Rhodes Part 1 - the ancient Greek acropolis and its fascinating society

I was looking forward to visiting Rhodes, which is famous for once possessing one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World - the Colossus of Rhodes - standing guard, as it were, at the entrance to its harbour. There certainly is a lot of history behind this Greek island, not to mention Greek mythology. 

In fact that was what we first explored - the ruins of an ancient Greek acropolis. We were fortunate to have an excellent guide, who told us so much about the traditions and beliefs of the ancient Greek society that once lived there and worshipped the Sun god.

There was so much from how that society ran that we could learn from today. For example, it was deemed essential that young men were well trained in defence and protection of their family and community. War was not sought but they had to show they were capable of fighting in case they were attacked. Equally, they had to be trained in managing resources wisely. Only when they could demonstrate their competence, wisdom and maturity were they permitted to marry or to enter their parliament.

The women also had to prove worthy of marriage, as they would be given the title deed to their home and be in charge of its management. The signs around also showed that a healthy diet also was considered extremely important, with a good balance of vitamins and minerals and so forth. 

But this is what I really like! If it was decided that a man who was in a position of power within their government was making poor decisions that were not in the best interests of the society, to boost his own power for example, he would be put in a kind of cage and the people had to vote whether the charges were true or not. If at least 60 % decided the accusations and concerns about this man  were true, he would be banished from the society for ten years with only the clothes on his back. His family would be cared for, however. I can think of many politicians on the world stage right now who certainly would have been banished from this society and ought to be today! 

In addition to their customs, the people of this society had already established clever solutions to ensure they remained healthy. Food and water were only stored in silver vessels, as this ensured that bugs did not proliferate. Water was piped into baths and heated so they had warm water baths - and in a beautiful spot overlooking the sea I might add. This means they had learned how to extract and cast silver, and even how to make ceramic pipes. 

I will talk about the rest of Rhodes in a second post, because it is really fascinating too. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos. 

The acropolis of Rhodes set high up on a hill, which position would have protected it from attack.

The ruins went a long way back, but this would have been the forum area.

The channels under the baths where hot air from fires heated the water.

Where the water was channelled.

A diagram on the site showing how the water was heated.

A bath.

An old water pipe found on the site. There was an extensive networks of these pipes. 

A semi-circular podium in front of the forum. from where speeches could be made.