoras' native town Ialysos. The
temple-chronicle gives a list of notable offerings in the
shrine.
The so-called propylaia are in fact a complex consisting of colonnades bordering three sides of the court in
front of the temple, with rooms on the NW side (another
small colonnade was added later on the SW side adjoining
the temple); and an outer colonnade facing down the hill
to the NE, with projecting temple-like wings at either
end. A broad stair leads on down to another stoa, of
great length (about 87 m) similarly facing outwards and
downwards, and making a short return at either end.
This was the latest element in the grand scheme. Portions
of stoa, propylaia, and temple have been not very effectively or securely restored.
The great stoa opened onto a spacious terrace, reached
from below by a stairway in the middle. In late Hellenistic times the terrace was extended to about double its
original width, by means of vaulted substructures, and
the stair was rebuilt in narrower form. Lower down the
slope, to the NE, was a temple of Roman date, built on
a podium, about 9 x 16 m, with a porch of four columns
facing back up the hill. The shrine is assigned by some
to a hero called Psithyros (Whisperer), known from an
inscription, but by Dyggve to a deified emperor, possibly
Diocletian.
Remains of the ancient wall of the acropolis are slight,
Hellenistic in date, and mainly on the N. The whole site
was eventually enclosed within the great fortifications of
the Knights. At the foot of the stairway which leads up
to the entrance on the N is a large Hellenistic rock-cut
relief representing the elegant up-curving prow of a ship;
a projecting platform carried a statue of one Agesandros,
dedicated by himself.
A small theater, about 28 m in diameter, holding about
2,000, was built into the SW slope of the hill; the middle
section of the seats, cut into the rock, is best preserved.
Nearby are remains of a rectangular court with Doric
colonnades, possibly associated with the cult of Dionysos.
A fine model made under the direction of Dyggve and
installed in the National Museum at Copenhagen gives a
vivid impression of the appearance of the acropolis in
Hellenistic times.
The city of Lindos stretched inland and W, a good
deal farther than the present town. Of the scanty remains
outside the acropolis the most remarkable are the monumental tombs. One of these, situated to the W of the
town on Mt. Krana, is the family mausoleum of Archokrates (late 2d c. B.C.), a chamber cut into the rock with
a two storied facade whose lower element is adorned
with Doric columns. On the N, on the farther side of
the main harbor, is a circular structure 9 m in diameter,
popularly known, without any good reason, as the Tomb
of Kleoboulos. It has not yet been fully studied, and
while Dyggve places it in the 2d c. B.C., Kondis thinks
it may prove to be a good deal earlier. In the Middle
Ages it was used as a church.
At Ialysos in the NW, in contrast with the extensive
and highly productive cemeteries on the lower ground
towards Trianda, structural remains of the city are
scanty. On the summit plateau of the hill of Phileremos,
the ancient acropolis, adjacent to the church of the monastery, are the foundations and column fragments of the
Temple of Athena and Zeus Polieus, a Doric structure
of the 4th c. B.C.; vestiges of a 6th c. temple and an older
shrine have been found. The most impressive ancient
monument on the site is a late 4th c. fountain-house built
into the hillside lower down the slope to the S, one of
the best examples of its type. A facade of Doric columns
in limestone, now partly reconstructed, stood in front of
a parapet consisting of two courses of slabs set between
rectangular pilasters, behind which was the water basin.
Several km down the coast to the SW, towards the border of the territory of Kameiros, was a deme of Ialysos
named Kastanioi. Here, near a place now called Tholos
(a corruption of Theologos), are the ruins of the Temple
of Apollo Erethimios, a Doric structure with two columns
in antis, and of a theater nearby. The shrine is identified
by inscriptions, and the title is derived from the placename Erethima. The temple was probably built at the
end of the 5th c., but the cult existed much earlier and
continued into Roman times.
At Kameiros are more extensive and imposing remains,
which show evidence of impressive planning in the Hellenistic period. Here again we have a theater-like site,
with the ground rising to E and W; to the S the hill forms
an acropolis or upper town, which does not seem to have
been fortified as a citadel. In the middle of the lower
town is a large open area partially bordered by colonnades, which may have been an agora, or perhaps a
sacred temenos; on the W side are the remains of a Doric
temple, of which some columns have been reerected. On
the E is a retaining wall, behind which at a higher level
runs a principal street. To the N of this area is a large
semicircular exedra, and to the E of this a broad low
flight of steps leading up to a smaller enclosure containing a number of altars, obviously an important sacrificial area, from which the same street could be reached by another flight of steps at the S end of its E side. The
main street ran S in the direction of the acropolis, with
cross-streets joining it, and the blocks thus formed were
occupied by houses, some of which had colonnaded
courts. Along the N brow of the acropolis hill a Doric
colonnade of great length was built in the 3d c. B.C.,
forming an impressive background to the town as seen
from the N. The excavators reerected a few of the columns to show the effect, only to have them flattened
again by a storm. Behind the stoa, to the S, are the ruins
of a Temple of Athena, an archaic shrine rebuilt in
Hellenistic times. The city also has notable remains of
cisterns, aqueducts, and drains. To the S stretch the principal cemeteries from which the treasures of the earlier periods have been retrieved.
Looking in this direction one sees the peak of Mt.
Atabyrion, the highest point on the island (1,233 m),
where as on many summits Zeus was worshiped. Parts of
a walled precinct have survived, but it is not clear
whether or not the confused remains within prove the
existence of an ancient temple. Many dedications to the
god have been found, including small bronze bulls. The
name of the mountain seems to be of Semitic origin,
being the Greek form of the Palestinian Tabor. The cult
of Zeus Atabyrios was of immemorial antiquity, founded,
according to the story told by Apollodoros (
Bibl. 3.2)
and Diodoros (5.59), by Althaimenes, who, fleeing from
Crete to avoid parricide, landed in Rhodes at a place
which he named Kretinia. He established the shrine on
the neighboring mountain top, from which he could survey the islands and see in the distance his native land.
