RHODES 



numbers of the people. Some 

 minerals are worked, and fishing is 

 carried on. Two senators and two 

 representatives are sent to Con- 

 gress. Providence is the capital; 

 other large towns are Pawtucket 

 and Woonsocket. 



Various settlements were wade 

 during the 16th century, in what is 

 now Rhode Island, chiefly by 

 persons exiled for religious reasons 

 from Massachusetts. In 1647 the 

 four existing settlements Pro- 

 vidence, Portsmouth, Newport, 

 and Warwick were united. In 

 1663 a charter was obtained, and 

 as Rhode Island the district was 

 under English rule until the war of 

 independence. Its inhabitants then 

 took up the American cause, and 

 Rhode Island became one of the 13 

 original states. Pop. 604,400. 



Rhodes (Gr. Rkodos). Most 

 easterly island in the Aegean Sea, 

 sometimes included hi the Dode- 

 canese. It lies 12 m. from the coast 

 of Asia Minor and is 43 m. long and 

 20 m. wide. The N. is fertile, the 

 S. elevated, so that during the 

 rainy winter season torrents rush 



down the slopes to the sea. The 

 principal products are fruit, wine, 

 onions, soap, and kaolin, from 

 which crude pottery is made. 



Known under various names in 

 ancient times, it was probably 

 called Rhodes from its extensive 

 cultivation of roses (Gr. rhodon). 

 The oldest inhabitants were the 

 mythical Telchines, who were suc- 

 ceeded by Phoenicians and Dorian 

 immigrants from Argos. Its three 

 chief towns, Lindus, lalysus, and 

 Camirus with Cnidus and Hali- 

 carnassus in Asia, and the island of 

 Cos formed what was known as 

 the Doric hexapolis, or league of 

 six cities. The island rapidly be- 

 came flourishing, founded Gela in 

 Sicily and other colonies, but first 

 acquired political importance when 

 the three towns in 408 B.C. built a 

 new city called Rhodes, which be- 

 ea me the capital of the island. 



Alternately attached to Athens 

 and Sparta, it lost its independ- 

 ence in the time of Alexander the 

 Great, regained it after his death, 

 and soon became a thriving com- 

 mercial centre. Its code of mari- 

 time laws was later adopted by the 

 Romans and through them by 

 modern Europe. Science and art 

 flourished. The Rhodian school of 

 rhetoric, distinguished by its florid 

 style, and originally founded by 

 Aeschines (q.v. ), was attended by 



Cicero. Its school of art was 

 founded by Chares of Lindus, who 

 fashioned the bronze statue of 

 Helios (see Colossus). Other repre- 

 sentatives were Athenodorus (see 

 Laocoon) and Apol'.onius and 

 Tauriscus of Tralles, who executed 

 the group known as the Farnese 

 bull (see Dirce). 



For their loyal support of Rome 

 during her wars against the Seleu- 

 cid emperors of the East, the 

 Rhodians were rewarded with mer- 

 cantile privileges and a consider- 

 able increase of territory, which 

 later were partly taken away owing 

 to their suspicious attitude. How- 

 ever, the island enjoyed a semi- 

 independence until the time of Ves- 

 pasian, when it was merged in the 

 province of Asia. Later included in 

 the Byzantine empire, from 1309- 

 1523 it was the headquarters of the 

 Knights Hospitallers, being cap- 

 tured in 1523 by the Turks. 



The island was occupied by Italy 

 during the Italo-Turkish War of 

 1912. By the treaty of Sevres, 

 Italy received Rhodes and neigh- 

 bouring small Dodecanese islands. 

 Pop. 31,000. 



Rhodes. Capital of the island 

 of Rhodes. Situated in the N.E. 

 corner of the island, it is a port 

 of call for Levant steamers. Its 

 principal interest is in the remains 

 of the Knights Hospitallers. Among 

 these are the castle ; 

 ] the Street of the 

 ! Knights, which con- 

 i tains remains of the 

 ! houses of assembly 

 j of the Knights Hos- 

 j pitallers, several of 

 which bear the 

 I armorial devices of 

 the countries to 

 which the inmates 

 belonged ; and the 

 Grand Hospital of 

 the Knights, restored 

 by the Italian go vern - 

 ment and converted 

 into a museum in 

 1914. Pop. 10,000. 



Rhodes. Scenes in the historic town of the Aegean island. 1. Street of the Knights, containing the old houses of the 

 Knights Hospitallers. 2. Entrance to the castle. 3. Cloisters and upper gallery of the Grand Hospital, now a museum. 

 '. 4. Facade of the hospital, as restored in 1914 



