A Greek city-state founded by the Dorians on the coast of SW Asia Minor; modern Bodrum, Turkey. It was the birth-place of Herodotos, and the site of the Tomb of Mausolus.
Halicarnassus (Ἀλικαρνᾱσσεύς; modern Bodrum), an ancient Greek city on the southwest coast of Caria, Asia Minor, on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf (Gulf of Cos, Gulf of Gökova). It originally occupied only the small island of Zephyria close to the shore, now occupied by the great 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 and Carians.
Early History: Founding
About the foundation of Halicarnassus various traditions were current; 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 and Poseidon, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities were Troezen and Argos.
At an early period Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis, which included Cos, Cnidus, Lindus, Camirus 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, who made herself famous as a naval commander at the battle of Salamis. but Lygdamis, who next attained power, is notorious for having put to death the poet Panyasis and causing Herodotus, the greatest of Halicarnassians, to leave his native city (c.
Persian Rule
In the 5th century BC Halicarnassus and other Dorian cities of Asia were to some extent absorbed by the Delian League, but the peace of Antalcidas in 387 made them subservient to Persia; and it was under Mausolus, a Persian satrap who assumed independent authority, that Halicarnassus attained its highest prosperity. Struck by the natural strength and beauty of its position, Mausolus removed to Halicarnassus from Mylasa, increasing the population of the city by the inhabitants of six towns of the Leleges. He was succeeded by Artemisia II of Caria, whose military ability was shown in the stratagem by which she captured the Rhodian vessels attacking her city, and whose magnificence and taste have been perpetuated by the Mausoleum, the monument she erected to her husband's memory.
Macedonian Influence
One of her successors, Pixodarus, tried to ally himself with the rising power of Macedon, and is said to have gained the momentary consent of the young Alexander to wed his daughter. During the early years of Alexander's campaigns, Memnon, the paramount satrap of Asia Minor, had taken refuge with the Persian fleet in Halicarnassus. As soon as he had reduced Ionia, Alexander demanded Halicarnassus to surrender; and on its refusal took the city after hard fighting and devastated it. He handed the government of the city back to the family of Mausolus, as represented by Ada, sister of the latter. Halicarnassus never recovered altogether from the disasters of the siege, and Cicero describes it as almost deserted.
Archeological Notes & Restorations
The site is now occupied in part by the town of Bodrum; The building consisted of five parts—a basement or podium, a pteron or enclosure of columns, a pyramid, a pedestal and a chariot group.
On this apex stood the chariot with the figure of Mausolus himself and an attendant.
The Christian and later history of the site is continued at Bodrum.
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