RHODES, an island celebrated from the remotest antiquity as the seat of commerce and of naval power, as well as of literature and the arts; but now reduced from its ancient splendour to a state of extreme depression and poverty, by the devastations of war and the tyranny of its Turkish rulers. It is situated in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Asia Minor, and is about twelve leagues long from north to south, and about six broad. It is of a triangular form; and its circumference is commonly estimated at about forty-four leagues.

The island is diversified in its surface, and contains in its centre an elevated mountain named Artemira 1 which commands a view of the whole island. It is so steep that it is impossible to ascend it on horseback, and a person clambering up on foot would not be able to reach the summit in less than four hours. From this height there is a most extensive prospect of the whole island around its base; of the elevated coast of Caramania on the north; on the northwest the Archipelago, studded with its numerous islands; on the south-west is seen Mount Ida, veiled in clouds; and on the south and south-east the vast expanse of waters which wash the African shore. Here and there on the island are seen ranges of moderately elevated hills, on which are found numbers of ancient pines, planted by the hand of nature: these forests were formerly very thick, but they are now greatly thinned by the Turks, who cut them down, and take no care to plant others in their place. On the farther side of this nearest range of hills the surface of the island falls lower, and several hills in the form of amphitheatres extend their bases as far as the sea. In more than half the island [7:19:224]the land slopes towards the sea-shore by a gentle and scarcely perceptible declivity.

Rhodes was famed in ancient times for its delightful climate, and it still maintains its former reputation. The air is pure and salubrious, and there is hardly a day throughout the year in which the sun is not visible. The winds are liable to little variation; they blow from the west often with great violence for nine months in the year, and at other times from the north; and they moderate the summer heats, which are chiefly felt during the months of July and August, when the hot winds blow from the coast of Caramania. There is no frost or snow during the winter, which is uncommonly mild and humid.

Rhodes, in addition to its fine climate, is blessed with a fertile soil, and produces a variety of the finest fruits and vegetables; and if the industry of the inhabitants corresponded to their natural advantages, it might possess all the materials of wealth and commerce. But they have long groaned under the iron rod of Turkish oppression, by which those happy abodes are now converted into scenes of devastation. “The gardens,” says Dr Clarke, ^[1. Travels in Europe and Asia, chap. viii. ] “are filled with delicious fruit. Here, as in Cos, every gale is scented with the most powerful fragrance, which is wafted from groves of orange and citron trees. Numberless aromatic herbs exhale at the same time such profuse odour that the whole atmosphere seems impregnated with a spicy perfume.” A single river, named Candura, which name it gives to the cape in whose vicinity it discharges itself into the sea, waters the interior of the island; but numerous smaller streams and rivulets, which take their rise from the shady summit of Mount Artemira, water the surrounding plains and valleys. The inhabitants have a great taste for gardens; and around the villages are several cultivated fields and orchards, containing fig, pomegranate, and orange trees. The peach-tree, which is said by Pliny to have produced no fruit in his time, is now more fruitful; but the fruit is deficient in flavour, from the inhabitants not knowing the art of ingrafting trees. The palm-tree is as flourishing as in ancient times. In the uncultivated valleys which abound throughout the island, wild roses hang around the foot of the rocks; beds of flowing myrrh perfume the air; laurel roses adorn the banks of the rivulets with their gaudy flowers; and the fertile soil is besides covered with a profusion of weeds and useless plants. Fine trees formerly crowned the highest mountains, the resin from which supplied abundantly the wants of the navy; but they have been generally cut down by the Turks. On the sloping hills fig-trees, carob-trees, and others both useful and agreeable, still grow abundantly: the vine also holds its place, and produces a species of wine which was highly valued by the ancients, and is still extolled on account of its delicacy and perfume. The valleys afford rich pastures, and the plains produce every species of grain: the wheat is of an excellent quality, the ear weighty, and filled with the finest grain, as white as snow, and which makes excellent bread; and, but for the extortions of its barbarian rulers, the island might be the seat of agriculture, as well as commerce, and might export large quantities of corn. But the Turks are lazy and ignorant, and the Greeks are loaded with corvées; and, being further discouraged by the fear of being robbed of the produce of their labours, leave these rich plains unimproved.

