After twelve years, in 280 BC, the statue was completed. Upon completion all of the dirt was removed and the colossus was left to stand alone. During the building, workers would pile mounds of dirt on the sides of the colossus. Upper portions were built with the use of a large earthen ramp. Much of the iron and bronze was reforged from the various weapons Demetrius's army left behind, and the abandoned second siege tower may have been used for scaffolding around the lower levels during construction. The statue itself was over 30 meters (107 ft) tall. Other sources place the Colossus on a breakwater in the harbor. The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15 meter high white marble pedestal near the Mandraki harbor entrance, was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed. The materials of the war machines became the colossus.Īncient accounts, which differ to some degree, describe the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin. In addition, the repaired the destroyed walls very quickly. They used flamethrowers, fire ships and catapults. The Rhodians organized their defense too. Demetrius constructed a large number of siege towers and rams. His engineers constructed huge catapults which they put on ships. Demetrius, during the siege, used some tremendous war machines. His teacher, the sculptor Lysippos, had constructed a 22 meter high bronze statue of Zeus at Tarentum.Īccording to other sources, Demetrius attached Rhodes with a fleet of 200 warships and 170 transport ships. Construction was left to the direction of Chares, a native of Lindos in Rhodes, who had been involved with large-scale statues before. To celebrate their victory, the Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for 300 talents and decided to use the money to build a colossal statue of their patron god, Helios.
In 304 BC a relief force of ships sent by Ptolemy arrived, and Demetrius's army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equipment.
He tried again with a larger, land-based tower named Helepolis, but the Rhodian defenders stopped this by flooding the land in front of the walls so that the rolling tower could not move.
The first was mounted on six ships, but these capsized in a storm before they could be used. In 305 BC he had his son Demetrius the sieger, also a general, invade Rhodes with an army of 40,000 however, the city was well defended, and Demetrius-whose name "Poliorcetes" signifies the "besieger of cities"-had to start construction of a number of massive siege towers in order to gain access to the walls. During the fighting, Rhodes had sided with Ptolemy, and when Ptolemy eventually took control of Egypt, Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt formed an alliance which controlled much of the trade in the eastern Mediterranean.Īntigonus I Monophthalmus was upset by this turn of events.
Fighting broke out among his generals, the Diadochi, with four of them eventually dividing up much of his empire in the Mediterranean area. Before its destruction in 226 BC-due to an earthquake-the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.Īlexander the Great died at the early age of 32 in 323 BC without having had time to put into place any plans for his succession. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC.