Editing Colossus of Rhodes (section)

==Fallen state (226&nbsp;BC to 653&nbsp;AD)==
The remains lay on the ground for over 800 years and, even broken, they were so impressive that many travelled to see them.

The remains were described briefly by [[Strabo]] (64 or 63&nbsp;BC – {{circa|24&nbsp;AD}}), in his work Geography (Book XIV, Chapter 2.5). Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in [[Asia Minor]] during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
Strabo is best known for his work ''Geographica'' ("Geography"), which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime.<ref>{{cite book |author=Strabo |author-link=Strabo |year=1949 |title=Geography |section=34 Vol. VIII Book XVII  |translator=Horace Leonard Jones |place=London, UK |publisher=William Heinemann |page=95}}</ref> Strabo states that:

{{blockquote|text=The city of the Rhodians lies on the eastern promontory of Rhodes; and it is so far superior to all others in harbours and roads and walls and improvements in general that I am unable to speak of any other city as equal to it, or even as almost equal to it, much less superior to it. It is remarkable also for its good order, and for its careful attention to the administration of affairs of state in general; and in particular to that of naval affairs, whereby it held the mastery of the sea for a long time and overthrew the business of piracy, and became a friend to the Romans and to all kings who favoured both the Romans and the Greeks. Consequently, it not only has remained autonomous but also has been adorned with many votive offerings, which for the most part are to be found in the Dionysium and the gymnasium, but partly in other places. The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius, of which the author of the iambic verse says, "seven times ten cubits in height, the work of Chares the Lindian"; but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again. This, then, is the most excellent of the votive offerings (at any rate, it is by common agreement one of the Seven Wonders).<ref>{{cite book |title=Geography |author=[[Strabo]] |section=Book XIV, Chapter 2.5 |section-url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14B*.html |via=Penelope, [[University of Chicago|U. Chicago]] |access-date=8 December 2020 |archive-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521125801/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/14B%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> }}

[[Pliny the Elder]] (AD 23/24 – 79) was a Roman author, a naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of emperor [[Vespasian]]. Pliny wrote the encyclopedic ''Naturalis Historia'' (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. The ''Naturalis Historia'' is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge. Pliny remarked:

{{blockquote|text= But that which is by far the most worthy of our admiration, is the colossal statue of the Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the Lindian, a pupil of the above-named Lysippus; no less than seventy cubits in height. This statue fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, it excites our wonder and admiration. Few men can clasp the thumb in their arms, and its fingers are larger than most statues. Where the limbs are broken asunder, vast caverns are seen yawning in the interior. Within it, too, are to be seen large masses of rock, by the weight of which the artist steadied it while erecting it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Natural History |at=book 34, xviii, 41 |section=Natural History of Metals |section-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D34%3Achapter%3D18 |via=Perseus, [[Tufts University|Tufts U.]] |access-date=2020-12-07 |archive-date=2020-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231050757/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D34%3Achapter%3D18 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}