In the 6th century BC , the Dorians founded three major cities on Rhodes together with the island of Halicarnassos on the mainland of Turkey .
By the early Archaic Period Rhodes and Kos emerged as the major islands in the group , and in the 6th century BC the Dorians founded three major cities on Rhodes ( Lindos , Kameiros and Ialyssos ) ; together with the island of Kos and the cities of Knidos and Halicarnassos on the mainland of Asia Minor , these made up the Dorian Hexapolis.
Dodecanese