The Hecatomnid dynasty or Hecatomnids were the rulers of

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

and surrounding areas BCE. The Hecatomnids were

satraps A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with con ...

(governors) under the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

, although they ruled with considerable autonomy, and established a hereditary dynasty. The first satrap of the dynasty was Hecatomnus. He was appointed as the first Carian satrap of Caria in the late 390s BCE. Previously, Caria had been governed as part of

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

, by the satrap

Tissaphernes Tissaphernes ( peo, *Ciçafarnāʰ; grc-gre, Τισσαφέρνης; xlc, 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 , ; 445395 BC) was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. His life is mostly known from the works of Thucy ...

based in Sardis. Tissaphernes was executed by

Tithraustes Tithraustes ( Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ) was the Persian satrap of Sardis for several years in the early 4th century BC. Due to scanty historical records, little is known of the man or his activities. He was sent out from Susa to replace ...

on the orders of

Artaxerxes II Memnon Arses ( grc-gre, Ἄρσης; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and s ...

in 395 BCE. If Hecatomnus did not become satrap immediately upon the death of Tissaphernes, he was in office by 392 BCE, when he made war on

Evagoras of Salamis Evagoras or Euagoras ( grc, Εὐαγόρας) was the king of Salamis (411–374 BC) in Cyprus, known especially from the work of Isocrates, who presents him as a model ruler. History He claimed descent from Teucer, the son of Telamon and hal ...

on the orders of Artaxerxes II Memnon. Hecatomnus therefore became satrap of Caria BCE. He was previously one of many minor dynasts in Caria. The Hecatomnid dynasty's seat was originally Mylasa, in central Caria. Hecatomnus' father, Hyssaldomus, was also an independent dynast based in Mylasa, and issued coinage with Mylasan types, labelled with his initial in the

Carian language The Carian language is an extinct language of the Luwic subgroup of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Carian language was spoken in Caria, a region of western Anatolia between the ancient regions of Lycia and Lydia, b ...

. It was moved to

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...

, the former seat of the

Lygdamid dynasty The Lygdamid dynasty ( BCE) was a dynasty of tyrants in the region of Caria, who were subordinate to the Achaemenid Empire following the conquests of Cyrus the Great through his general Harpagus. The dynasty was founded by Lygdamis, of Carian- ...

( BCE), by

Mausolus Mausolus ( grc, Μαύσωλος or , xcr, ��𐊠��𐊸𐊫𐊦 ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by h ...

and

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

in the early 370s BCE. Mausolus and Artemisia succeeded their father upon his death in 377 BCE. Hecatomnus' five children succeeded him in succession. The dynasty engaged in sibling marriage, presumably to preserve royal power within the family. During the government of the Hecatomnids, both, wife like husband assumed as equally accepted rulers, and the widower of the couple would assume as the sole regnant after his or her partner deceased. The dynasty ended in 334 BC with the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, Tur ...

adopted him as her son, so that he would succeed to the rule of Caria. The best-known monument of the dynasty is the

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

that Artemisia II built in honor of her husband and brother Mausolus. After the death of Pixodarus, the last member of the Hecatomnids,

Orontobates Orontobates ( Old Persian: , Ancient Greek: ; lived 4th century BC) was a Persian, who married the daughter of Pixodarus, the usurping satrap of Caria, and was sent by the king of Persia to succeed him. Biography On the approach of Alexander t ...

was sent by the king of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

to succeed him. Orontobates, a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, married the daughter of Pixodarus, and ruled from 335 to 334. After the conquest of

, Ada again ruled from 334 to 326 under the

Macedonian Empire Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

Members

* Hecatomnus, ruled 395–377 *

and Artemisia II, intermarried son and daughter of Hecatomnus, ruled 377–353 * Artemisia II, daughter of Hecatomnus, wife of

, ruled 353–351 *

Idrieus Idrieus, or Hidrieus ( grc, Ἱδριεύς, Hidrieús; died 344 BC) was a ruler of Caria as a Satrap under the Achaemenid Empire. Alongside his sister and wife Ada, he enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position he ...

, son of Hecatomnus, ruled 351–344 *

, daughter of Hecatomnus, wife of Idrieus, ruled 344–340 and 334–326 (under

) * Pixodarus, son of Hecatomnus, ruled 340–335 :(

, Achaemenid Satrap), ruled 335-334 * Ada (second reign), ruled 334-326 under the

Family tree

Bibliography

* Simon Hornblower, ''Mausolus'', Clarendon Press, 1982, * "Hecatomnid dynasty
at livius.org

References

{{Achaemenid rulers Carian people Achaemenid satraps of Caria Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire