Prehistory During the
Late Pleistocene, the island was inhabited by an unnamed aliens of
dwarf elephant. The island has been inhabited by humans since at least the late
Neolithic, as evidenced by remains found at Kalythies cave on the northeast of the island.
Early Bronze Age At the end of the
3rd millennium BC, during the Early
Bronze Age, major urban settlements began to develop on Rhodes, such as Asomatos, which is the earliest known urban centre on the island. Duck shaped vases found at Asomatos suggest contact with Cyprus as well as elsewhere in the Aegean region during this time.
Middle Bronze Age Minoan period The
Minoan Civilisation established a settlement at Tiranda on the northwest of the island during the
16th century BC, presumably to facilitate trade.
Late Bronze Age Mycenaean period In the 15th century BC,
Mycenaean Greeks invaded. After the
Bronze Age collapse, the first renewed outside contacts were with
Cyprus. In Greek legend, Rhodes was claimed to have participated in the
Trojan War under the leadership of
Tlepolemus.
Iron Age , Rhodes, 590–575 BC In the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form, with the coming of the
Dorians, who built the three important cities of
Lindus,
Ialysus and
Camirus, which together with
Kos,
Cnidus and
Halicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-called
Dorian Hexapolis (Greek for six cities). In
Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of
Helios the sun god and the nymph
Rhodos, and the cities were named for their three sons. The
rhoda is a pink
hibiscus, native to the island.
Diodorus Siculus added that
Actis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, travelled to
Egypt. He built the city of
Heliopolis and taught the Egyptians
astrology. In the second half of the 8th century BC, the sanctuary of Athena received votive gifts that are markers for cultural contacts: small ivories from the Near East and bronze objects from Syria. At
Kameiros on the northwest coast, a former Bronze Age site, At the site where the temple was established in the 8th century BC, archaeologists have identified an additional contemporaneous sequence of carved ivory figurines. The cemeteries of Kameiros and Ialyssos have also produced several notable examples of Orientalizing Rhodian jewelry, which are generally dated to the 7th and early 6th centuries BC.
Classical Age Classical period Being the eastern gate to the
Aegean Sea, Rhodes was an important stopping point for
Phoenician merchants, and prosperous trading colonies and Phoenician communities emerged there, some within the Greek cities. The
Persians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces from
Athens in 478 BC. The Rhodian cities joined the
Athenian League. When the
Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and decided to go their own way. In 408 BC, the cities
united to form one territory. They built the
city of Rhodes, a new capital on the northern end of the island. Its regular plan was, according to
Strabo, superintended by the Athenian architect
Hippodamus. In 357 BC, the island was conquered by the king
Mausolus of
Caria; then it fell again to the Persians in 340 BC. Their rule was also short. Rhodes then became a part of the growing empire of
Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.
Hellenistic Rhodes , as depicted in an artist's impression of 1880 Following the
death of Alexander the Great, his generals (
Diadochi) vied for control of the kingdom. Three —
Ptolemy,
Seleucus, and
Antigonus — succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in
Alexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center; its coins circulated nearly everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature and
rhetoric shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetorician
Aeschines, who formed a school at Rhodes;
Apollonius of Rhodes, who wrote about
Jason and
Medea in the
Argonautica; the observations and works of the astronomers
Hipparchus and
Geminus; and the rhetorician
Dionysius Thrax. Its school of sculptors developed, under
Pergamese influence, a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as "
Hellenistic Baroque".
