RHODES. 



to be in love with this ifland, which, as they fay, was a he was honoured after his death as a hero or demi-god. 



mere marfti, altogether uninhabitable, till it was loved by Not long before the Trojan war, Tlepolemus, the fon of 



Phoebus and railed out of the waters by his powerful in- Hercules, in compliance with the inftruclion of the oracle 



To this purpofe Sonnini defcribes its temperate which he confulted, left Argos, and fettled in Rhodes. He 



fluence. 



climate, pure air, and fine fprings, which at all times fupply 

 the wants of its inhabitants, and render it agreeable ; its 

 vallies of a rich and fertile foil, covered by plentiful 

 harvefts, and clothed with rich paflures, fhaded by trees 

 bearing precious fruits, fuch as the olive, the orange, and 

 the fig-tree, with flowers that embelhfh with. their luflre, 

 and perlume with their fweet emanations ; Hoping hills on 



here planted a colony, which he governed as king of the 

 ifland with great equity. Diodorus fays, thefe were the 

 firft inhabitants of Rhodes. After the Trojan war, the bell; 

 part of the ifland was taken poffeflion of by the Dorians, 

 who expelled the ancient proprietors, and the Doric dialed 

 was commonly ufed throughout the whole ifland. 



The Rhodians applied themfelves, at an early period, to 



which the vine is cultivated, or which prefent to numerous trade and navigation, and for many ages were fovereigns of 

 flocks a luxuriant and odoriferous herbage ; "«<™««-™= «" **•■> '--- »i.~:.- 1 



mountains on 

 which grow the moll beautiful trees, whofe verdure is 

 perennial ; all which would ftill render it one of the moft 

 delightful abodes in the world, did not the iron hand of the 

 Turks efface a part of the colours of this fmiling pifture. 

 A gloomy nakednefs, fays the fame author, diffufes me- 



the fea: their laws being the ftandard by which all con- 



troverfies relating to maritime affairs were decided. Thefe 



and conititutions were fo juft, that they were after- 



wards incorporated into the Roman pandefts, and followed 

 in all the provinces of the Roman empire. 



The government of Rhodes was originally monarchical ; 

 lancholy over places formerly adorned by the riches of and feveral kings are faid to have reiened there long- before 



„-,>,„.,> .,.,,1 ,„J,,rt 1 *1 ...1 __U„J ..1..-..1 L__ »L_ rr. _• ° , . r , ,- , b g «■.»«•«. 



nature and induttry ; and the men who are called thither by 

 an agreeable and truly happy country, are driven back by 

 the terror infpired by a horde of fpoilers. Happinefs no 

 longer inhabits an illand formerly " fortunate," and the 

 golden fhower, which the poets of antiquity, caufed to fall 

 there, as an emblem of its riches and brilliant advantages, is 

 converted into a ftormof defolation. 



In the time of Homer the ifland of Rhodes had three 

 cities, viz. Lindus, now L'tndo, Camirus or Camiro, and 

 L'lyfiis, the moft ancient city in the whole ifland ; to which 

 in after ages was added a fourth, bearing the name of the 

 ifland. (See each refpe&ively. ) Thefe three cities were 

 built, according to Diodorus, by Tlepolemus, the fon of 

 Hercules, before the Trojan war. But Strabo and Cicero 

 inform us, that they were founded by the Heliades, or 

 grandfons of Phoebus, lalyfus, Camirus, and Lindus, 

 who gave each of them his own name. Other writers 

 fay, that they were built by the Dorians not long after 

 their migration ; and hence Athenaeus reckons them among 

 the Dorian colonies. Herodotus favs, they were founded 



the Trojan war ; but of thefe we have no account. Among 

 the eminent writers of this illand, we have an enumeration 

 of the following, whofe names we can only mention : viz. 

 Ariltophanes, Eudemus, Hieronymus, a Peripatetic plnlo- 

 fopher, Leonidas, Pifander, Panetius, Apollonius Molon, 

 Timocreon, Prxciphanes, Anthseas, &c. The authors of 

 the Uniyerfal Hiitory (ubi infra) have given a brief ac- 

 count of fome of them, and referred for an ampler detail 

 to Meurfiae's learned treatife on the ifland of Rhodes, 

 printed at Amfterdam in 1675, ann publifhed. with thofe 

 on Crete and Cyprus by the fame author. 



