Siege of Rhodes The Siege of Rhodes ( 305 BC / 304 BC ) was one of the most notable siege s of antiquity , when Demetrius Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I , besieged Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Ptolemaic Egypt . Background . The island of Rhodes was a mercantile republic with a large navy which controlled the entrance to the Aegean Sea . Rhodes maintained treaties of neutrality with other empires to protect trade . However , they had a close relationship with Ptolemy I and Demetrius was worried Rhodes would supply him with ships . Demetrius also saw the possibility of using Rhodes as a base . The decision to lay siege to Rhodes was influenced by these fears but it was also a piratical enterprise by Demetrius . Much of the Greek and Macedonian world , regardless of whether they were allies of Demetrius or not , apparently also viewed the siege as a pirate attack and sympathized with the Rhodians . As well as a fighting fleet of 200 ships and 150 auxiliary vessels Demetrius also enlisted the aid of many pirate fleets . Over 1 , 000 private trading vessels followed his fleets in anticipation of the plunder success would bring . Siege . The city and main harbour of Rhodes was strongly fortified and Demetrius was unable to prevent supply ships from running his blockade so capturing the harbour was his main priority . He first built his own harbour alongside and constructed a mole from which he deployed a floating spiked boom but Demetrius never succeeded in taking the harbour . At the same time his army ravaged the island and built a huge camp next to the city but just out of missile range . Early in the siege the walls were breached and a number of troops entered the city but they were all killed and Demetrius didn ' t press the attack . The walls were subsequently repaired . Both sides used many technical devices during the siege such as mines and countermines and various siege engines . Demetrius even built the now notable siege tower , known as the Helepolis , in his attempt to take the city . The citizens of Rhodes were successful in resisting Demetrius ; after one year he abandoned the siege and signed a peace agreement ( 304 BC ) which Demetrius presented as a victory because Rhodes agreed to remain neutral in his war with Ptolemy ( Egypt ) . The unpopularity of the siege may have been a factor in its abandonment after only one year . Several years later the Helepolis , which had been abandoned , had its metal plating melted down and , along with the money from selling the remains of the siege engines and equipment left behind by Demetrius , was used to erect a statue of their sun god , Helios , now known as the Colossus of Rhodes , to commemorate their heroic resistance . Popular culture . In 1656 , William Davenant , an Elizabethan and Restoration actor and producer , wrote the first English opera , " The Seige [ sic ] of Rhodes , " based on the incident . The set was designed by John Webb , a pupil of Inigo Jones , an important designer of theatre masques for the Jacobean and Caroline courts . L . Sprague de Camp used the siege and the building of the Colossus in one of his historical novels , " The Bronze God of Rhodes . " Alfred Duggan ' s novel on the life of Demetrius , " Elephants and Castles " , also covers the siege .