Agesander of Rhodes, with two other Rhodian sculptors, carved the famous
Laocoön group, now in the
Vatican Museums, and the
large sculptures rediscovered at Sperlonga in the villa of
Tiberius, probably in the early
Imperial period. In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son,
Demetrios Poliorketes, to
besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with
Ptolemaic Egypt. Demetrius created huge
siege engines, including a
battering ram and a
siege tower called
Helepolis that weighed . Despite this engagement, in 304 BC after only one year, he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god,
Helios, the statue since called the
Colossus of Rhodes. The Rhodians celebrated in honour of Helios a grand festival, the
Halieia. Throughout the 3rd century BC, Rhodes attempted to secure its independence and commerce, particularly its virtual control over the
grain trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Both of these goals depended on none of the three great Hellenistic states achieving dominance. Consequently, the Rhodians pursued a policy of maintaining a balance of power among the
Antigonids,
Seleucids, and
Ptolemies, even if that meant going to war with its traditional ally,
Ptolemaic Egypt. To this end, they employed their economy and their excellent navy as leverage, which was manned by proverbially the finest sailors in the Mediterranean world: “If we have ten Rhodians, we have ten ships.” The Rhodians also established their dominance on the shores of
Caria across from their island, which became known as the "
Rhodian Peraia". It extended roughly from the modern city of
Muğla (ancient
Mobolla) in the north and
Kaunos bordering
Lycia in the south, near the present-day
Dalyan, Turkey. Rhodes successfully carried on this policy through the course of the third century BC, an impressive achievement for what was essentially a democratic state. By the end of that period, however, the balance of power was crumbling, as declining Ptolemaic power made Egypt an attractive target for Seleucid ambitions. In 203/2 BC the young and dynamic kings of
Antigonid Macedon and
Seleucid Empire,
Philip V and
Antiochus III, agreed to accept—at least temporarily—their respective military ambitions: Philip's
campaign in the Aegean and
western Anatolia and Antiochus's plan for Egypt. Heading a coalition of small states, the Rhodians
checked Philip's navy, but not his superior army. Without a third power to which to turn, the Rhodians (along with ambassadors from the
kingdom of Pergamum, the
Ptolemaic kingdom, and Athens) appealed in 201 BC to the
Roman Republic. of Rhodes, 88/42 BC. Obverse: radiate head of
Helios. Reverse:
rose,
"rhodon" (ῥόδον), the symbol of Rhodes. Despite being exhausted by the
Second Punic War against
Hannibal (218–201 BC) the Romans agreed to intervene, still angry over the Macedonian alliance with Carthage that had led to the
First Macedonian War from 214 to 205 BC. The Senate saw the appeal from Rhodes and her allies as the opportunity to pressure Philip. The result was the
Second Macedonian War (200–196 BC), which Rome won and greatly reduced Macedon's power, prestige, and territory. Rhodian independence was preserved. Rhodian influence in the Aegean was cemented through the organization of the
Cyclades into the
Second Nesiotic League under Rhodian leadership. The Romans withdrew from Greece after the end of the conflict, but the resulting power vacuum quickly drew in Antiochus III and subsequently the Romans. The
Roman–Seleucid War lasted from 192 to 188 BC with Rome, Rhodes, Pergamon, and other Roman-allied Greek states defeated the Seleucids and their allies, the last Mediterranean power that might even vaguely threaten Roman dominance. Having provided Rome with valuable naval help in her first foray into Asia, the Rhodians were rewarded with territory and enhanced status by the
Treaty of Apamea (188 BC). The Romans once again evacuated the east – the Senate preferred clients to provinces – but it was clear that Rome now ruled the Mediterranean and Rhodian autonomy was ultimately dependent upon good relations with them. Those good graces soon evaporated in the wake of the
Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). In 169 BC, during the war against
Perseus, Rhodes sent
Agepolis as ambassador to the consul
Quintus Marcius Philippus, and then to Rome in the following year, hoping to turn the Senate against the war. Rhodes remained scrupulously neutral during the war, but in the view of hostile elements in the Senate she had been a bit too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some actually proposed declaring war on the island republic, but this was averted.
Roman period In 164 BC, Rhodes became a "permanent ally" of Rome, which was essentially a reduction to
client state of nominal but meaningless independence. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves. After surrendering its independence, Rhodes became a cultural and educational center for Roman noble families. It was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as
Hermagoras and the unknown author of
Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first, the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics.
Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city in 43 BC. In the early Imperial period Rhodes became a favorite place for political exiles. In the 1st century AD, the Emperor
Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes. By tradition,
Paul the Apostle evangelized and helped establish an
early Christian church on the island during the first century. In ancient times there was a Roman saying: "
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!"—"Here is Rhodes, jump here!" (as translated from Ancient Greek "Αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ Ῥόδος καὶ πήδημα"), an admonition to prove one's idle boasts by deed, rather than boastful talk. It comes from an
Aesop's fable called "
The Boasting Traveller" and was cited by
Hegel,
Marx, and
Kierkegaard.