There are two cities in the island, namely, Rhodes, the capital, which is inhabited chiefly by Turks, with a small proportion of Jews; and the ancient Lindus, which is now reduced to a hamlet, situated on the east side of the island, nearly in the centre. It is entirely peopled by Greeks, who are almost all employed in commerce; and its har bour, which is far from spacious, is much frequented by the small craft of the country, which thence export the produce of the island, and bring back foreign goods in exchange. A few are employed in rural labours. There are five villages occupied by Turks, and by a small number of Jews; and there are five towns and forty-one villages inhabited by Greeks. According to Savery, the number of families in the island is 7300; namely, of Turks 4700, of Greeks 2500, and of Jews 100. Estimating five persons in each family, the population of the island will amount to 36,500. Turner, on the other hand, a later traveller, estimates the inhabitants at only 20,000; namely, 14,000 Greeks, who are dispersed in forty-two villages, and 6000 Turks, with a small mixture of Jews, chiefly residing in the capital.

Rhodes has long groaned under the despotic rule of the barbarous Turks, By which the people have been impoverished, and the country depopulated. The pachas, to whom is delegated the supreme rule of the grand signior, generally use their authority for the purpose of extortion, and accumulate riches by robbing the unfortunate inhabitants committed to their charge. According to Savery, the revenue in Rhodes is derived from numerous taxes, namely, a poll-tax, a land-tax, the tithe of the crops, a port duty, a tax on houses, cattle, on salt, on vineyards, on wax, at tolls, and the farming of bagnios. But it is of little moment what taxes are established. There is no restraint on the power of the pacha, who seizes on the people’s substance wherever he sees it, and from whose vigilant rapacity no accumulation of property can be concealed. “Ask not,” says Saveryin his letter to his correspondent, “what is become of that powerful people, who, taking advantage of their happy situation, of their forests, harbours, and of the fertility of their soil, crossed the Mediterranean with their victorious fleets. Liberty is no more; and genius and science exist only where they are encouraged by her smile. The Turkish government has filled up the measure of their misfortunes; and a few wretches, without commerce, arts, or industry, because they are without property, wander here and there over the desolated plains of the country of their ancestors.”

The antiquities in Rhodes are not of an earlier date than the residence of the knights of Malta. The remains of their fine old fortress are still to be seen, namely, a venerable moated castle of great size and strength, so fortified as to seem almost impregnable. The cells of the knights are yet entire, forming a street within the works; and near these is the cathedral or chapel, where doors of sycamore wood, curiously carved, are preserved in their original state. The sanctuary has been converted by the Turks into a magazine for military stores. Dr Clarke observed several inscriptions at Rhodes on marble altars of a cylindrical form, adorned with sculptured wreaths and festoons, supported by rams’ heads. Several vases of great antiquity were also dug up in a garden, of which he obtained one with upright handles.

Rhodes was one of the most distinguished states of ancient Greece. Its early history is either lost in the darkness of antiquity, or it is disfigured by fabulous traditions. The Rhodians were early celebrated as expert navigators; but it was not till the time of the Peloponnesian war that they were known as an independent state. The city was afterwards built, and the people were at this time rent into two factions, one of whom favoured the Athenians, the other the Spartans. The latter acquired the ascendency, and an aristocracy was established. The island was afterwards oppressed by Mausolus, king of Caria, and the inhabitants applying to the Athenians, by their assistance regained their liberty. From this period to that of Alexander the Great, the Rhodians enjoyed uninterrupted tran[7:19:225]quillity. They voluntarily submitted to that conqueror, from whom they experienced great favour; but no sooner did they hear of his death than they took up arms against the Macedonian garrisons, and expelled them. About this period the city of Rhodes and the inhabitants suffered severely from a dreadful inundation, which was accompanied with violent showers of rain; and hailstones of an extraordinary size beat down many houses, and killed a number of the inhabitants. By the bursting of the wall the extraordinary accumulation of water was allowed a free passage to the sea, by which the danger was removed. From the effects of this unexpected disaster the Rhodians quickly recovered, by their close application to navigation and trade; and during the wars that took place among Alexander’s successors they observed a strict neutrality, and gradually grew to be one of the most opulent states of the age. They were, however, connected in strict alliance with Ptolemy of Egypt, with whom Antigonus being at war, he demanded succours of them, which they refusing, drew on themselves the full weight of his hostility. He accordingly sent his son Demetrius with an immense armament provided with all sorts of machines for war and sieges, and an army of 40,000 troops, who laid siege to their city. This remarkable siege lasted for a year, and called forth on the part of the Rhodians the most brilliant efforts of valour and patriotism. Demetrius, with all his knowledge of the known resources of war, and all his skill to invent new machines of unheard-of power and magnitude, was finally repulsed, with a prodigious slaughter of his bravest troops, and the loss of his military fame. The Rhodians after this siege applied themselves as before to commerce and navigation, and Rhodes became a flourishing city. In the year 203 before the Christian era the Rhodians were engaged in a war with Philip of Macedon, in which being assisted by the Romans, it was terminated to their advantage. In the wars that followed with the Romans and Antiochus, and afterwards with Mithridates, the Rhodians were useful allies of the former, whom they assisted with their naval power. In the civil wars of Rome they aided Pompey against Caesar; and after his death they joined Caesar, which drew on them the resentment of Cassius, by whom their city was taken and plundered. Their privileges were restored by Marc Antony; but the island was finally reduced into a Roman province during the reign of Vespasian. Rhodes continued under the Roman dominion, and was little heard of in history, till, on the downfall of the eastern empire, the island became one of the last retreats of the knights of Jerusalem, under whose rule it became illustrious by its heroic resistance to the Turkish conquerors, then at the utmost height of their power. They baffled by their valour the efforts of Mahommed II., the conqueror of Constantinople; and they sustained a memorable and sanguinary siege from Solyman the Great, who invested the city with a fleet of 400 sail and 140,000 troops. He was often repulsed by the brave knights with great slaughter; and he only made his way over the ruins of the city by the effect of numbers. A capitulation was at length agreed upon, by which the island was surrendered to the Turks, under whose dominion it has ever since continued.

