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Halicarnassus (; , modern Bodrum
Bodrum

Bodrum , formerly Halicarnassus , is a Turkey port town in Mugla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region, Turkey of the country. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of G?kova, and it faces the Greece island of Kos....
) was an ancient Greek city on the southwest coast
Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
 of Caria
Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians and Dorians Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there....
, Anatolia
Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
 (Asia Minor), on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf (Gulf of Kos
Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greece island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of G?kova. It measures 40 km by 8 km, and is only 4 km from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria....
, Gulf of Gökova
Gulf of Gökova

The Gulf of G?kova , Gulf of Kerme , or Gulf of Cos, is a long , narrow Headlands and bays of the Aegean Sea which separates the Bodrum peninsula from the Resadiye peninsula in southwest Turkey....
). It was the site of the Siege of Halicarnassus
Siege of Halicarnassus

The Siege of Halicarnassus was fought between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire in 334 BC. Alexander, who had no navy, was constantly being threatened by the Persian navy....
, between Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 and the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
. It originally occupied only the small island of Zephyria close to the shore, now occupied by the great Bodrum Castle
Bodrum Castle

Bodrum Castle , located in southwest Turkey in the city of Bodrum , was built by the Knights Hospitaller starting in 1402 as the Castle of St....
 (Castle of St. Peter), built by the Knights of Rhodes in 1404; but in course of time this island was united to the mainland and the city extended so as to incorporate Salmacis, an older town of the Leleges
Leleges

The Leleges were one of the aboriginal peoples of southwest Anatolia , who were already there when the Indo-European Greeks emerged. The Leleges were overcome by the Carians, according to the earliest Greek historians, who suggested connections of the Leleges in mainland Greece as well....
 and Carians
Carians

The Carians were the ancient inhabitants of Caria....
.

founding of Halicarnassus is debated among various traditions; but they agree in the main point as to its being a Dorian colony, and the figures on its coins, such as the head of Medusa, Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
 and Poseidon
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities were Troezen
Troezen

Troezen , modern: Troizina or Trizina is a small town in the northeastern Peloponnese, located southwest of Athens and a few miles south of Methana....
 and Argos
Argos

Argos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius ....
.






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Halicarnassus (; , modern Bodrum
Bodrum

Bodrum , formerly Halicarnassus , is a Turkey port town in Mugla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region, Turkey of the country. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of G?kova, and it faces the Greece island of Kos....
) was an ancient Greek city on the southwest coast
Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
 of Caria
Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians and Dorians Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there....
, Anatolia
Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
 (Asia Minor), on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf (Gulf of Kos
Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greece island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of G?kova. It measures 40 km by 8 km, and is only 4 km from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria....
, Gulf of Gökova
Gulf of Gökova

The Gulf of G?kova , Gulf of Kerme , or Gulf of Cos, is a long , narrow Headlands and bays of the Aegean Sea which separates the Bodrum peninsula from the Resadiye peninsula in southwest Turkey....
). It was the site of the Siege of Halicarnassus
Siege of Halicarnassus

The Siege of Halicarnassus was fought between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire in 334 BC. Alexander, who had no navy, was constantly being threatened by the Persian navy....
, between Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 and the Persian Empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
. It originally occupied only the small island of Zephyria close to the shore, now occupied by the great Bodrum Castle
Bodrum Castle

Bodrum Castle , located in southwest Turkey in the city of Bodrum , was built by the Knights Hospitaller starting in 1402 as the Castle of St....
 (Castle of St. Peter), built by the Knights of Rhodes in 1404; but in course of time this island was united to the mainland and the city extended so as to incorporate Salmacis, an older town of the Leleges
Leleges

The Leleges were one of the aboriginal peoples of southwest Anatolia , who were already there when the Indo-European Greeks emerged. The Leleges were overcome by the Carians, according to the earliest Greek historians, who suggested connections of the Leleges in mainland Greece as well....
 and Carians
Carians

The Carians were the ancient inhabitants of Caria....
.

