Bibliotheca Historica

​Having conducted the siege in this manner for eight days, Demetrius shattered the engines on the mole with his one-talent ballistae, and shook the curtain-wall of the cross-wall together with the towers themselves. Some of the soldiers also seized a part of the cross-wall along the harbor; against them the Rhodians, having banded together, joined battle, and being many times more numerous, they killed some and forced others to retreat backward. The roughness of the ground along the wall also aided those from the city, since many large stones lay continuously along the structure outside the wall.

​When not a few of the small boats that had carried these soldiers ran aground because of the struggle, the Rhodians quickly stripped off the figureheads, and throwing dry wood and pitch pine into the vessels, they set them on fire. While they were occupied with these things, Demetrius’ soldiers, sailing around everywhere, brought ladders to the walls and pressed on more violently, while those from the land also fought together from all sides and raised a war cry.

​There indeed, since many risked their lives recklessly and many climbed up onto the walls, a fierce battle was joined, with those from the outside pushing on by force, and those from the city rendering aid in a body. Finally, as the Rhodians fought with all their hearts, some of those who had climbed up fell, and others, being severely wounded, were captured, among whom were also some of the most illustrious commanders.

​When such setbacks had occurred to those on the outside, Demetrius withdrew his engines to his own harbor and repaired those of the ships and engines that had suffered damage. The Rhodians, on their part, buried those of the citizens who had died, dedicated the weapons of the enemy and the figureheads to the gods, and rebuilt the parts of the walls that had fallen because of the ballistae.