Mausolus
Mausolus (
Greek: Μαύσωλος; also
Maussollus) was a
satrap of the Persian empire and virtual ruler of
Caria (
377-
353/
352 BC).
He took part in the
revolt against
Artaxerxes Mnemon (362), conquered a great part of
Lycia,
Ionia and several of the
Greek islands and cooperated with the
Rhodians and their
ally in the
Social War against
Athens. He moved his
capital from
Mylasa, the
ancient seat of the
Carian kings, to
Halicarnassus.
Mausolus was the eldest son of
Hecatomnus of
Mylasa, a native
Carian who became Satrap of Caria when
Tissaphernes died, around
395 BC. These Carian rulers embraced
Hellenic culture.
He is best known from the
tomb erected for him by his sister and widow
Artemisia, the
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the
Seven Wonders of the World in ancient times. The
architects
Satyrus and
Pythis, and the sculptors
Scopas,
Leochares,
Bryaxis and
Timotheus, finished the work after the
death of Artemisis, some of the working, it was said, purely for renown. The term
Mausoleum has come to be used generically for any grand tomb. Its site and a few remains can still be seen in the
Turkish town of
Bodrum.
An inscription discovered at Mylasa (
Philipp August Böckh,
Inscr. gr. ii. 2691 c.) details the punishment of certain conspirators who had made an attempt upon his life at a festival in a temple at
Labranda in 353.
*
Livius,
Maussolus by Jona Lendering
*
Caria