History


Early History: Founding


The founding of Halicarnassus is debated among various traditions; but they agree in the main point as to its being a Dorian colony, and the figures on its coins, such as the head of Medusa, Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
 and Poseidon
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities were Troezen
Troezen

Troezen , modern: Troizina or Trizina is a small town in the northeastern Peloponnese, located southwest of Athens and a few miles south of Methana....
 and Argos
Argos

Argos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius ....
. The inhabitants appear to have accepted Anthes as their legendary founder, mentioned by Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
, and were proud of the title of Antheadae. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with Alosdkarnosd in inscriptions.

At an early period Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis
Doric Hexapolis

The doric hexapolis or Dorian Hexapolis was a federation of six cities of Dorians foundation, and included:*Kos, on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea sea;...
, which included Cos, Cnidus, Lindos
Lindos

Lindos is a town and an Archeology site on the east coast of the Greece island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese in southeastern Aegean Sea Sea. It is about 55km south of the town of Rhodes and its fine beaches make it a popular tourist and holiday destination....
, Kameiros
Kameiros

Kameiros was a city on the island of Rhodes, Greece, lying on a peninsula on the northwest coast of the island. It was the heart of an agricultural region, and constituted one of three city states on Rhodes....
 and Ialysus. But when one of the citizens, Agasicles, chose to take home the prize tripod which he had won in the Triopian games instead of dedicating it, according to custom, to the Triopian Apollo, the city was cut off from the league. In the early 5th century Halicarnassus was under the sway of Artemisia I of Caria
Artemisia I of Caria

Artemisia I of Caria became the ruler, after the death of her husband, as a client of the Achaemenid dynasty – who in the 5th century BC ruled as the overlords of Ionia....
, who made herself famous as a naval commander at the Battle of Salamis
Battle of Salamis

The Battle of Salamis , was a naval battle fought between an Alliance of Greece city-states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia in September 480 BC in the straits between the mainland and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens....
. Of Pisindalis, her son and successor, little is known; but Lygdamis, who next attained power, is notorious for having put to death the poet Panyasis and causing Herodotus
Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
, possibly the best known of Halicarnassians, to leave his native city (c. 457 BC).

Macedonian influence

One of her successors, Pixodarus
Pixodarus of Caria

Pixodarus , a prince or king of Caria, was the youngest of the three sons of Hecatomnus, all of whom successively held the sovereignty of their native country....
, tried to ally himself with the rising power of Macedon
Macedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....
, and is said to have gained the momentary consent of the young Alexander
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 to wed his daughter. The marriage, however, was forbidden by Alexander's father Philip
Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon,...
. During the early years of Alexander's campaigns, Memnon
Memnon of Rhodes

Memnon of Rhodes was the commander of the Greece mercenaries working for the Persian Empire king Darius III when Alexander the Great of Macedon invaded Persia in 334 BC and won the Battle of the Granicus River....
, the paramount satrap of Asia Minor, 334 BC when Alexander tried to take the citadel, the narrow bridge over the moat collapsed, resulting in many casualties (as related by the historian Arianos in his biography of Alexander). As he was not able to reduce the citadel, Alexander was forced to leave it blockaded. The ruins of this citadel and the moat are now a tourist attraction in Bodrum.

Alexander handed the government of the city back to the family of Mausolus
Mausolus

Mausolus was ruler of Caria . He took part in the revolt against Artaxerxes II , conquered a great part of Lycia, Ionia and several Greece List of islands of Greece and cooperated with the Rhodes and their allies in the Social War against Athens....
, as represented by Ada
Ada of Caria

Ada of Caria was satrap of Caria in the 4th century BC.Ada was the daughter of Hecatomnus, satrap of Caria, and sister of Mausolus, Artemisia II of Caria, Idrieus, and Pixodarus of Caria....
, sister of the latter. Not long afterwards we find the citizens receiving the present of a gymnasium from Ptolemy
Ptolemy I Soter

Ptolemy I Soter was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty....
, and building in his honour a stoa or portico. Halicarnassus never recovered altogether from the disasters of the siege, and Cicero
Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
 describes it as almost deserted. Baroque artist Johann Elias Ridinger depicted the several stages of siege and taking of the place in a huge copper engraving as one of only two known today from his Alexander set.

