 In 357 BC, Rhodes left the Athenian alliance and fought against Athens in Byzantium and Chios.Nonetheless, the island was conquered after a few years by Mausolus of Halicarnassus, who sent away the members of the democratic faction and imposed his own oligarchic government.The democrats of Rhodes asked Athens' assistance and spoke to Demosthenes, who was already famous for his rhetorical charisma.