Listed 59 sub titles with search on: History for wider area of: "RODOS Province DODEKANISSOS" .
SYMI (Island) DODEKANISSOS
The history of the island begins in ancient and mythological times.
Its ancient names were Aigli, Metapontis and Cariki. It is postulated that its
first inhabitants were the Carians and the Leleges.
Symi is mentioned in The Iliad: King Nireus took part in the Trojan
war with three ships. Herodotus refers to it as being a member of the Dorian Hexapolis
(6 cities). From 480 B.C. the island belonged to the Athenian League.
In the Roman and Byzantine epochs Symi’s fortune was closely
linked to that of Rhodes.
From 1309 the island entered upon a prosperous period with the development of
shipping, commerce, the sponge trade, boat building and other crafts. This period
also saw the beginning of the increase in urban growth the beauty of which remains
intact to this day. The houses began to spread out from the same time people started
to abandon many of their traditional settlements. The majority of the churches
were also built during this time.
Turkish attacks were repulsed in 1457 and 1485. In 1522, realizing
that further resistance wa in vain, and attempting to preserve as much as they
could; the people offered gifts to the sultan and gained the grant, of many special
privileges. Thus they achieved freedom of religious expression and the use of
their own language with the resulting advances in education and crafts. In addition
to these privileges, they won sponge-fishing rights throughout all the seas of
the Ottoman Empire.
They supported the national war of independence and contributed funds
to the Greek fleet over a number of years; not to mention financial assistance
to Laskarina Bouboulina, Admiral Miaoulis, Themelis and others.
In 1832 Symi unwillingly returned to Turkish control, and people reacted
most strongly to this. In 1869 there was an attempt to abrogate the special privileges.
In 1875 and 1885 there were population censuses: in 1908 Symi won her second battle
to preserve her privileges, resulting in victory for the other islands as well.
In 1912 Turkish dominion gave way to Italian control, which lasted
until September 17th, 1943. From that date the island changed hands several times
between the British and the Germans, the British taking Symi for the third time
on September 25th, 1944, on which day the castle and the surrounding quarter of
town were blown up. On May 8th, 1945 the German surrender of the Dodecanese
was signed on Symi. On April 1st, 1947 a British Military Administration handed
over to a Greek one, and on March 7th, 1948 the Dodecanese were incorporated into
the Greek state.
This text (extract) is cited November 2003 from the Municipality
of Symi tourist pamphlet.
KAMIROS (Ancient city) RHODES
The three cities of Rhodes Lindos, Kamiros, and Ialysos together with Kos, Halikarnassos and Knidos formed the Dorian Hexapolis.
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
With the defeat of the Persians in Greece, Rhodes was compelled to join the Delian League in 478 B.C., but it resigned from the League in 411 B.C.
After Spartian power in the Aegean was destroyed by Conon in 394 B.C., Iasos was rebuilt, possibly with the aid of Knidos, and it joined a league of Aegean states that included Ephesos, Rhodes, Samos, and Byzantium.
In the 4th century B.C. Rhodes submitted first to Sparta, then to Athens, and in 357 B.C. became an ally of Persia.
The cities of Lycia and of Caria, along with Cos and Rhodes, were overthrown by a violent earthquake that smote them. These cities also were restored by the emperor Antoninus, who was keenly anxious to rebuild them, and devoted vast sums to this task.
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
RODOS (Ancient city) DODEKANISSOS
The present city was founded at the time of the Peloponnesian War by the same architect, as they say, who founded the Peiraeus.
...Also the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes left the cities of Ielysus, Lindus, and Cameirus and settled in one city, that which is now called Rhodes.
CHALKI (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Situated to the south of Tilos and west of Rhodes, Halki has been inhabite since antiquity, when it must have been very prosperous, judging from the coir found by archaeologists. Its name most probably reflects the copper ore (halkos) once mined there. It is a small but mountainous island (just 28 square kilometres in area).
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
RODOS (Ancient city) DODEKANISSOS
The island was inhabited as early as the late Neolithic period (4000
B.C.). In 408 B.C. the three major cities of the island - Ialyssos, Kamiros and
Lindos - founded the city of Rhodes. The three centuries that followed were the
golden age of Rhodes. Sea trade, skilled shipbuilders and the careful and open-minded
political and diplomatic manoeuvres of the city kept it strong and prosperous
until Roman times.
In the same period, Rhodes produced excellent artistic work. The most
celebrated of all was the Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,
made between 304 and 293 B.C. by the Lyndian sculptor Hares. The construction
of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For years, the statue,
representing their sun god Helios, stood at the harbour entrance, until a strong
earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus
was demolished.