Archeological notes & restorations

The site is now occupied in part by the town of Bodrum; but the ancient walls can still be traced round nearly all their circuit, and the position of several of the temples, the theatre, and other public buildings can be fixed with certainty.

The ruins of the Mausoleum sufficient has been recovered by the excavations carried out in 1857 by CT Newton to enable a fairly complete restoration of its design to be made. The building consisted of five parts—a basement or podium, a pteron or enclosure of columns, a pyramid, a pedestal and a chariot group. The basement, covering an area of 114 feet by 92, was built of blocks of greenstone and cased with marble. Round the base of it were probably disposed groups of statuary. The pteron consisted (according to Pliny
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
) of thirty-six columns of the Ionic order, enclosing a square cena. Between the columns probably stood single statues. From the portions that have been recovered, it appears that the principal frieze of the pteron represented combats of Greeks and Amazons
Amazons

The Amazons , ) are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatians....
. In addition, there are also many life-size fragments of animals, horsemen, etc., belonging probably to pedimental sculptures, but formerly supposed to be parts of minor friezes. Above the pteron rose the pyramid, mounting by 24 steps to an apex or pedestal.

On this apex stood the chariot with the figure of Mausolus himself and an attendant. The height of the statue of Mausolus in the British Museum
British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than 7 million Object , are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present....
 is 9'9" without the plinth. The hair falls from the forehead in thick waves on each side of the face and descends nearly to the shoulder; the beard is short and close, the face square and massive, the eyes deep set under overhanging brows, the mouth well formed with settled calm about the lips. The drapery is grandly composed. All sorts of restorations of this famous monument have been proposed. The original one, made by Newton
Charles Thomas Newton

Sir Charles Thomas Newton was a United Kingdom archaeologist.Newton was born at Bredwardine in Herefordshire, and educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford....
 and Pullan, is obviously in error in many respects; and that of Oldfield, though to be preferred for its lightness (the Mausoleum was said anciently to be "suspended in mid-air"), does not satisfy the conditions postulated by the remains. The best on the whole is that of the veteran German architect, F. Adler, published in 1900; but fresh studies have since been made (see below).

The Christian and later history of the site is continued at Bodrum
Bodrum

Bodrum , formerly Halicarnassus , is a Turkey port town in Mugla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region, Turkey of the country. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of G?kova, and it faces the Greece island of Kos....
.

Notable people

  • Artemisia I
    Artemisia I of Caria

    Artemisia I of Caria became the ruler, after the death of her husband, as a client of the Achaemenid dynasty – who in the 5th century BC ruled as the overlords of Ionia....
     (fl
    Floruit

    Floruit refers to a period of time during which a person, school, movement or even species was active or flourishing. It is the third person, singular, perfect tense, indicative, active form of the Latin verb florere ? "to flourish"....
    . 480 BC) tyrant of Halicarnassus, who participated in the Battle of Salamis
    Battle of Salamis

    The Battle of Salamis , was a naval battle fought between an Alliance of Greece city-states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia in September 480 BC in the straits between the mainland and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens....
  • Herodotus
    Herodotus

    Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
     (c. 484-c. 425 BC) Greek historian
  • Dionysius
    Dionysius of Halicarnassus

    Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus....
     (1st century BC) historian and teacher of rhetoric
  • Aelius Dionysius
    Aelius Dionysius

    Aelius Dionysius was a Greek rhetorician from Halicarnassus, who lived in the time of the em?peror Hadrian. He was a very skillful musician, and wrote several works on music and its history....
     (2nd century) Greek rhetorician and musician


External links

  • , by Jona Lendering
  • (W. R. Lethaby's reconstruction of the Mausoleum, 1908)