In the time of the Trojan war, and after that epoch, the 

 kings who reigned in this ifland were, Tlepolemus, Do- 

 rieus, Damagetus, Diagoras, Evagoras, Cleobulus, Eraf- 

 tides, Damagetus II., and Diagoras II. The laft of thefe 

 fovereigns proved conqueror in the Olympic, Ifthmian, 

 Nemaean, and Argian games, and on that account is cele- 

 brated by Pindar. His three fons were alfo viftors in the 

 Olympic fports. Upon the death of Diagoras II. fome ex- 

 traordinary revolution muft have happened ; as another 

 family had poffeflion of the throne. After the death or 



by the daughters of Danaus, who landed in this ifland, 



after having put to death the ions of ^Egyptus, their huf- expulfion of' the laft king, the republican government pre" 



bands. In the city of Lindus was a magnificent temple, vailed over the whole ifland; during which the Rhodians 



built, according to Plutarch, in honour of the Lindian 



Minerva, a ftatue of which, together with the mother of 



Jupiter Dodonseus, both of exquifite workmanfhip, were 



found in the rubbifh of the city, after it had been acci- 



dentally reduced to afhes, and removed to Conftantinople. 

 In this temple there were alfo feveral pictures by Parrhafius, 

 Zeuxis, and other great mafters. Lindus and lalyfus were 

 well fortified in the time of the Peloponnefian war, as we 

 learn from Thucydides ; but Camirus was without walls. 

 The three cities now mentioned were, as Strabo informs 

 us, three different republics, independent of each other, 

 governed by their own laws, till the inhabitants abandoned 

 them, and removed to the city of Rhodes. 



This ifland was firft peopled, according to Diodorus 

 Siculus, by the Telchinae from Crete ; but dreading a de- 

 luge, they abandoned their habitations, and made way for 

 the Heliades, or grand-children of Phoebus, who took pof- 

 feflion of it, after Apollo had cleared it of the mud, with 

 which it had been covered by the deluge. The Heliades, 

 being infefted with ferpents, fent for Phorbas from Theffaly, 

 upon the fuggeftion of the oracle at Delos, who brought 

 with him a number of Theffalians, fettled on the ifland, 

 deftroyed the ferpents, and after his death was honoured 

 as a demi-god. A colony of Cretans afterwards fettled at 

 Camirus, in this ifland, under the conduct of Althasmenes, 

 fon of Catreus, king of Crete ; and by direction of the oracle, 



engaged in trade and navigation, became very powerful by 

 fea, and planted feveral colonies in diftant countries ; viz. 

 Rhodus in Spain, and Parthenope in the country of the 

 Opici. At this time they were mafters of the Balearic 

 iflands, then called the Gymnafian iflands. During the 

 Peloponnefian war the Rhodians firft joined the Athenians, 

 revolted from them to the Lacedaemonians, and afterwards 

 joined the former. At this time the republic of Rhodes 

 was rent into two factions, the people favouring the Athe- 

 nians, and the nobles the Lacedaemonians ; but the latter 

 at laft prevailed ; democracy was abohfhed, and an arifto- 

 cracy introduced in its room. Under this form of govern- 

 ment the ftate enjoyed a profound tranquillity, until the 

 third year of the 105th olympiad, which was the third 

 year of the reign of Philip the fon of Amyntas, when the 

 Social war broke out, which, after it had lafted rive years, 

 was concluded by a treaty, very little to the honour of 

 Athens. By this treaty, Rhodes, Chios, Cos, and Byzan- 

 tium, were to enjoy full liberty, and be quite independent 

 of Athens. The Rhodians, however, did not remain long 

 unmolefted ; but they were oppreffed by Maufolus, kino- of 

 Caria, who had aflifted them in throwing off the Athenian 

 yoke. After fuffering for fome time, they equipped a fleet, 

 invaded Caria, and regained their liberty. Artemilia, the 

 queen of Maufolus, by an aft of treachery, poflefled her- 

 felf of the city of Rhodes, and put to death the chief 



citizens 