The urban plan of ancient Rhodes reflects directly the urban and philosophical
ideas of the famous ancient Greek planner, Hippodamus. The street plan of the
ancient city is known due to decades of archaeological excavations. The building
blocks (insulae) measure 47.70X26.50 m and all have the same dimensions. They
included 3 houses each and were surrounded by streets 5-6 meters wide. Greater
units constituted areas surrounded by wider streets (8-11 meters). Every area
included 36 insulae or 108 houses. The ancient city had an extended and well-constructed
sewage system as well as a water supply network.
This extract is cited October 2004 from the Municipality of
Rodos URL, which contains image
SYMI (Island) DODEKANISSOS
(Following URL information in Greek only)
The history of the island begins in the ancient times and some of its names were Kirki, Aigli and Metapontis. The island got its current time from the nymph Symi, who according to mythology married the God of the seas Poseidon and brought to life Hthonios who became the leader of the island's inhabitants. Homer mentions Symi in the Heliade, for its participation in the Trojan war, headed by the Symiot King Nireas. Later in history, Symi was conquered in 1309 by the knights of St. John. This is when a period of prosperity begins for the island with the development of shipping, sponge commerce, boat building and other crafts. In 1832 Symi was found under the Turkish dominion which in 1912 was succeeded by the Italian dominion. Symi confronted poverty - at that time the replacement of sailing with motor ships also occurred, sponge diving decreased and world war II begun resulting in a grate migration wave of Symiots abroad. From 1943 when the Italian dominion ceased and onwards, Symi changed hands several times between the English and the Germans, with the English taking over the island for the third time in 1944. On May 8th 1945, the Germans signed the treaty of the Dodecanese surrender, while on April 1st 1947, the British military command handed over its rights to a Greek one. At last, it was on Symi that on March 8th 1948 the Protocol of integration of all Dodecanese islands to the Greek state was signed.
This text is cited May 2005 from the Municipality of Symi URL below, which contains images
RODOS (Ancient city) DODEKANISSOS
Article by Diodorus of Sicily
In 305, Antigonus Monophthalmus, one of the Diadochi (successors of Alexander
the Great), sent out his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to capture the city and island of Rhodes.
It controlled the entrance to the Aegean
Sea, and its capture was necessary if Antigonus wanted to liberate Greece
and Macedonia. Diodorus of
Sicily tells about the siege
in his World History 20.81 and 20.100. The translation was made by M.M. Austin.
After this year Euxenippus became archon at Athens
[1] [...]. During his year of office war broke out between the Rhodians and Antigonus
for more or less the following reasons. The city of Rhodes had a powerful navy
and enjoyed the finest government in Greece,
and so was an object of competition between the dynasts and kings, as each sought
to win it over to his friendship. Seeing ahead where its advantage lay, it concluded
friendship with each of the protagonists separately and took no part in the wars
the dynasts fought against each other [2]. And so it happened that it was honored
by each of them with royal presents, and prospered greatly by remaining at peace
for a long time. It had reached such a peak of power that it took up on its own,
on behalf of the Greeks, the war against the pirates and cleared the sea of that
scourge.
Alexander, the most powerful man in human memory, honored it above
all cities, deposited there his will concerning the whole kingdom [3] and in general
admired it and enhanced its preeminence.
The Rhodians, then, by establishing friendship with all the dynasts,
kept themselves immune from any justifiable complaint, but their sympathies inclined
most towards Ptolemy. For it so happened that they derived the majority of their
revenues from the merchants sailing to Egypt and that in general their city was
sustained by that kingdom. [...]
The Rhodians, then, brought the war to a close after a siege of one
year. They honored with appropriate presents those who had shown bravery in the
face of danger and conferred freedom and citizenship on the slaves who had displayed
courage. They also set up statues of king Cassander and king Lysimachus, who although
they held second place in the general estimation had yet made a great contribution
to the salvation of the city [4].
But as for Ptolemy, they wished to repay his favor with an even greater
one, and sent sacred ambassadors to Africa to ask the oracle of Ammon whether
he advised the Rhodians to honor Ptolemy as a god. When the oracle had given its
assent they consecrated a square enclosure in the city, which they called the
Ptolemaeum, and constructed on each of its sides a galery 200 meters long. They
also rebuilt the theater, the parts of the wall that had collapsed and the other
buildings that had been destroyed, all far more beautifully than before.
Note 1: The year 305/304.
Note 2: Rhodes was a mercantile state, that benefited from peace.
Note 3: This is fiction.
