Rhodes

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Ρόδος)

When St. Paul, in his voyage from Troas to Caesarea, touched at the island of Rhodes ( Acts 21:1), 12 miles from the S. W. corner of Asia Minor, he was in sight, if only for an evening and morning, of a beautiful city which was for centuries the capital of one of the noblest free States of ancient Greece. ‘With regard to harbours, roads, walls, and other buildings, it so far surpasses other cities, that we know of none equal, much less superior to it’ (Strabo, xiv. ii. 5). Highly favoured by Nature-‘the sun shines every day in Rhodes,’ said an ancient proverb (Pliny, Historia Naturalis (Pliny)ii. 62)-it owed still more to the naval enterprise, political wisdom, commercial integrity, and artistic genius of its people. On an amphitheatre of hills it was as carefully planned in 404 b.c.-by Hippodamus of Miletus, who also laid out the Piraeus-as a modern garden-city. Occupying so central a position in the world that geographers reckoned from it their parallels of latitude and longitude, it succeeded in making itself a focus of the traffic of three continents. After the time of Alexander the Great, it was the first naval power in the aegean, and its code of mercantile law was regarded as an ideal for all other States. Its opulence was merited by its humanity. ‘The Rhodians, although their form of government is not democratic, are attentive to the welfare of the people, and endeavour to maintain the multitude of the poor.… There are public officers in the State, the function of whom is to procure and distribute provisions, so that the poor may obtain subsistence, and the city not suffer for want of persons to serve her, especially in manning her fleets’ (Strabo, loc. cit.).

Such a commercial centre naturally attracted a colony of Jews, and about 139 b.c. Rhodes was one of the many free States to which Rome is said to have addressed a letter in favour of that race ( 1 Maccabees 15:23). Rhodes alternately benefited by the deserved favour and suffered from the unworthy jealousy of the Romans. For assisting them in their war against Antiochus the Great, she received (189 b.c.) a large part of Lycia and Caria, but when she began to be dreaded as a possible rival of Rome itself, she was not only shorn of these possessions, but nearly ruined in her commerce by the raising of her rival Delos into a free port. In the Mithridatic war her services to Rome were again so signal, and she won so much glory by successfully resisting a great siege (88 b.c.), that she recovered some of her lost territory and all her former prestige. Finally, however, for taking Caesar’s part in the Civil War, she was so severely punished by Cassius, who robbed her of whole fleet (43 b.c.), that she never again attained her old prosperity. Vespasian made the island a part of the province of Lycia.

Rhodes was the city of the famous Colossus. Two specimens of her art are the Laocoon and the Toro Farnese. Her coins, with the Sun-god on the one side and the Rose on the other, are among the most beautiful in existence. Rhodes acquired a new fame in the Middle Ages as the home, for two centuries, of the Knights of St. John.

Literature.-J. P. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought2, 1896, ch. xv., Alexander’s Empire, 1887, ch. xx.; C. Torr, Rhodes in Ancient Times, 1885; H. van Gelder, Geschichte der alten Rhodier, 1900.

James Strahan.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

RHODES was one of the most important and successful cities in ancient Greece. It was founded in b.c. 408, at the N.E. corner of the island of the same name, which   Isaiah 43 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest. The situation was admirable, and the people were able to take advantage of it and to build up a splendid position in the world of commerce. It reached the summit of its success in the 2nd cent. b.c., after the settlement with Rome in 189 made it mistress of great part of Caria and Lycia. Rome’s trade interests were seriously interfered with by this powerful rival, and in b.c. 166 Rome declared the Carian and Lycian cities independent, and made Delos a free port. Its conspicuous loyalty to Rome during the first Mithradatic War was rewarded by the recovery of part of its former Carian possessions. It took the side of Cæsar in the civil war, although most of the East supported Pompey, and suffered successive misfortunes, which reduced it to a common provincial town, though it remained a free city in St. Paul’s time, and retained its fine harbours, walls, streets, and stores. St. Paul touched here on his way from Troas to Cæsarea (  Acts 21:1 ), as it was a regular port of call on that route. Rhodes is mentioned in 1Ma 15:23 as one of the free States to which the Romans sent letters in favour of the Jews.   Ezekiel 27:15 , according to the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , reads ‘sons of the Rhodians’: this is an error; the mention of them in   Genesis 10:4 (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ) and   1 Chronicles 1:7 (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ) is probably correct. The famous Colossus was a statue of the sun-god at the harbour entrance, 105 feet high. It stood only from b.c. 280 to 224.

