Demetrius, upon being reconciled with the Rhodians, was desirous, before his departure, to give them a proof of his good feeling, and accordingly made them a present of all the machines of war he had employed in that siege. Considering that Rhodes was an island, and that these cumbersome, unwieldy engines could not have been taken away without great difficulty, we moderns are inclined to think there was not much generosity in the gift; but the result proves we are wrong. The machines were sold for three hundred talents (about three hundred thousand crowns), which the Rhodians employed, with an additional sum of their own, in constructing the famous Colossus, which was reputed one of the seven wonders of the world. It was a statue of the sun, of so stupendous a size, that ships in full sail passed between its legs; the height of it was seventy cubits, or one hundred and five feet, and few men could clasp its thumb within their arms. It was the work of Chares of Lindus, and employed him for the space of twelve years. Sixty-six years after its erection, it was thrown down by an earthquake. The Rhodians expressed their gratitude to Ptolemy in a most extravagant manner: they planted a grove, built a temple in it to his glory, and paid him divine honours under the title of _Sotor_, the Saviour, by which he is distinguished in history from the other Ptolemies, kings of Egypt. We cannot leave Rhodes, without a remark or two upon the love Demetrius bore to the arts, and the height to which they appear to have been cultivated in that island. Rhodes, at the time of the siege, was the residence of a celebrated painter named Protogenes, a native of Caunus, a city of Caria, which was then subject to the Rhodians. The apartment in which he painted was in the suburbs when Demetrius first besieged the city; but neither the presence of the enemy, nor the noise of arms, which perpetually rung in his ears, could induce him to quit his habitation or discontinue his work. Demetrius was surprised at his firmness and persistency, and asked him the cause of it. “It is,” replied the painter, “because I am sensible you have declared war against the Rhodians, and not against the arts.” Nor was he deceived in this opinion; for Demetrius actually showed himself their protector. He planted a guard round his house, that the artist might enjoy tranquillity, or, at least, be secure from danger; he frequently went to see him work, and was boundless in his admiration of his application and skill.