His right arm was either held on top of his head to cover his eyes from the sun or, less likely, holding an ever-burning torch. The statue is thought to have depicted Helios standing up in the nude (or in semi-nude form wearing a short robe or holding a piece of cloth over his nudity), probably wearing a crown or being crowned by sun beams. Local sculptor Chares from Lindos was appointed with the heavy task, his credentials running high: he had studied under Lysippus, who was Alexander the Great's official bust scuptοr and had also created a 22m high statue of Zeus before. It was then decided that the proceedings from the sale should be invested in the construction of the most impressive statue of the time, built to honor Helios (meaning sun in Greek), the protector of Rhodes. Either way, Demetrios finally up and left, leaving most of his seige equipment and weaponry behind, which the Rhodeans sold for the hefty fee of 300 talents (88 million euro by contemporary account!). Others say that politicians from Athens intervened and broked a treaty between Antigonus and the Rhodean people. Here is when the accounts take two turns: some say that the Rhodeans managed to withstand the seige helped by luck (a storm that smashed the seige tower that stood on ships) and canning (they flooded the ditch on which helepolis stood and the construction feel into its muddy ruin). But, after one year, the city still stood. So, Demetrios brought over the 'big guns' for this one: a giant seige tower mounted on six ships and 'helepolis', the monster of all seige towers, which measured 45x23 metres and weighed 160 tons! On top of that, Demetrios' army consisted of 40.000 men, more than the Rhodes' entire population.
So, he sent over his son, the mighty Demetrios, the so-called Conqueror, infamous for his strategic thinking and his talent in constructing innovative seige machines, to take over Rhodes.īuilt in an easily accessible water front, the city of Rhodes was protected by strong and tall walls. The inhabitants of Rhodes had sided over with Ptolemy and Antigonus, who was the ruller of neighbouring Cyprus, decided that he didn't appreciate that. Rhodes was caught into one of these fights. But the battles between them and those regions that supported one or the other lasted for many long years. They divided the vast sovereign teritorry, which Alexander had amassed, in three parts and each of them named himself king. After Alexander the Great died, three of his most trusted generals (Antigonus, Seleucus and Prolemy) starting fighting over who would be named his successor. This was a direct challenge to Octavian's claim to power, which stemmed from his adoption by Julius Caesar and the loyalty of the dictator's legions, and would only accelerate the irreversible break between the two most powerful men of the Roman world.Here is what we know: it all started – as many things historically do – over a succession feud. Worst of all was the proclamation of Julius Caesar's and Cleopatra's mutual son, Caesarion, as King of Kings, god, and divi filius ('son of god'), and his appointment as his father's sole legitimate heir. These donations of what were, with the exception of Egypt proper, mostly either Roman provinces or unconquered lands (such as Media and Parthia) caused great outrage in Roman society. Most striking, however, was that the queen and the general distributed titles and kingdoms to themselves and their children, with Cleopatra being named Queen of Kings and Queen of Egypt and claiming Cyprus, Libya and central Syria for herself, Alexander Helios 'receiving' Armenia, Media and Parthia, his twin sister, Cleopatra Selene, Cyrenaica and Libya, and Ptolemy Philadelphus Syria, Phoenicia and Cilicia. Upon Antony's return from what was little more than a looting expedition to distract from his disastrous defeats against the Parthians, a great victory spectacle was organized in the Egyptian capital in which captives were paraded and donatives distributed. However, their legends and iconography clearly connect them to Antony's campaign against Armenia in 34 BC and the subsequent infamous 'Donations of Alexandria'.
Alexander helios bust for sale crack#
Minor areas of weakness and with a thin flan crack and a light scratch on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.įrom a European collection, formed before 2005.Ĭleopatra's and Mark Antony's Alexandrian portrait denarii were traditionally dated to 32 BC.
An exceptional, beautifully preserved example, with two splendid portraits of unusually refined style.
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