A. Souter.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Rhodes. (Rosy). A celebrated island in the Mediterranean Sea. (It is triangular in form, 60 miles long from north to south, and about 18 wide. It is noted now, as in ancient times, for its delightful climate and the fertility of its soil. The city of Rhodes, its capital, was famous for its huge brazen statue of Apollo, called the Colossus of Rhodes. It stood at the entrance of the harbor, and was so large that ships in full sail could pass between its legs. - Editor).

Rhodes is immediately opposite the high Carian and Lycian headlands, at the southwest extremity of the peninsula of Asia Minor. Its position had much to do with its history. Its real eminence began about 400 B.C. with the founding of the city of Rhodes, at the northeast extremity of the island, which still continues to be the capital. After Alexander's death, it entered on a glorious period, its material prosperity being largely developed, and its institutions deserving and obtaining general esteem. We have notice of the Jewish residents in Rhodes in  1 Maccabees 15:23.

The Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus, assigned, during some time, to Rhodes, certain districts on the mainland. Its Byzantine history is again eminent. Under Constantine, it was the metropolis of the "Province of the Islands;" it was the last place where the Christians of the East held out against the advancing Seracens; and subsequently, it was once more famous as the home and fortress of the Knights of St. John. (It is now reduced to abject poverty. There are two cities - Rhodes, the capital and Lindus - and forty or fifty villages. The population, according to Turner is 20,000, of whom 6000 are Turks and the rest Greeks, together with a few Jews).

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A large island of the Aegean sea, mentioned in Paul's third missionary journey to Jerusalem; he passed it apparently without landing ( Acts 21:1). The day before he was at Cos, an island on the N.W. From Rhodes he went eastward to Patara in Lycia. The wind was probably, as often in the Levant, blowing from N.W. SW of Asia Minor, having Caria to the N. and Lycia to the E. The people were honorable, upright, and prudent; famed for mercantile pursuits. Its temple to the sun, and the colossus, a statue of Apollo, 105 ft. high, executed by Chares of Lindos, a native artist, 288 B.C. were famous. The coins bear on the obverse the head of Apollo as the sun (The Proverb Said The Sun Shone Every Day On Rhodes) , on the reverse the rose from which Rhodes takes its name. The capital is at the N.E. of the island. It was the last spot where the Christians of the East held out against the advancing Saracens, and was subsequently noted as the home and fortress of the knights of John.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An island and a famous city in the Levant, the ancient name of which was Ophiusa. Its modern name alludes to the great quantity and beauty of the roses that grew there. The island is about forty miles long and fifteen wide; its mountains are well wooded, and its valleys highly fertile. The city of Rhodes, at the northeast extremity of the island, was one of the most celebrated of the Greek cities. It was famous for its brazen Colossus, which was one hundred and five feet high, made by Chares of Lyndus: it stood at the mouth of the harbor of the city, on sixty marble columns, and continued perfect only fifty-six years, being thrown down by an earthquake, under the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes king of Egypt, who began to reign B.C. 244. When Paul went to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, he visited Rhodes,  Acts 21:1 . Modern Rhodes is a Turkish walled town of 15,000 inhabitants, and considerable commerce. The air of Rhodes is proverbially pure, and its climate serene.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

an island lying south of the province of Caria, in Lesser Asia, and, among the Asiatic islands, is accounted for dignity next to Cyprus and Lesbos. It is pleasant and healthful, and was anciently celebrated for the skill of its inhabitants in navigation, but most, for its prodigious statue of brass consecrated to the sun, and called the Colossus. This statue was seventy cubits high, and bestrode the mouth of the harbour, so that ships could sail between its legs, and it was accounted one of the seven wonders of the world. St. Paul, on his way to Jerusalem, A.D. 58, went from Miletus to Coos, from Coos to Rhodes, and from thence to Patara, in Lycia,  Acts 21:1 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Rhodes ( Rôdz ), A Rose. A noted island in the Mediterranean, 13 miles from the coast of Asia Minor. Paul visited it on his return from his third missionary journey.  Acts 21:1. He might have there seen fragments of the greatest of the Seven Wonders of the world—the famous Colossus of Rhodes. This was made of brass, and was 105 feet high. It stood at the right of the port as vessels entered, and not astride the channel, as so generally represented in pictures. It was erected b.c. 290, and overthrown by an earthquake b.c. 224. The modern city Is a place of considerable trade.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

