Helepolis siege tower. 18th-century artwork of the Helepolis siege tower used in the Siege of Rhodes (305 BC) during the wars between the successors of Alexander the Great. Protected by iron plates, it weighed around 160 tons and was some 40 metres high. It included armament such as catapults and battering rams. The multiple levels were designed to allow soldiers to reach the battlements of a fortress. Abandoned when the siege failed, it is thought to have been the largest siege tower ever built. Artwork from a 1785 volume of 'Costume des anciens peuples, a l'usage des artistes' (1784-86), a six-volume work by Michel Francois Dandre-Bardon (1700-1783).