Mausolus | Caria ruler, Halicarnassus builder | Britannica (original) (raw)

Mausolus (died 353/352 bce) was a Persian satrap (governor), though virtually an independent ruler, of Caria, in southwestern Anatolia, from 377/376 to 353 bce. He is best known from the name of his monumental tomb, the so-called Mausoleum—considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World—a word now used to designate any large and imposing burial structure.

By moving his capital from Mylasa in the interior to Halicarnassus on the coast, Mausolus indicated that he would attempt to make Caria an expansionist power. In 362 he joined the revolt of the satraps of Anatolia against the Persian king Artaxerxes II (reigned 404–359/358) but abandoned the struggle just in time to keep from going down in defeat with his allies. Thereafter Mausolus was a nearly autonomous ruler who absorbed part of Lycia, immediately to the southeast, and several Ionian Greek cities northwest of Caria. He backed the islands of Rhodes, Cos, and Chios (all off the west coast of Anatolia) and their allies in their war against Athens (the Social War of 357–355), and the victory of this coalition brought Rhodes and Cos into his sphere of influence.

The planning of his great tomb was begun by Mausolus himself. After his death, Artemisia, who was both his sister and his widow, directed the construction. Containing colossal figures of the Carian king and his queen, the tomb was an enormous structure designed by the Greek architects Pythius and Satyros and decorated with works by the Greek sculptors Scopas, Bryaxis, Leochares, and (most likely) Timotheus. It is now a ruin.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.