Search
Search Results
Definition
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic 33-metre-high bronze statue of the sun god Helios which stood by the harbour of that city from c. 280 BCE. Rhodes was then one of the most important trading ports in the ancient Mediterranean and the...
Definition
Rhodes
Rhodes, with an area of 1,400 km², is the largest island in the Greek Dodecanese group located in the south-eastern Aegean. The island was an important protagonist in wider Greek and Mediterranean affairs throughout the Bronze Age, Archaic...
Definition
Helios
Helios (also Helius) was the god of the Sun in Greek mythology. Helios rode a golden chariot which brought the Sun across the skies each day from the east (Ethiopia) to the west (Hesperides). Helios was famously the subject of the Colossus...
Definition
Demetrius I of Macedon
Demetrius I of Macedon, also known as Demetrios Poliorcetes, the 'Besieger' (c. 336 - c. 282 BCE), was a Macedonian king who, along with his father Antigonus I, fought for control of Alexander the Great's empire in the 'Successor Wars'. After...
Article
Philo of Byzantium's On the Seven Wonders
Philo of Byzantium's On the Seven Wonders (225 BCE) is the first known list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (though it may have been based on earlier works now lost). Philo's list differs from the standard Seven Wonders in replacing...
Image
Ancient Rhodes by Frantisek Kupka
An oil painting representing the ancient city of Rhodes by Frantisek Kupka (1906 CE). Probably a realistic representation of the Colossus of Rhodes which was a gigantic bronze statue, 32 metres high, of the island's patron god Helios, the...
Image
Siege of Rhodes, 305-304 BCE
Illustration of the Siege of Rhodes (305-304 BCE) by Zvonimir Grbasic. Courtesy of Ancient Warfare Magazine / Karwansaray Publishers.
Collection
A Collection: 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
In this collection we look in detail at each of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The oldest and only surviving wonder is the Great Pyramid of Giza which held the record for the tallest structure in the world until the 19th century...
Definition
Knights Hospitaller
The Knights Hospitaller was a medieval Catholic military order founded in 1113 CE with the full name of 'Knights of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem'. After their base was relocated to Rhodes in the early 14th century...
Definition
Hellenistic Warfare
When Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE, he left behind an empire devoid of leadership. Without a named successor or heir, the old commanders simply divided the kingdom among themselves. For the next three decades, they fought a lengthy...