Rhodes is the capital of the above island, and stands on the site of the ancient city, though it is not above the fourth part of its extent. It is situated to the north-east of the island; and from a distance, its advantageous position at the extremity of a promontory, its magnificent buildings, the strength and solidity of its walls, and its towers planted on rising rocks, still impress an idea of its ancient grandeur. The interior of the city does not correspond to its outward appearance. Those ancient streets which were laid out with such art and on so great a scale, and that uniform series of buildings which were monuments of taste, have been succeeded by narrow winding streets, and buildings without grace, ornament, or regularity. There are still some monuments which testify that the island was once possessed by the knights of Rhodes, namely, their arms, and the several busts of the grand-masters, which were engraved on marble, and still adorn the fronts of several buildings; the walls and towers also bear marks of their heroic resistance to the Ottoman arms. But there is no longer any monument of its grandeur in times of antiquity; there is no theatre, no magnificent temples nor spacious porticos. The statues, colossi, and paintings for which Rhodes was famed in the early ages of Greece and Rome, have all been removed. Not a vestige is to be seen of the colossus described as seventy cubits high, and reckoned one of the wonders of the world. The streets bear everywhere marks of desolation. One half of the houses in the city are in ruins, and one half in the suburbs are uninhabited, though those occupied by the Greek inhabitants are beautiful, consisting of good stone houses, with gardens well stocked with all the fruits of the climate. On the declivity of the neighbouring hills are about 400 country houses, the residences of the principal inhabitants. The principal buildings which remain are the church of St John, which is become the principal mosque; the hospital, whence the charity of the knights was liberally dispensed to the faithful from all quarters of the world, which has been transformed into public granaries; the palace of the grand-master, falling into ruins and almost deserted; and the senate-house, which still contains some marbles and ancient columns. Of the streets the best and widest is a long street which preserves the name of Rue des Chevaliers. It is perfectly straight, and formed of old houses, on which remain the armorial bearings of the members of the order. On some of these buildings are still seen the arms of the pope.

Rhodes has at present two harbours. The least of these, towards the east, is named Dorca, and its entrance is obstructed by a barrier of rocks, so as to admit the entrance of one ship at a time. It is sufficiently sheltered from the winds by high moles; but by the negligence of the Turks the sand has been suffered to accumulate until the entrance has been gradually choked up; and merchant-ships can only enter after being obliged previously to unload their cargoes. The other harbour is larger, and bears the name of Rhodes; here frigates of thirty guns may anchor, and are sheltered from the west winds, though they are in danger of being dashed against the walls of the city, or the rocks, from the north and north-east winds. The two harbours are separated by a mole which runs obliquely into the sea; the two extremities are defended by towers 800 feet apart, while in the centre of the mole is a square tower 120 feet high. There is a dock-yard, which, like every other department of the public service, is a scene of disorder and corruption. The population consists of 5000 Turks and about 1000 Jews. Long. 28. 12. 15. E. Lat. 36. 26. N. (f.)