An island lying near the S.W. corner of Asia Minor.  Acts 21:1 . It was at one time a place of great renown. It still bears the same name.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:4 Ezekiel 27:15 Acts 21:1

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 21:1

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Copyright StatementThese files are public domain. Bibliography InformationMcClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Rhodes'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedi

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

rōdz ( Ῥόδος , Rhódos ): An island (and city) in the Aegean Sea, West of Caria, rough and rocky in parts, but well watered and productive, though at present not extensively cultivated. Almost one-third of the island is now covered with trees in spite of earlier deforestation. The highest mountains attain an altitude of nearly 4,000 ft. The older names were Ophiusa, Asteria, Trinacria, Corymbia. The capital in antiquity was Rhodes, at the northeastern extremity, a strongly fortitled city provided with a double harbor. Near the entrance of the harbor stood one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - a colossal bronze statue dedicated to Helios. Tiffs colossus, made by Chares about 290 BC, at a cost of 300 talents (,000 in 1915), towered to the height of 104 ft.

In the popular mind - both before and after Shakespeare represented Caesar as bestriding the world like a colossus - this gigantic figure is conceived as an image of a human being of monstrous size with leas spread wide apart, at the entrance of the inner harbor, so huge that the largest ship with sails spread could move in under it; but the account on which this conception is based seems to have no foundation.

The statue was destroyed in 223 Bc by an earthquake. It was restored by the Romans. In 672 Ad the Saracens sold the ruins to a Jew. The quantity of metal was so areat that it would fill the cars of a modern freight train (900 camel loads).

The most ancient cities of Rhodes were Ialysus, Ochyroma, and Lindus. The oldest inhabitants were immigrants from Crete. Later came the Carians. But no real advance in civilization was made before the immigration of the Dorians under Tlepolemus, one of the Heraclidae, and (after the Trojan war) Aethaemanes. Lindus, Ialysus and Camirus formed with Cos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus the so-called Dorian Hexapolis (Six Cities), the center of which was the temple of the Triopian Apollo on the coast of Caria. Rhodes now founded many colonies - in Spain (Rhode), in Italy (Parthenope, Salapia, Sirus, Sybaris), in Sicily (Gela), in Asia Minor (Soli), in Cilicia (Gaaae), and in Lycia (Corydalla). The island attained no political greatness until the three chief cities formed a confederation and rounded the new capital (Rhodes) in 408 BC. In the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, Rhodes sided with the Athenians, but, after 19 years of loyalty to Athens, went over to the Spartans (412 BC). In 394, when Conon appeared with his fleet before the city, the island fell into the hands of the Athenians again. A garrison was stationed at Rhodes by Alexander the Great. After his death this garrison was driven out by the Rhodians. It is at this time that the really great period of the island's history begins. The inhabitants bravely defended their capital against Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304 Bc - the same Demetrius who two years before had won a naval victory and had coins stamped with a "Victory" that is the counterpart of the "Winaed Victory" which commands the unbounded admiration of the modern world - and extended their dominion over a strip of the Carian coast, as well as over several of the neiahboring islands, and for the first time in the history of the world established an international maritime and commercial law. The arts and sciences now began to flourish in the fair island in the southeastern Aegean. Aeschines, the famous orator of Athens, fled to Rhodes after his defeat by Demosthenes, and rounded a school of oratory, which was attended by many Romans. Rhodes became the faithful ally of Rome after the defeat of Antiochus in 189 BC. As a reward for her loyalty she received Caria. In 168, however, only a small portion of this territory remained under Rhodian sway (Peraea, or the Chersonesus). In 42 Bc the island was devastated by Cassius. Later it was made a part of the Roman province of Asia (44 AD). Strabo says that he knows no city so splendid in harbor, walls and streets. When the Roman power declined, Rhodes fell into the hands of Caliph Moawijah, but later was taken by the Greeks, from whom at a later date the Genoese wrested the island. In 1249 John Cantacuzenus attempted to recover Rhodes, but in vain. Finally, however, success crowned the efforts of the Greeks under Theodoros Protosebastos. In 1310 the Knights of John, who had been driven from Palestine, made Rhodes their home. After the subjuaation of the island by Sultan Soliman in 1522 the Knights of John removed to Malta, and Rhodes has remained uninterruptedly a possession of the Sublime Porte down to the recent war between Turkey and the Balkan allies, forming, with the other islands, the province of the "Islands of the White Sea" (Archipelago). It has a Christian governor whose seat, though mostly at Rhodes, is sometimes at Chios. The population of the island has greatly diminished by emigration. In 1890 the total number of inhabitants was 30,000 (20,000 Greeks, 7,000 Mohammedans, 1,500 Jews). The chief products of Rhodes are wheat, oil, wine, figs and tropical fruits. A very important industry is the exportation of sponges. The purity of the air and the mildness of the climate make Rhodes a most delightful place to live in during the fall, winter and early spring. The city, built in the shape of an amphitheater, has a magnificent view toward the sea. It contains several churches made out of old mosques. The once famous harbor is now almost filled with sand. The inhabitants number nearly 12,000 (all Turks and Jews). Rhodes is mentioned in the New Testament only as a point where Paul touched on his voyage southward from the Hellespont to Caesarea ( Acts 21:1 ); but in 1 Macc 15:23 we are informed that it was one of the states to which the Romans sent letters in behalf of the Jews.