Polybios reports (9.27.7) that on the summit of the
acropolis of Akragas (which was founded by Gela), “was
established a Shrine of Athena and of Zeus Atabyrios,
as among the Rhodians”; this suggests but does not prove
that Athena too had a cult on the mountain. Appian
(12.26) shows that in Hellenistic times Zeus Atabyrios
had a more accessible shrine near the city wall; but the
dedications prove that even then some devotees still
climbed where Althaimenes stood.
The Archaeological Museum at Rhodes, now in process of reorganization, houses finds from the various sites
on the island, as well as some from neighboring islands,
though some of the material from the earlier excavations
went to the British and other museums, and some sculpture from Lindos is at Istanbul and Copenhagen. The
exhibits include archaic kouroi, fine funerary reliefs, a
head of Zeus from Atabyrion, a head of Helios, the
“Aphrodite of Rhodes” (a crouching figure less than life
size) and another Hellenistic Aphrodite; Mycenaean jewelry; pottery ranging from Mycenaean through Geometric and orientalizing (notably the “Rhodian” fabrics, of
course) to Attic black-figure and red-figure; mosaics
(more can be seen in the restored Palace of the Grand
Masters); and missiles used in the great sieges. Situated
at the corner of Museum Square and the Street of the
Knights, the museum itself is a “museum piece,” since
it is one of the finest and most interesting mediaeval
buildings of Rhodes, the hospital in which the Order of
St. John performed its original humane and merciful task.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Legends: see esp. Pind.
Olymp. 7;
Apollod.
Bibl. 3.2;
Diod. Sic. 5.55-59;
Strab. 14.2.6-8
(653-54); Ath. 8.360d-61c.
General: E. Billiotti & A. Cottret, L'Île de Rhodes
(1881); C. Torr,
Rhodes in Ancient Times (1885); S. G.
Zervos, Rhodes,
Capitale du Dodecaèse (1920)
I;
Clara Rhodos, Studi e materiali publicati a cura dell'lnstituto
Storico Archaeologico di Rodi I-X (1928-41); F. Hiller
von Gaertringen, “Rhodos,”
RE Suppl. V (1931) 731-840
(historical and epigraphical bibliography 818-19)
M; R.
Matton,
Rhodes (1949)
I; J. Currie,
Rhodes and the
Dodecanese (1970); R. U. Inglieri,
Carta archeologica
dell'isola di Rodi (1936)
M.
Early Periods: H. F. Kinch,
Fouilles de Vroulia
(1914)
PI; R. M. Cook,
Greek Painted Pottery (1960)
116ff, 132ff, 140ff, bibliography 345-47; H. Drerup,
Griechische Baukunst in Geometrische Zeit (1961) 51-52; Chrysoula Kardara,
Ῥοδιακὴ Ἀγγειογραφία (1963)
I; V.
Desborough,
The Last Myceneans (1964) 152-58; J. N.
Coldstream,
Greek Geometric Pottery (1968) 274-87
I;
R. Hope Simpson & J. F. Lazenby,
The Catalogue of the
Ships in Homer's Iliad (1970) 117-20; id. & id., “Notes
from the Dodecanese,”
BSA 68 (1973) 127-79
M.
City of Rhodes: J. D. Kondis,
Συμβολὴ εἐς τὴν μελέτην τῆς π̔υμοτομίας (1954); J. Bradford, “Aerial Discoveries in Attica and Rhodes,”
AntJ 36 (1956) 57-69
PI; R. Martin,
L'Urbanisme dans le Grèce antique (1956) 148-49; H.
Maryon, “The Colossus of Rhodes,”
JHS 76 (1956) 68-86
I; J. Bradford,
Ancient Landscapes (1957) 227-86
PI; J. D. Kondis, “Zum antiken Stadtbauplan von Rhodos,”
AthMitt 73 (1958) 146-58
P; R. E. Wycherley, “Hippodamus and Rhodes,”
Historia 13 (1964) 135-39; G. Constantinopoulos, “Rhodes, New Finds and Old Problems”
(trans. by J. W. Graham),
Archaeology 21 (1968) 115-23
PI; see further annual reports in
Deltion,
Ergon, and
AAA; for ship-sheds see forthcoming report by D. Blackman in
BSA.
Lindos: C. Blinkenberg,
Die Lindische Tempelchronik
(1915); Blinkenberg, K. F. Kinch, & E. Dyggve,
Lindos,
fouilles et recherches, I (1931); II (1941); and esp. III
(1960)
Le sanctuaire d'Athana Lindia et l'architecture
lindienne, by Dyggve, with a catalogue of sculpture by
Vagn Poulsen
MPI; note Kondis's detailed critique of this
volume in
Gnomon 35 (1963) 392-404; C. Konstantinopoulos (see “City of Rhodes” above; photo of model).
Ialysos:
Clara Rhodos (1928) I 72ff (acropolis, temple
of Athens, fountain-house)
PI; B. Dunkley, “Greek Fountain Buildings,”
BSA 36 (1935-36); id.,
Ialysos 184ff; id.,
RE Suppl. v 748-49.
Kameiros:
Clara Rhodos (1932) VI-VII 222-65 (acropolis);
Clara Rhodos (1928) I 88ff.
Zeus Atabyrios: A. B. Cook,
Zeus (1914) I 117;
(1925) II 922-25.
R. E. WYCHERLEY
