In the summer of 305 B.C. Demetrius Poliorcetes landed with his army on the island of Rhodes with the aim of conquering and annexing the island to the Antigonid state as well as destroying the friendly relationship of the Rhodians with Ptolemaic Egypt. The Rhodians who could not stand against stronger and more numerous Demetrius' army, took refuge in the fortified city of Rhodes. In such circumstances Demetrius' siege of Rhodes began. However, neither side was aware that the siege would last more than year and that the siege would be terminated by the very individual who gave the order to attack Rhodes Antigonus, the father of Demetrius and the leader of Antigonid state. Although it is not clear whether the Rhodians could withstand further siege if Antigonus would not order his son to end the siege. It is clear that the Rhodians, with their persistence and tenacity, successfully repulsed Demetrius' attacks and sometimes even switched from defensive to offensive stance. Due to its size and giant siege devices, the siege has been recorded in historiography as one of the most famous sieges of the ancient world.
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