I - 54 : Rhodes - Ancient Armed Neutrality

Aerial View of Rhodes - at the Back the Ancient Acropollis with Stadion & Temple of Apollo

Never underestimate the power of a Map. In my search for the seize of Xerxes' fleet (blog I - 117), I found by chance a map of ancient Rhodes. The map is not dated. It is in German and shows ancient Rhodes which was five times bigger than I expected. I got used to the idea that Rhodes by 300 BC was about the same size as Knidos or Kaunas which we visited several times. Lo and behold, my assumption was incorrect. Ancient Rhodes was a big town with 80’000 people – quite big given that powerful Athens had 200’000 inhabitants.

Ancient and Medieval Rhodes - The Ports dominate the East - the Acropolis the West

Little of the ancient town survived due to continued settlement. Several earthquakes also took their toll. Most destructive were probably the Knights of Saint John who fortified the capital with sophisticated town walls. The double walls with their bastions consumed an enormous amount of material. The Knights were few. Am sure they used the remains of ancient Rhodes as quarry. They did the same in Bodrum where the marble blocks of the Mausoleum, one of the 7 Wonders of the World, ended up as walls for the castle of Saint Peter. The acropolis, stadion and theatre are the few ruins which survived. They are to the west of the medieval town.

The Empire of Antigonus was later absorbed by the Seleucids and the Ptolemy

The size of the town made me wonder how Rhodes earned a living. Turned out that they inherited the Egyptian grain trade from the Phoenicians after the death of Alexander. Athens, which never could support the seize of its population, depended – like Rome two hundred years later – on imported grain. With their silver, Athens bought grain from the Kingdom of Bosporus on the Sea of Azov (today Ukraine), Magna Graecia (Sicily, Calabria and Puglia) and Egypt. Due to the Nile’s regular flooding, Egypt had three harvest and was the cheapest supplier. Of course, the grain freighters carried also many other goods from Egypt. Rhodes became an important trading place. Apparently, the town's import tax yielded 1 million drachmas per year which translates into 50 million of trade value (the tax was 2%). One Drachma was 1.5 cm wide and weighted 2.92 grams. The total trade value was thus 146 tons of silver.

Silver Drachma from 192 BC with Sun God Helios

Rhodes could defend its role as dominant grain trader thanks to the never ending wars between Alexander’s successor states: The Seleucids (Persia, Iraq and Syria) and Ptolemy (Egypt). Whilst its trade necessitated good relationships with Egypt, Rhodes remained strictly neutral between these two powers . Demetrius' failed siege of Rhodes in 304 BC - celebrated with the Colossus of Rhodes - confirmed its neutrality. As long as the Seleucids and the Ptolemy held each other in check, Rhodes could defend its armed independence. Of course, the mighty town walls and the big fleet came at a cost. According to several sources, Rhodes had 40 - 50 triemiolias which means that almost 10’000 sailors were permanently on duty. The triemiolia was 20% lighter than a trireme and had only 140 rowers on 2 1/2 benches. It was a highly manoeverable ship though and gave the Rhodesian Navy its excellent reputation.

A life-sized Carving of a Triemolia at the Entrance of the Acropolis of Lindos in Rhodes

With its strong navy, Rhodes was able to protect its commercial vessels which criss-crossed the eastern Mediterranean from pirates. We should not forget that both, the Ptolemy and the Seleucids used assymetric war to damage their opponent. In plain english: they engaged local pirates to pray on commercial vessels. These pirates were not the desperate adventurers shown in today’s movies but local chiefs who operated their small flotillas from fortified ports. We visited some of these holdouts last year (blog H + 3). The operations of these  “pirates” can be compared to the exploits of Sir Francis Drake, one of England’s Naval heros – and in Spanish eyes the worst pirate in history. A replica of his “Golden Hind” now floats as museum in the Thames in London. History is always written by the victors.

Ancient Stadium, Odeon and Acropolis in Rhodos, built in 408 BC when the Island unified

Rhodes could maintain its neutrality until the Roman – Seleucid war from 192 – 188 BC. During that war, Rhodes provided Rome with valuable intelligence and naval support. In the Treaty of Apanea in 188 BC, Rhodes was richly awarded with territory in Caria. The honey moon lasted less than 20 years though. During the following Third Macedonian War from 171 – 168 BC, Rhodes was - in Roman eyes - far too neutral and stripped of its commerial privileges. It was relegated to permanent ally of Rome – read vassal state. The Romans rerouted commerce to other islands (Delos), the island’s income dropped by 80%, Rhodes had to give up its valuable fleet.

Rhodes got a short term Award from Rome for giving up its Neutrality - it did not last

Whether the rise of the Cilician pirates, who terrorised the seas for the next 100 years, is related to the withdrawl of the Rhodisian triemolias, is difficult to say. Rome had to send its Pompey in 67 BC with 270 ships and 200’000 men to eradicate them – a force significantly larger than the 50 ships Rhodes could have dispatched. By the time of Pompey’s campaign, Rhodes was a Roman province - all but by name. it would later become a center of learning and a place where Emperors exiled their opponents to. Life was easy on Rhodes and the island was sufficiently far away from Rome to isolate the exilees.  

Don't know if Rhodes could have survived had it maintained its neutrality between the "big elefants". The short-term advantage for giving it up to Rome looked compelling at the time. The benefits lasted only for 17 years though. The damage forever.