exclusive Greek influence. There are ample grounds, however, for
believing that the Phoenicians colonised Rhodes at the south-western
angle of Asia Minor, off the Carian coast. According to Conon,[551] the
earliest inhabitants of Rhodes were the Heliades, whom the Phoenicians
expelled. The Phoenicians themselves were at a later date expelled by
the Carians, and the Carians by the Greeks. Ergeias, however, the native
historian, declared[552] that the Phoenicians remained, at any rate in
some parts of the island, until the Greeks drove them out. Ialysus was,
he said, one of their cities. Dictys Cretensis placed Phoenicians,
not only in Ialysus, but in Camirus also.[553] It is the conclusion of
Kenrick that "the Phoenician settlement in Rhodes was the first which
introduced civilisation among the primeval inhabitants, and that they
maintained their ascendancy till the rise of the naval power of the
Carians. These new settlers reduced the Phoenicians to the occupancy
of three principal towns"--i.e. Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus; but "from
these too they were expelled by the Dorians, or only allowed to remain
at Ialysus as the hereditary priesthood of their native god."[554]
Rhodes is an island about one-fourth the size of Cyprus, with its axis
from the north-east to the south-west. It possesses excellent harbours,
accessible from all quarters,[555] and furnishing a secure shelter in
all weathers. The fertility of the soil is great; and the remarkable
history of the island shows the importance which attaches to it in the
hands of an enterprising people. Turkish apathy has, however, succeeded
in reducing it to insignificance.

The acquisition of Rhodes led the stream of Phoenician colonisation
onwards in two directions, south-westward and north-westward.
South-westward, it passed by way of Carpathus and Casus to Crete,
and then to Cythera; north-westward, by way of Chalcia, Telos, and
Astypalæa, to the Cyclades and Sporades. The presence of the Phoenicians