Note 4: Cassander and Lysimachus had sent blockade-runners. The most famous
statue erected after the siege was not dedicated to these kings, but to the Sun:
the famous Colossus of Rhodes.
This text is cited August 2003 from the Livius Ancient History Website URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
While these things were going on (Mithridates massacre of Romans in
Asia) the Rhodians strengthened their walls and their harbor and erected engines
of war everywhere, receiving some assistance from Telmessus and Lycia. All the
Italians who escaped from Asia collected at Rhodes, among them Lucius Cassius,
the proconsul of the province. When Mithridates approached with his fleet, the
inhabitants destroyed the suburbs in order that they might not be of service to
the enemy. Then they put to sea for a naval engagement with some of their ships
ranged for an attack in front and some on the flank. Mithridates, who was sailing
around in a quinquereme, ordered his ships to extend their wing out to sea and
to quicken the rowing in order to surround the enemy, for they were fewer in number.
The Rhodians were apprehensive of this man?uvre and retired slowly. Finally they
turned about and took refuge in the harbor, closed the gates, and fought Mithridates
from the walls. He encamped near the city and continually tried to gain entrance
to the harbor, but failing to do so he waited for the arrival of his infantry
from Asia. In the meantime there was continual skirmishing going on among the
soldiers in ambush around the walls. As the Rhodians had the best of it in these
affairs, they gradually plucked up courage and kept their ships well in hand in
order to dart upon the enemy whenever they should discover an opportunity.
As one of the king's merchantmen was moving near them under sail a
Rhodian two-bank ship advanced against it. Many on both sides hastened to the
rescue and a severe naval engagement took place. Mithridates outweighed his antagonists
both in fury and in the multitude of his fleet, but the Rhodians circled around
and rammed his ships with such skill that they took one of his triremes in tow
with its crew and tackle and much spoil, and brought it into the harbor. Another
time, when one of their quinqueremes had been taken by the enemy, the Rhodians,
not knowing this fact, sent out six of their swiftest ships to look for it, under
command of their admiral, Demagoras. Mithridates despatched twenty-five of his
against them. Demagoras retired before them until sunset. When it began to grow
dark and the king's ships turned around to sail back, Demagoras fell upon them,
sunk two, drove two others into Lycia, and returned home on the open sea by night.
This was the result of the naval engagement, as unexpected to the Rhodians on
account of the smallness of their force as to Mithridates on account of the largeness
of his. In this engagement while the king was sailing about in his ship and urging
on his men, an allied ship from Chios ran against his in the confusion with a
severe shock. The king pretended not to mind it at the time, but later he punished
the pilot and the lookout man, and conceived a hatred for all Chians.
About the same time the land forces of Mithridates set sail in merchant
vessels and triremes, and a storm, blowing from Caunus, drove them toward Rhodes.
The Rhodians promptly sailed out to meet them, fell upon them while they were
still scattered and suffering from the effects of the tempest, captured some,
rammed others, and burned others, and took about 400 prisoners. Thereupon Mithridates
prepared for another naval engagement and siege at the same time. He built a sambuca,
an immense machine for scaling walls, and mounted it on two ships. Some deserters
showed him a hill that was easy to climb, where the temple of Zeus Atabyrius was
situated, surrounded by a low wall. He placed a part of his army in ships by night,
distributed scaling ladders to others, and commanded both parties to move silently
until they should see a fire signal given from Mount Atabyrius; and then to make
the greatest possible uproar, and some to attack the harbor and others the wall.
Accordingly they approached in profound silence. The Rhodian sentries knew what
was going on and lighted a fire. The army of Mithridates, thinking that this was
the fire signal from Atabyrius, broke the silence with a loud shout, the scaling
party and the naval contingent shouting all together. The Rhodians, not at all
dismayed, answered the shout and rushed to the walls in crowds. The king's forces
accomplished nothing that night, and the next day they were beaten off.
The Rhodians were most dismayed by the sambuca, which was moved against
the wall where the temple of Isis stands. It was operating with weapons of various
kinds, both rams and projectiles. Soldiers in numerous small boats circled around
it with ladders, ready to mount the wall by means of it. Nevertheless the Rhodians
awaited its attack with firmness. Finally the sambuca collapsed of its own weight,
and an apparition of Isis was seen hurling a great mass of fire down upon it.
Mithridates despaired of his undertaking and retired from Rhodes. (Appian, Mith. 4.22)
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Hellenion (holy place in Naucratis), founded jointly by the Ionian cities of Chios, Teos, Phocaea, and Clazomenae, the Dorian cities of Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus, and Phaselis, and one Aeolian city, Mytilene.
