The Siege of Rhodes

Demetrius, a pretender to the throne of Macedon, was one of the many successors to the realms conquered by Alexander the Great.  Demetrius’s father, Antigonus, had been one of Alexander’s most trusted generals. After Alexander’s death, Antigonus carved out his own kingdom in part of Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. Years after his father’s death, after much intrigue of assassinations, wars, and intermarriage, Demetrius, though only a juvenile, had become king of Macedon. In a war with some of the other successors, he was displaced and became a sort of Aegean pirate, harassing his enemies by sea, then retreating to hidden coves on foamy Aegean island shores.

The island of Rhodes, south of Asia Minor in the southern Aegean, was a powerful mercantile hub, and maintained a policy of neutrality, though they had a very good relationship with the Ptolemaic empire in Egypt. Demetrius was at war with Egypt, and was afraid that they’d use Rhodes as a forward base against him. Demetrius decided to attack Rhodes, and in 305BC he assembled his pirate navy and landed on Rhodes. The Macedonians proceeded to encircle the city, and prepared for a siege. After some time, Demetrius, growing impatient with the slow progression of the siege, ordered the construction of an enormous contraption, a massive siege tower, the likes of which had never been seen before. Its enormous and faceless front bristled with artillery of the day, and as it rolled out to the walls of the city, defiant Rhodians sallied out in small groups and fought the Macedonians guarding the slow-moving tower. There was savagery on both sides, but in the end the siege tower, being so heavy, actually began to sink into soft ground and was rendered immobile.

Demetrius, facing growing opposition to the siege on his home front and, combined with being seen as the antagonist in the war with Rhodes by the rest of the Hellenic world, abandoned the siege of Rhodes after only one year. Of course he could not take his humongous siege weapons with him on his ships, and so the great tower stayed behind. The Rhodians melted the tower down, and used the metal to create an enormous bronze statue, a Colossus, which stood over their harbor, welcoming incoming ships.