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Topic: Rhodes, Siege of

Rhodes, Siege of

Years: 305BCE - 304BCE

Antigonus I Monophthalmus, one of Alexander’s warring successors, has his son Demetrius besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt.

Demetrius creates huge siege engines including a 180 ft (55 m) battering ram and a siege tower named Helepolis that weighs 360,000 pounds (163,293 kg).

Despite this engagement, in 304 BC, after only one year he relents and signs a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment.

The Rhodians sell the equipment and use the money to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios, the statue now known as Colossus of Rhodes.

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“And in the absence of facts, myth rushes in, the kudzu of history.”

― Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life (2010)