The King of Macedonia, Antigonus I, felt threatened by this alliance.
Model of the Helepolis siege engine, at Thessaloniki Technology Museum, Greece.
Photo credit:Gts-tg/Wikimedia
Three dimensional model and cross-section of Helepolis byEvan Mason.
The entire tower, weighing 160 tons, rested on eight wheels, each 15 feet high.
It took 3,400 men working in relays to push and position the tower in front of the walls.
To protect the machine, Demetrius ordered it withdrawn.
This was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed.
The statue stood on a marble pedestal 15 meters high.
After twelve years, in 280 BC, the statue was completed.
A 1790 engraving of the Colossus of Rhodes depicting its typical straddling posture.
The remains lay on the ground for over 800 years.
The ruins were so impressive that many travelled to see them.
Surprisingly, no text from the period survive describing how the Colossus of Rhodes looked like while it stood.
It is quite possible that the colossus was constructed in the same pose.
A more realistic representation of the Colossus of Rhodes by Frantisek Kupka (1906 CE).
Pieces of the fallen statue was eventually collected and melted when Rhodes came under the Arabs in 653.
