Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/730

 714 RHODUS. Sicily; while the countries nearer home were not neglected, for Suli in Cilicia, and Gagae and Cory- dalla in Lycia, were Hkewise Khodian colonies. But notwithstanding this early application to navigation and commerce, for which Ehodes is so admirably situated between the three ancient continents, the Rhodians were not ranked with the great maritime powers of Greece. Herodotus speaks of them only as forming a part of the Doric confederacy, nor does Thucydides mention their island more frequently. The Rhodians, in fact, did not attain to any political eminence among the states of Greece until about B. c. 408, when the three ancient towns conjointly built the city of Rhodes at the northern ex- tremity of the island, and raised it to the rank of a capital. During the first period of the Pe- loponnesian War the towns of Rhodes paid tribute to Athens, and were reluctantly compelled to serve against Syracuse and Gela in Sicily (Thuc. vii. 57); but in b. c. 412 they joined the Pelo- ponnesians. The popular party being favourable to Athens, soon aftei-wards attempted a reaction, but it was crushed (Diod. xiii. 38, 45). In b. c. 396, however, when Conon appeared with his fleet in the waters of Rhodes, the Rhodians again embraced the cause of Athens (Diod. xiv. 79; Paus. vi. 7. § 6); but the democracy which was now established was ill managed, and did not last long; and as early as B. c. 390, the exiled aristocrats, with the assistance of Sparta, recovered their former ascendancy. (Aris- tot. Polit. V. 4. 2; Xenoph. Hellen. iv. 8. § 20, &c.; Diod. xiv. 97.) The fear of Sparta's growing power once more threw Rhodes into the hands of the Athenians, but soon after the battle of Leuctra a change again took place; at least the Thebans, in B. c. 364, were zealously engaged in sowing discord fur the purpose of drawing Rhodes, Chios, and By- zantium over to their own side. During the Social War, from b. c. 357 to 355, the Rhodians were ar- rayed against Athens, being instigated by the dynast of Caria and his successor Artemisia. But as they became alarmed by the growing power of the Carian dynasty, they solicited the protection of Athens through the eloquence of Demosthenes. (Demos. c7e Libert. Rhodior.) The form of government throughout this period was oligarchical, which ac- counts for the insolent conduct of Hegesilochus, as described in Athenaeus (x. p. 444). Rhodes fur- nished Darius, the last king of Persia, with one of his bravest and ablest generals in the person of Memnon, who, if he had had the sole direction of atfairs, might have checked the victorious career of Alexander, and saved the Persian empire. But as it was, Rhodes, like the rest of Greece, lost its inde- pendence, and received a Macedonian garrison (Curt, iv. 5). Tlie expulsion of this garrison after the death of Alexander was the beginning of a glorious epoch in the history of Rhodes ; for during the wars against the successors of Alexander, and especially during the memorable siege of the city of Ehodes by Deinetrius Poliorcetes, the Rhodians gained the highest esteem and regard from all the surrounding princes and nations. During the period which then followed, down to the overthrow of the Macedonian monarchy, Rhodus, which kept up friendly relations with Rome, acted a very prominent part, and ex- tended its dominion over a portion of the opposite coasts of Caria and Lycia — a territory which is hence often called the riepaia twv 'PoSicoi' [Pekaka] — and over several of the neighbouring islands, such as Casus, Carpathus, Telos, and Chalce. After the RHODUS. defeat of Perseus the Romans deprived the Rhodians of a great amount of territoiy and power, under the pretext that they had supported Macedonia; but the anger of Rome was propitiated, and in the war against Mithridates the Rhodians defended them- selves manfully against the Pontian king. During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey they sided with the former, and their adherence to him led them, after his death, to resist Cassius; but the republican, after defeating them in a naval engage- ment, entered the city of Rhodes by force, and having put to death the leaders of the hostile party, carried off all the public property, even the ofl'erings and ornaments of the temples (Appian, Bell. Civ. iv. 72; Plut. Brut. 30; Dion Cass, xlvii. 32). This calamity in b. c. 42 broke the power of the Rhodians, but it still remained one of the great scats of learning. Tiberius, before his accession to the imperial throne, resided at Rhodes for several years. The emperor Claudius deprived it of all political independence (Dion Cass. Ix. 24); but al- though he afterwards restored its liberty, it was at all times a very precarious possession, being taken away and given back as circumstances or the caprices of the emperors suggested (Tac. Ann. xii. 58; comp. Suet. Vesp. 8; Eutrop. vii. 13). In the arrangements of Constantine, Rhodus, like other is- lands, belonged to the Provincia Insularum, of which it was the metropolis (Hierocles, p. 685, &c.). During the middle ages it continued to enjoy a con- siderable degree of prosperity, and was the last place in Western Asia that yielded to the Blohammedans. The great prosperity which the Rhodians enjoyed during the best period of their history was owing in the first place to their extensive navigation and commerce, and in the second to their political insti- tutions. In respect to the former they were parti- cularly favoured by the situation of their island, and during the Macedonian and Roman periods no Greek state could rival them in the extent and organisation of their commerce; their sailors were regarded as the best, and their laws relating to na- vigation were thought models worthy of being adopted by the Romans. The form of government of the Rhodians was indeed founded upon a popular basis, but their democracy was tem.pered by an ad- mixture of oligarchy. Such at least we find it during the Macedonian period, at a tiiue when the ancient Doric institutions had given way to a form of government more suited to the actual circum- stances. (Strab. xii. p. 575, xiv. p. 652; Cic. de Re Puhl. i. 31; Dion Chrys. Orat. xxxi.; Aristid. Oraf. xliv. p. 831.) The sovereign power belonged to the assembly of the people, which had the final decision of everything; but nothing was brought before it which had not previously been discussed by the senate or ^ovi]. (Polyb. xvi. 35, xxiii. 3, xxvii. 6, xsviii. 15, xxix. 5; Cic. de Re Pnbl. iii. 35.) The executive was in the hands of two ma- gistrates called irpvTciveis, each of whom governed for six months in the year as eponymus. Next to these, the admirals {vavapxot) possessed the most extensive power. Other officers are mentioned in inscriptions, but their character and functions are often very uncertain. The Rhodian constitution had its safest foundation in the character and habits of the people, who, although the vicinity of Asia had a considerable influence and created a love of splen- dour and luxury, yet preserved many of their an- cient Doric peculiarities, such as earnestness, per- severance, valour, and patriotism, combined with an I