The Rhodes earthquake of 226 BC, which affected the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, is famous for having toppled the large statue known as the

Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes ( grc, ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, ho Kolossòs Rhódios gr, Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, Kolossós tes Rhódou) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes (city), Rhodes, on ...

. Following the earthquake, the statue lay in place for nearly eight centuries before being sold off by invaders. While 226 BC is most often cited as the date of the quake, sources variously cite 226 or 227 BC as dates when it occurred.

Background

The island of Rhodes lies on part of the boundary between the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

and

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

plates. The tectonic setting is complex, with a

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

history that includes periods of

thrusting Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sys ...

extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate * E ...

and strike slip. Currently the island is undergoing a counter-clockwise rotation (17°±5° in the last 800,000 years) associated with the south Aegean sinistral

strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

fault system. The island has also been tilted to the northwest during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

, an uplift attributed to a

reverse fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

lying just to the east of Rhodes. The earthquake of c. 227 BC is associated with an uplift of more than three metres and movement on this reverse fault is considered to be the likely causative mechanism for the event. The epicentral location of this event is uncertain, with modern catalogues giving locations either near Rhodes city, or just south of the island of

Symi Symi, also transliterated as Syme or Simi ( el, Σύμη), is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas o ...

. Some catalogues suggest that this earthquake caused a significant

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

. However, a recent review of the evidence has found no clear association.

History

At the time of the earthquake, Rhodes was an Aegean port city which was famous for the large bronze statue that stood near its harbor. It was one of the major trading cities of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, along with the city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. As evidenced by the taxes the city received in harbor fees, the amount of trade that passed through it was tremendous. Having survived threats from larger neighbors, the city had gained the respect of the Mediterranean world. The statue, known as the Colossus, had been built before 250 BC to give thanks to the gods for delivering the city safely from a

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

ian siege. Some historical images have shown the Colossus as actually straddling the harbor entrance, a feat which would have been impossible given the bronze-casting technology of the time. Significant damage was done to large portions of the city, including the harbor and commercial buildings, which were destroyed. The earthquake toppled the Colossus, which lay in pieces near the harbor for centuries. According to the ancient writer

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

, the statue had broken off at the knees. Strabo reports that an oracle told the citizens of Rhodes not to rebuild it, and an offer by Ptolemy III of Egypt to pay for its reconstruction was turned down. The Colossus lay in place until 654 AD, when, according to legend,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

invaders sold the pieces to a Jewish merchant in

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

. Regardless of their political leadership or government style, respect for the culture and economic importance of the city was such that Greek cities across the region offered assistance to help rebuild. At least two did so by giving the city an exemption from their own customs dues.

References

{{Earthquakes in Greece Ancient Rhodes Hellenistic Greece Earthquakes in Greece 1st-millennium BC earthquakes Rhodes earthquake Events in Rhodes 1st-millennium BC natural events