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Helepolis is the Greek name
for a movable siege tower. The most famous was that invented by Polyidus of
Thessaly, and improved by Demetrius I of Macedon and Epimachus of Athens, for
the Siege of Rhodes (305). Descriptions of it were written by Diodorus Siculus,
Vitruvius, Plutarch, and in the Athenaeus Mechanicus. The Helepolis was
essentially a large tapered tower, with each side about 130 feet (41.1 m) high,
and 65 feet (20.6 m) wide that was manually pushed into battle. It rested on
eight wheels, each 15 feet (4.6 m) high and also had casters, to allow lateral
movement as well as direct. The three exposed sides were rendered fireproof
with iron plates, and stories divided the interior, connected by two broad
flights of stairs, one for ascent and one for descent. The machine weighed 160
tons, and required 3,400 men working in relays to move it, 200 turning a large
capstan driving the wheels via a belt, and the rest pushing from behind. The
casters permitted lateral movement, so the entire apparatus could be steered
towards the desired attack point, while always keeping the siege engines inside
aimed at the walls, and the protective body of the machine directly between the
city walls and the men pushing behind it. The Helepolis bore a fearsome
complement of heavy armaments, with two 180-pound (82 kg) catapults, and one
60-pounder (27 kg) (classified by the weight of the projectiles they threw) on
the first floor, three 60-pounders (27 kg) on the second, and two 30-pounders
(14 kg) on each of the next five floors. Apertures, shielded by mechanically
adjustable shutters, lined with skins stuffed with wool and seaweed to render
them fireproof, perforated the forward wall of the tower for firing the missile
weapons. On each of the top two floors, soldiers could use two light dart
throwers to easily clear the walls of defenders. As the Helepolis was pushed
towards the city, the Rhodians managed to dislodge some of the metal plates,
and Demetrius ordered it withdrawn from battle to protect it from being burned.
Following the failure of the siege, the Helepolis along with the other siege
engines were abandoned, and the people of Rhodes melted down their metal
plating and sold abandoned weapons, using the materials and money to build a
statue of their patron god, Helios, the Colossus of Rhodes, known as one of the
ancient Seven Wonders of the World. Vitruvius offers an alternative version, in
which the Rhodians begged Diognetus, once the town architect of Rhodes, to find
a way to capture the Helepolis. By cover of night he had the Rhodians knock a
hole through the wall and channel large amounts of water, mud and sewage onto
the area where the Helepolis was expected to attack the following day.
Diognetus was successful; the tower was brought forth to the anticipated attack
position and became irretrievably stuck in the mire. Once the siege was lifted,
the Rhodians sold Demetrius' abandoned engines and used the money to erect the
enormous Colossus of Rhodes.
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