R H 0 
world. Like the neighbouring islands, it is reduced by the 
oppressions of the Porte, and the arbitrary exactions of its 
governors, to a state of the most wretched poverty. The 
Kharatsh, or capitation tax, indeed, is more moderate than 
in some of the neighbouring islands, amounting to about 30 
piastres for each house. The natives, however, are com¬ 
pelled to labour hard in the services required by govern¬ 
ment, which occupy about three months in the year of the 
time of each individual, with little or no remuneration. 
The conveyance of a large tree from the interior of the island, 
in which several men are employed for a considerable space 
of time, is paid for at the rate only of five-pence, while it is 
charged to the grand seignior at £3. 10s. Yet few districts, 
in proportion to their extent, enjoy greater natural advan¬ 
tages. In the centre rises Mount Artemira, the ancient 
Atabyrus, a steep and lofty summit, commanding a most 
extensive view, not only over the island, but over all the 
surrounding seas and coasts. It forms the pinnacle of a 
range of mountains, on which grovv those forests of pine 
which supplied the ancient navies of the Rhodians, and are 
still sent in great quantities to the arsenal at Constantinople. 
They are now, however, greatly thinned, no care having 
been taken to supply the place of those that have been cut 
down. Beneath this range rises a track of lower hills, which 
still produce some of that perfumed wine so much prized by 
the ancients. It has a very delicate flavour, which theRhodians 
suppose themselves to render still more agreeable, by a par¬ 
ticular species of cups out of which it is drunk. This cul¬ 
ture might easily be greatly extended, as a great part of the 
hills fitted for it are at present in an entirely neglected state. 
The track beneath, forming the greater portion of the island, 
slopes gradually down to the sea, and being watered by nu¬ 
merous streams descending from the higher regions, is ca¬ 
pable, under proper cultivation, of producing the most 
luxuriant crops. The oppression of the pacha, and the in¬ 
security of property, have rendered these gifts of nature of 
no avail. Rhodes, which might be the granary of the neigh¬ 
bouring islands, is now obliged to import, a considerable 
proportion of the grain which it consumes. The pacha 
having assumed the monopoly of this article, finds it his 
interest to perpetuate the poverty on which it depends. He 
imports, at a cheap rate, inferior grain from Caramania, 
and retails it at an enormous profit, adding the capricious 
regulation, that the price paid for the first bushel of the new 
harvest must invariably regulate the market through the 
course of the year. The consequence of these oppressive 
regulations is, that a great part of the island is left entirely 
waste. “ In travelling over it,” says Savary, “ you have the 
mortification of passing through several fine valleys, un¬ 
adorned with either cottage or hamlet, and discovering no 
marks of cultivation. Wild roses hang around the foot of 
the rocks ; beds of flowering myrrh perfume the air; tufts of 
laurel roses adorn the banks of the rivulets with their 
gaudy flowers. The husbandman here suffers the earth to 
waste her strength in pouring forth a profusion of weeds and 
useless plants, without taking pains to enjoy her favours.” 
Besides corn, there is a deficiency of olives for the con¬ 
sumption of the inhabitants. The quantity of colton raised 
is barely sufficient for the supply of this island. The expor¬ 
tation of wine, figs, and other fruit, is, however, con¬ 
siderable. 
The climate of Rhodes is delightful. The greater part of 
the summer is free from those intense heats usually felt in 
this climate. The months of July and August only are 
exposed to' hot winds from the coast of Caramania. The 
scorching wind of the Siroc also is never felt. The winters 
are uncommonly mild and humid. 
The following statements are given by Savary, respecting 
the population of Rhodes. The capital is inhabited chiefly 
by Turks. There are five villages occupied by Mussul-' 
mans. Five towns and 41 villages are inhabited by Greeks. 
The families in the island are stated at 4700 Turks, 2500 
Greeks, and 100 Jews, making in all 7300 families, which, 
at five persons to each family, would amount to 36,500. 
Vol. XXII. No. 1484. 
