31 Facts About Mausolus

Mausolus was a ruler of Caria and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire.

Mausolus enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by his father Hecatomnus, who was the first satrap of Caria from the hereditary Hecatomnid dynasty.

Alongside Caria, Mausolus ruled Lycia and parts of Ionia and the Dodecanese islands.

Mausolus is best known for his monumental tomb and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the construction of which has traditionally been ascribed to his wife and sister Artemisia.

Mausolus succeeded his father upon Hecatomnus' death in 377 BCE.

Whether Mausolus held any real or ceremonial office before the period of his reign proper is speculative.

Mausolus ruled alongside his wife, who was his sister, Artemisia.

Mausolus participated in the Revolt of the Satraps, a long and complex affair in which many satraps in the west of the Achaemenid Empire rebelled against Artaxerxes II Memnon, mostly during the 360s BCE.

Mausolus primarily participated on the side of Artaxerxes, although Greek sources say that he briefly rebelled against him.

Mausolus was not punished for his alleged participation in the Revolt of the Satraps, unlike more flagrant rebels such as Datames or Ariobarzanes.

Mausolus cast himself as a native Lycian fighting for liberation against Persians in western Lycia; one inscription explicitly describes his rival Arttumpara as a Mede.

Mausolus ruled Lycia as satrap in the later part of his reign.

The Pseudo-Aristotelian Economics records that Mausolus had a hyparch active in Lycia, although this account is far from trustworthy.

Mausolus and Artemisia made an alliance with Phaselis, a city at the eastern border of Lycia with Pamphilia, showing the extent of their domain.

Vitruvius relates a story about how, when Mausolus died shortly after the end of the Social War, the Rhodian democrats briefly overthrew their Hecatomnid-aligned oligarchy and unsuccessfully rebelled against Artemisia.

Mausolus invaded parts of Ionia and controlled other at undetermined points in his reign.

Polyaenus reports that Mausolus had deputised his brother Idrieus to capture the fortified town of Latmus; later, he pretended to return the Latmian hostages which Idrieus had captured, and after winning the trust of the townspeople, ambushing the city at night after all the inhabitants had left its walls to watch his military procession.

Mausolus appears as a stereotypical despot or tyrant in the accounts of contemporary Greeks.

Mausolus supposedly deceived the people of Mylasa by telling them that Artaxerxes II Memnon was about to attack the unwalled city; after the local elites gave much money to Mausolus so that he could build walls for Mylasa, he told them that omens prevented him from providing anything.

The city was not attacked and Mausolus kept his citizens' funds.

Mausolus told his Lycian subjects that Artaxerxes demanded hair to make wigs for his horses.

Mausolus therefore demanded that the Lycians shave their heads and send him their hair.

Not all of Mausolus' subjects accepted his authoritarian rule easily.

The city was refounded by Mausolus, being rebuilt on a new grid pattern.

Mausolus is best known by his monumental tomb: the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

Mausolus died shortly after the failed assassination attempt at Labraunda.

Pliny the Elder incorrectly claimed that Mausolus died in 351 BCE, which is when his sister and wife Artemisia passed away.

When Mausolus died, his remains were interred in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which he and Artemisia had been building while they were still alive.

Archaeological evidence suggests that worship of Mausolus continued until approximately the mid-2nd century BCE.

Artemisia threw a lavish funeral for Mausolus, including games and ceremonies, in which many distinguished Greeks participated, many of whom were students of Isocrates from Greek cities within the Hecatomnid sphere of influence.

Mausolus was then succeeded by her brother and sister Idrieus and Ada, who were themselves married.