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Halicarnassus

HALICARNASSUS (mod.Budrum), an ancient Greek city on the S.W. coast

ofCaria, Asia Minor, on a picturesque and advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf or Gulf

ofCos. It originally occupied only the small island of Zephyria close to the shore, nowoccupied by the great castle of St Peter, built by the Knights ofRhodes 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. 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

ofMedusa, Athena and Poseidon, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities

were Troezen and Argos. The inhabitants appear to have accepted as their legendary founder

Anthes, mentioned by Strabo, and were proud of the title of Antheadae. At an early

period Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis, which included

Cos, Cnidus, Lindus, Camirus and Ialysus; but one of the citizens, Agasicles, having taken

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 ofArtemisia, who made herself famous at the

battle ofSalamis. Of Pisindalis, her son and successor, little is known; but Lygdamis, who

next attained to power, is notorious for having put to death the poet Panyasis and

caused Herodotus, the greatest of Halicarnassians, to leave his native city (c. 457 B.C.). In the

5th century B.C.

Halicarnassus and other Dorian cities ofAsia were to some extent absorbed by

the Delian League, but the peace ofAntalcidas 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, 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 (see Mausolus). 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. The marriage, however,

was forbidden by Philip. Alexander, as soon as he had reduced Ionia, summoned

Halicarnassus, where Memnon, the paramount satrap of Asia Minor, had taken refuge with

the Persian fleet, to surrender; and on its refusal took the city after hard fighting and

devastated it, but not being able to reduce the citadel, was forced to leave it blockaded. He

handed the government of the city back to the family of Mausolus, as represented by Ada,

sister of the latter. Not long afterwards we find the citizens receiving the present of a

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gymnasium from Ptolemy, and building in his honour a stoa or portico; but the city never

recovered altogether from the disasters of the siege, and Cicero describes it as almost

deserted. The site is now occupied in part by the town of Budrum; 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.

From the ruins of the Mausoleum sufficient has been recovered by the excavations

carried out in 1857 by C. T. Newton to enable a fairly complete restoration of its design to be

made. The building consisted of five parts - a basement or podium, apteron or enclosure of

columns, a pyramid, a pedestal and a chariot group. The basement, covering an area of 114 ft.

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) of thirty-six

columns of the Ionic order, enclosing a squarecella. 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. In addition to

these, there are also many life-size fragments of animals, horsemen, &c., belonging probably

to pedimental sculptures, but formerly supposed to be parts of minor friezes. Above the

pteronrose 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 is 9 ft. 91 in. without the plinth. The hair rising from the

forehead falls 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 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).

See C. T. Newton and R. P. Pullan,History of Discoveries at Halicarnassus (1862-

1863); J. Fergusson, The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus restored(1862); E. Oldfield, "The

Mausoleum," inArchaeologia (1895); F. Adler,Mausoleum zu Halikarnass(1900); J. P. Six

inJourn. Hell. Studies (1905); W. B. Dinsmoor, inAmer. Journ. of Arch. (1908); J. J.

Stevenson,A Restoration of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (1909); J. B. K. Preedy, "The

Chariot Group of the Mausoleum," inJourn. Hell. Stud., '1910. (D.'G. H.)

[Text copied from The 1911 Classic Encyclopedia.]

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