h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I hate to be picky about such a well-written article, but I have to take issue with a couple of your facts. You state that Pliny says that the statue stood for 56 years. Given that the closest recorded earthquake dates for that area are 227BC and 224BC, that puts the date of completion somewhere around 280BC. Given that the statue took 12 years to build, the start date would have been around 292BC. This is some time after the victory, but doesn't mean that the statue didn't commemorate the victory.

Secondly, on the appearance of the statue. You state, 'It was actually posed in a more traditional Greek manner: nude,
wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, while holding a cloak over its left.' The appearance of the statue is unknown, as no descriptions or pictures exist from the time of its existence, nor are there any minature versions of the statue. Although it probably wore a rayed crown to represent the sun, there are no records of whether it was clothed, nude or 'draped' in some way. Any description of the statue is pure conjecture, and should be stated as such.

Right, thanks for pointing this put to us. I've changed the wording slightly with regard to your second point to reflect the conjectural nature of the assumptions made.

Many thanks again.