During the great struggle between Ptolemy and Antigonus, the Rhodians naturally sided with the former; and hence were compelled to undergo one of the most celebrated sieges of antiquity, by Demetrius Poliorcetes the son of Antigonus: their resistance, however, was so remarkable that, on raising the siege, B.C. 304, Demetrius, out of respect for their prowess, is said to have presented them with the engines he had employed against them during the siege. The value of these engines was so great as to enable the islanders to erect the colossal statue of Apollo[313] (the work of Chares of Lindus, who was engaged on it for twelve years), which is known in history as one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Placed, according to the usual (though probably fabulous) story, with extended legs on the two moles forming the entrance of the smaller harbour, and in height seventy cubits, all vessels entering and leaving passed under it. But this memorable statue was overthrown, only fifty-six years after its erection, by an earthquake (224 B.C.), which destroyed the naval arsenals and a great portion of the once famous city; and, though liberal promises were made towards its restoration, there is no satisfactory evidence that it ever was replaced.[314] [Sidenote: Their maritime laws.] But the Rhodians, in their laws, have transmitted to posterity a monument of their maritime wisdom, more enduring than the brass of which the Colossus was composed. These laws were for ages the sovereign judges of controversies relating to navigation. Even the Romans in such questions almost invariably appealed to their judgment. Indeed the Rhodian laws were held in such respect, that, on an appeal being made to Marcus Aurelius by one Eudæmon of Nicomedia, whose goods had been plundered on the wreck of his ship, that emperor replied: “I am the sovereign of the world; but the Rhodian law is sovereign wheresoever it does not run contrary to our statute law.”[315]