Middle Ages Byzantine period In 395 with the division of the
Roman Empire, the long
Byzantine period began for Rhodes. In
Late Antiquity, the island was the capital of the
Roman province of the
Islands, headed by a
praeses (
hegemon in Greek), and encompassing most of the
Aegean islands, with twenty cities. Correspondingly, the island was also the
metropolis of the ecclesiastical province of Cyclades, with eleven
suffragan sees. Beginning from ca. 600 AD, its influence in maritime issues was manifested in the collection of
maritime laws known as "
Rhodian Sea Law" (
Nomos Rhodion Nautikos), accepted throughout the Mediterranean and in use throughout Byzantine times (and influencing the development of
admiralty law up to the present). In 622/3, during the climactic
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Rhodes was captured by the
Sasanian navy. Rhodes was occupied by the Islamic
Umayyad forces of Caliph
Muawiyah I in 654, who carried off the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes. The island was again captured by the Arabs in 673 as part of their
first attack on Constantinople. When their fleet was destroyed by
Greek fire before Constantinople and by storms on its return trip, however, the Umayyads evacuated their troops in 679/80 as part of the Byzantine–Umayyad peace treaty. In 715 the Byzantine fleet dispatched against the Arabs launched a rebellion at Rhodes, which led to the installation of
Theodosios III on the Byzantine throne. From the early 8th to the 12th centuries, Rhodes belonged to the
Cibyrrhaeot Theme of the Byzantine Empire, and was a centre for shipbuilding and commerce. Rhodes was recaptured by the Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos during the
First Crusade. As Byzantine central power weakened under the
Angeloi emperors (1185–1204), in the first half of the 13th century, Rhodes became the centre of an independent domain under
Leo Gabalas and his brother
John, In the 19th century the island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews, whose presence goes back 2,300 years. as witnessed by stamps with
Franz Joseph's head.
Italian period In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Ottomans during the
Italo-Turkish War. Being under Italian administration, the island's population was thus spared the
"exchange of the minorities" between Greece and
Turkey. Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese Islands were assigned to Italy in the Treaty of Ouchy. Although the treaty stipulated that the islands were to be returned to Turkey, the advent of
World War I prevented this from happening. Turkey ceded them officially to Italy with the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne. It then became the core of their possession of the ''
Isole Italiane dell'Egeo''. Thousands of
Italian colonists settled in the island, mainly in the capital "Rodi", while some of them founded farm villages (like "Peveragno Rodio" (1929), "Campochiaro" (1935), "San Marco" (1936) and "Savona" (1938): in 1940 the creation of the "
Provincia italiana di Rodi" in the Dodecanese islands was officially proposed. In the late 1930s, Mussolini embarked on a program of
Italianization, attempting to make the island of Rhodes a transportation hub that would facilitate the spread of Italian culture in
Greece and the
Levant. The
Fascist program coincided with improvements to infrastructure, building imposing buildings such as the Hotel Rodon, the Puccini Theater and many administrative buildings with master architects such as
Armando Bernabiti and
Florestano Di Fausto. While the government worked at modernization, they also obliterated many historical buildings that did not match their ideal of a modern society. The island suffered through many "governors" appointed by the Italian government. As part of this, in 1938, the "Leggi razziali" (Racial Laws) were passed, mimicking the footsteps of the antisemitic policies promoted in other European countries. All Jews who served in the government, including the military, were forced to resign, school children were forced to abandon their studies, and all commerce that included any dealings with Jews was forbidden.
WWII Following the
Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides. This was anticipated by the
German Army, which succeeded in occupying the island with the
Battle of Rhodes. In great measure, the German occupation caused the British failure in the subsequent
Dodecanese Campaign. After September 1943, the Jews were sent to concentration camps. However, the
Turkish Consul
Selahattin Ülkümen succeeded, at considerable risk to himself and his family, in saving 42 Jewish families, about 200 persons in total, who had Turkish citizenship or were members of Turkish citizens' families. On 8 May 1945, the Germans under
Otto Wagener surrendered Rhodes as well as the Dodecanese as a whole to the British, who soon after then occupied the islands as a military protectorate.
Contemporary period At the
Paris Peace Treaties, Rhodes, together with the other islands of the
Dodecanese, was united with
Greece in February 1947. 6,000 Italian colonists were forced to abandon the island and returned to Italy. In 1949, Rhodes was the venue for negotiations between
Israel and
Egypt,
Jordan,
Lebanon, and
Syria, concluding with the
1949 Armistice Agreements. In 2023, the island was hit by the
2023 Greece wildfires, which forced the largest evacuations in the history of Greece. Nearly 19,000 people had to evacuate. ==Geography==