Literature.

Berg, Die Insel Rhodes (Braunschweig, 1860-62): Schneiderwirth, Geschichte der Insel Rhodes (Heiligenstadt, 1868); Guerin, L'ile de Rhodes , 2nd edition, Paris, 1880; Biliotti and Cottrel, L'ile de Rhodes (Paris, 1881); Torr, Rhodes in Ancient Times (Cambridge, 1885) and Rhodes in Modern Times (1887).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Rhodes, an island in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Asia Minor, celebrated from the remotest antiquity as the seat of commerce, navigation, literature, and the arts, but now reduced to a state of abject poverty by the devastations of war and the tyranny and rapacity of its Turkish rulers. It is of a triangular form, about forty-four leagues in circumference, twenty leagues long from north to south, and about six broad. It was famed in ancient times, and is still celebrated, for its delightful climate and the fertility of its soil. It contains two cities—Rhodes, the capital, inhabited chiefly by Turks, and a small number of Jews; and the ancient Lindus, now reduced to a hamlet, peopled by Greeks, who are almost all engaged in commerce. Besides these there are five villages occupied by Turks and a small number of Jews; and five towns and forty-one villages inhabited by Greeks. The whole population is estimated at 20,000. The city of Rhodes is famous for its huge brazen statue of Apollo, called Colossus, which stood at the mouth of the harbor, and was so high that ships passed in full sail between its legs. There is not a single vestige of this celebrated work of art now remaining. St. Paul appears to have visited Rhodes while on his journey to Jerusalem, A.D. 58 .

The antiquities of Rhodes reach no farther back than the residence of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The remains of their fine old fortress, of great size and strength, are still to be seen. In modern times Rhodes has been chiefly celebrated as one of the last retreats of this military order, under whom it obtained great celebrity by its heroic resistance to the Turks; but in the time of Solyman the Great a capitulation was agreed upon, and the island was finally surrendered to the Turks, under whom it has since continued.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A Turkish island in the Mediterranean, 12 m. distant from the SW, coast of Asia Minor, area 49 m. by 21 m.; mountainous and woody; has a fine climate and a fertile soil, which produces fruit in abundance, also some grain; it is ill developed, and has a retrogressive population, most of whom are Greeks; sponges, chief export; figures considerably in ancient classic history; was occupied by the Knights Hospitallers of St. John for more than two centuries, and was taken from them by the Turks in 1523.