Evening star., 1924-06-28
RHODESLED TRADE
Of ANCIENT TIMES
City of Crusading Knights
Was Business and Colo
/ niaI Center for Greeks.

'Rhodes-the city and island Of
the Colossus
$50" says bulletin from the head
quarters of the National Geographic
Society, ideas follow one another
in most minds whenever Rhodes Is
mentioned, proving that one of the
greatest of modern industries. ad-
vertising. has it's roots in antiquity.
For this civic monument of Rh
stood only ffty-six years. yet 1t ad-
vertised the city 50 well that it has
identified Rhodes for the twenty
centuries since it fell"
The bulletin goes on to describe
this island in the eastern Mediter-
ranean Sea, scene of a recent con-
centration of Italian troops.
geographically is to describe 1T as
the largest of the Dodecanese Islands.
1t is the most eastward of the great
group of isles and islets that pepper
in the Mediterranan lie only tiny
coastal islets, like Kastelorizo, and
the one big island, cyprus. or al
the islands east of the Grecian
peninsula only Cyprus and Crete ex-
ceed Rhodes in size.
Rhodes was in the favored loca-
tion of it's day, at the crossing of
the marine highways between By
hand, and on the other Egypt. south
eastern Asia Minor and Syria, gate
way to the east. Inevitably great
maritime and commercial community
grew up on Rhodes; it took the torch
of Mediterranean commerce from
Phoenicia to pass 1T on later to By
zantium, Rome, Genoa and Venice
1t seems natural enough to find old
Greek and Roman historians refer
ring literally to the Rhodes of the
third and second centuries before
Christ as the distributing center of
the Levant. 1t would hardly be sur
phraseology to find 'letterheads' Of
the Rhodian Chamber of Commerce of
that day with the truthful enough
slogan: Rhodes trade territory is the
world Rhodes was a world center
in still another way. for in the days
of Ptolemy the eeographer, it was
taken as the initial point for longi-
tude as Greenwich is today.
LAS a result of Rhodes dominant
commercial position, its laws and
coinage were the standards of their
day throughout the Mediterranean.
The Rhodians. too, were colonizers
shores Of Asia Minor, Africa, Greece,
Italy and even Spain.
Rebuilt by Relief Fund.
Incident after incident crops up in
Rhodian history to tie Rhodes to the
ways of today. Like Washington. the
City of Rhodes was laid out, on it's
establishment in 408 B. c., according
to an ordered plan, by an architec-
tural engineer-Hippodam of Mi
letus. The new. city was given a sort
of commission form of government
consisting of group of six execu-
tives. When Rhodes was destroyed
by earthquake in 227 B. c. it received
the practical sympathy of its world
as Toxic did in 1928; relief funds
were sent from all the Hellenic states
to repair the damage Even the great
Colossus was victory statue made
of enemy catapaults and other war
engines-the gun metal of the day.
Perhaps the most picturesque era
in Rhodes history was from 1903 to
1922, when it was the stronghold OF
and the bulwark of Christendom
against the Moslems. The old GREGG
city had practically disappeared when
the knights came and they built
tions and towers. and stanch stone
dwellings. They evacuated the city
to the Turks in 1922. but the deep
marks their two centuries of occu-
pancy left remain today. 1t is doubt
ful if in all Europe is to be found
more perfect example of a European
fortified city of the fifteenth century
than is to be seen in Rhodes, geo
graphically and climatically the
quintessence of the near east.
In the city's main thoroughfare,
the Street of the knights, are the
same fine old windows. even if most
of them are disfigured by superim-
posed lattices to shield harem ladies
from unauthorized view. Built into
the walls of the old knights resi-
dences are the coats-of- arms of some
of the most famous noble families Of
Europe.
mo trace of Rhodes famous Colos-
suS remains today. This bronze
statue, more than a hundred feet
high, which ranked as one of the
seven wonders of the world. was top
pied over by an earthquake in 224
B. c. The pieces lay where they had
fallen for nearly 500 years, when a
more ignominious fate overlook them
They were sold to junk dealer"