R H O 61* 
RHODES, a city, and capital of the island of the same 
name. From a distance, Rhodes presents some vestiges of 
its ancient grandeur. Its advantageous situation at the ex¬ 
tremity of a promontory, the disposition of its buildings 
in the form of an amphitheatre, the solidity of its walls, 
and its towers situated on rising rocks, impress high 
ideas of its strength and grandeur. On entering the city, 
however, scarcely any thing is found to correspond with the 
expectations thus excited. It displays no remarkable curio¬ 
sity or monument of former times. In vain you attempt to 
discover the remains of the theatre, of magnificent temples, 
and spacious porticoes. Statues, colossi, and paintings, 
have all been destroyed or removed. Those streets which 
were laid out on so great a scale, and so regular and mag¬ 
nificent a plan, have been succeeded by narrow winding 
streets and buildings, devoid at once of regularity and ele¬ 
gance. The inhabitants consist of 5000 Turks and 1000 
Jews ; no Greeks being allowed to enter the city, unless by 
three or four at a time. The state of the buildings bears 
marks of the desolation occasioned by tyranny. One half 
of the houses in the city are in ruins, and one half of 
those in the suburbs uninhabited. House-rent is thus very 
cheap, and the expense of living in general so moderate, as 
to make it be said, that at Rhodes, a man with 3000 
piastres a year, may live like a nobleman; one with 5000 
piastres, like a prince. The city does not cover the fourth 
part of its ancient circuit ; for the walls, which still remain, 
and bear marks of great strength and solidity, are those 
built by the knights of St. John. The principal public 
buildings which remain are the church of St. John, and 
another; the palace of the grand masters, and a convent, 
all large massy buildings, in the Gothic style. The churches 
are converted into mosques; a large hospital, where Chris¬ 
tian charity once received the faithful from all the dif¬ 
ferent quarters of the world, is used by the Turks for the 
purposes of a granary; and the palace of the grand master, 
falling into ruins, is almost entirely deserted. Lat. 36.25. N. 
long. 27. 45. E. 
RHODES, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Tunis, 
situated on an eminence, between the lake of Tunis and the 
sea, at a distance from some hills, where Hanno was defeated 
by Regulus. 
RHQDEZ. See Rhodes. 
RHODIGINUS (Ccelius), a learned Italian, whose proper 
name was Lodovico Celio Richieri, was born at Rovigo, 
about 1450. He studied at Ferrara and Padua, and then 
travelled into France, in which country he resided a consi¬ 
derable time. On returning to Italy, he filled the office of a 
public professor in his native place from 1491 to 1497, and 
again obtained the same appointment in 1503. But the in¬ 
testine divisions of Rovigo caused him to be banished from it 
in 1505, and he opened a school of belles-lettres at Vicenza, 
till, in 1508, he was invited to Ferrara by Duke Alfonso I. 
The wars obliged him to quit that situation, and he taught at 
Reggio, in 1512, and afterwards.kept a private school at 
Padua. Francis I., in 1515, nominated him to the chair of 
Greek and Latin eloquence in Milan, as successor to Deme¬ 
trius Chalcondylas. In 1521, he returned to Padua; and 
two years after had the satisfaction of being re-admitted to 
the council of his native city, and deputed from it to Venice 
to congratulate the new doge. He died in 1525, of chagrin 
(it is said) on account of the defeat and capture of Francis 
at the battle of Pavia. The principal work of this learned 
man is his “ Antiquse Lectiones,” of which he published 16 
books, and 14 more were added after his death. Editions of 
the whole in folio were printed at Basil, 1566, and at Frank¬ 
fort 1666. It is a miscellany of profound erudition, “ in 
which (says Ger. Vossius) abstruse words in Greek and Latin 
are explained, obscure passages in the best authors are eluci¬ 
dated, and corrupt ones are rectified, recondite histories and 
ancient rites are narrated, and many arcana of the deepest 
philosophy, especially of the Platonic school, are brought to 
light; whence I am often moved with wonder, and indeed with 
indignation, in observing that the precious labours of such ^ 
R a man 