Greek trading establishment founded by the Rhodians in NE Spain, 18 km E of Figueras. According to an ancient tradition recorded by Scymnus and Strabo, it was probably founded when the Rhodian thalassocracy, the rival of the Phoenicians, achieved its maximum expansion in the W Mediterranean (Balearics, Catalan coasts of Iberia, Gulf of Leon) at the end of the 9th or the beginning of the 8th c. In any event the colony was founded before the First Olympiad, or before 776 B.C. Much Rhodian material, although dating a century later, has also been found in S France.
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Graeco-Roman city founded ca. 582 B.C. by Rhodio-Cretan colonists from Gela led by Aristonoos and Pystilos.
Among the hills some 6.5 km N-NW of Kumluca. According to Theopompos the city was named after Rhode, daughter of Mopsos; this however is no more than the usual eponymous fabrication, and the foundation from Rhodes which the name implies is generally accepted. Its existence in the 4th c. B.C.
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
About 11 km SE of Kumluca. First mentioned by pseudo-Skylax in the 4th c. B.C. The foundation was attributed to Rhodes; according to the story certain Rhodian sailors arriving in Lycia called out "ga, ga", either as a request to the natives for land or on sighting land in a storm; they then founded a city and called it Gagai.
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A Messapic city ca. 2 km SW of Lupiae (Lecce), in a low-lying area called La Cupa. Although it is frequently mentioned by ancient writers, who call it the birthplace of the poet Ennius, nothing precise is known of its origins. Strabo thought it was founded by the Rhodians, who, together with colonists from Crete, appear to have colonized the Salentine peninsula, according to a tradition handed down by Herodotos.
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A Sikel city mentioned by Diodoros, Plutarch, Cicero, and Pliny. From Diodoros we learn that it was 100 stades from Agyrion. It was colonized by Rhodio-Cretans, who brought with them the cult of the Great Mother.
About 1 km W of Kumluca. The city is recorded by Hekataios and by several later writers. Pliny calls it a city of the Rhodians; and probably, like its neighbors Rhodiapolis, Gagai, and Phaselis, it was founded from Rhodes.
Both Siris and the Sybaris which is on the Teuthras were founded by the Rhodians.
On the E coast of Lycia, 50 km S-SW of Antalya. Founded according to tradition in 690 B.C. by the Rhodians
Since that time, also, they (the Rhodians) have sailed as far as Iberia; and there they founded Rhodes, of which the Massaliotes later took possession; among the Opici they founded Parthenope; and among the Daunians they, along with the Coans, founded Elpiae
Since that time, also, they (the Rhodians) have sailed as far as Iberia; and there they founded Rhodes, of which the Massaliotes later took possession; among the Opici they founded Parthenope; and among the Daunians they, along with the Coans, founded Elpiae.
A Rhodian deme in Caria 11 km S of Marmaris, probably attached to the city of Lindos.
Bybassos was among the more important of the Rhodian mainland demes, and the demotic is frequent in the inscriptions.
Amnistos was a Rhodian deme attached to the city of Kamiros.
A deme of the incorporated Rhodian Peraea, mentioned by Pomponius Mela
City in Caria 27 km SW of Marmaris, a deme of the incorporated Rhodian Peraea, attached to the city of Kamiros.
A conspicuous peak in Caria, 9 km N of Marmaris, where the remains are probably those of a Peraean deme of Rhodes attached to the city of Kamiros
Town in Caria, the most important deme of the Rhodian Peraea, attached to the city of Lindos.
Sister-wife of Mausolus. When the Rhodians attacked Halikarnassos in an attempt to take Caria, Artemisia defeated them, embarked her own soldiers and oarsmen in the ships of the Rhodians and set forth for Rhodes. conquered the island, and gained possession of some Greek cities on the mainland. After taking Rhodes and killing its leading men, put up in the city of Rhodes a trophy of her victory, including two bronze statues, one representing the state of the Rhodians, the other herself.
Rhodes was the chief naval power of the Mediterranean during the last three centuries before Christ: its power was broken B.C. 42, at its capture by Cassius.
1224 - 1246
1246 - 1250
1250 - 1261
1283 - 1306
1306 - 22/12/1522
The Genoas sold the island to the Knights of the Order of St. John
4/5/1912 - 1943
In the war of certain Cretan cities supported by Macedon against Rhodes and her allies (204-201), the powerful Hierapytnian fleet, which was probably active in piracy, attacked Kos and Kalymnos. After the war the city changed sides and made a treaty with Rhodes (201-200), indicating that Rhodes needed her support in suppressing piracy.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
