King 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 his father Hecatomnus ( xcr, 𐊴𐊭𐊪𐊳𐊫 ), who had succeeded the assassinated Persian Satrap Tissaphernes as the first satrap of Caria and founded the hereditary Hecatomnid dynasty. Alongside Caria, Mausolus also ruled Lycia and parts of Ionia and the Dodecanese islands. He is best known for the monumental shrine, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, erected and named for him by order of his widow (who was also his sister) Artemisia.

Name

Mausolus' name is only known directly in Greek ( grc, Μαύσωλος or ). It is clearly of Carian origin, though, and would have been written as *𐊪𐊠𐊲𐊸𐊫𐊦 (''*Mauśoλ'') or similar. This is a compound name perhaps meaning "much blessed". The first part, ''*Ma-'', may mean "much", similar to the same word in Hieroglyphic Luwian. The second part, ''*-uśoλ'', meaning "blessed", is very common in Carian onomastics. Other examples include just ''Uśoλ'' (𐊲𐊸𐊫𐊦 = grc, Υσσωλλος, "blessed"), ''Šaruśoλ'' (𐤭𐊠𐊥𐊲𐊸𐊫𐊦 = Σαρυσ(σ)ωλλος, "highly blessed"), and ''Pnuśoλ''/''Punwśoλ'' (𐊷𐊵𐊲𐊸𐊫𐊦/𐊷𐊲𐊵𐊿𐊸𐊫𐊦 = Πονυσσωλλος, "blessed by all").

Early Life

Mausolus was the eldest son of Hecatomnus, a native Carian who became the satrap of Caria shortly after Tissaphernes died, BCE. Mausolus succeeded his father upon Hecatomnus' death in 377 BCE. The two may have shared the rule of Caria in the early 370s BCE, though, shortly before the death of Hecatomnus. Their close relationship is illustrated in the family scenes from the sarcophagus of the tomb of Hecatomnus and Aba. They were also depicted alongside one another in a statue group from Caunos. Whether Mausolus held any real or ceremonial office before the period of his reign proper, however, is speculative.

Reign

Mausolus became satrap when his father Hecatomnus died in 377/6 BCE. He ruled alongside his wife, who was also his sister, Artemisia (known as Artemisia II to avoid confusion with the earlier Artemisia I Lygdamis). Because the two had no children, and incest of this type was not otherwise known in Caria, it is thought that their unusual marriage was entirely symbolic. Although only Mausolus was ever referred to as satrap, it is clear that Artemisia had some political authority as joint dynast while the two were still alive.

Mausolus and Artemisia moved their capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus early in their reign. Halicarnassus had historically been a Greek colony with a sizeable native population of Carians and Leleges. The city was refounded by Mausolus, being rebuilt on a new grid pattern. Its population was enlarged through a process of synoecism: residents of Carian villages nearby were relocated to the new capital city.

Mausolus participated in the Revolt of the Satraps, both on his nominal sovereign Artaxerxes II Mnemon's side and (briefly) against him. In 366 BCE, Mausolus together with Autophradates of Lydia, at the request of Artaxerxes, led the siege of Adramyttium against Ariobarzanes, one of the members of the Great Satraps' Revolt, until Agesilaus, king of Sparta, negotiated the besiegers' retreat.Gershevitch 1985, p. 378.

After the Satraps' Revolt, Mausolus and Artemisia came to rule Lycia, adding this territory to the southeast of Caria to their satrapy. Lycia had first been conquered by the Achaemenids at the same time as Ionia and Caria, by Harpagus, a general under Cyrus the Great. After the time of Harpagus, however, Achaemenid presence in Lycia was minimal and contested by the Delian League. The country came to be ruled by a series of minor dynasts, such as Kuprlli and Kheriga of Xanthos, Erbbina of Telmessos, and Arppakhu of Phellos. Pericles ( Lycian: 𐊓𐊁𐊕𐊆𐊋𐊍𐊁, ''Perikle'') of Limyra, a dynast based in eastern Lycia, came to dominate all of Lycia in the 370s and 360s BCE, breaking the historical dominance of the western dynasts based in and around Xanthos. He cast himself as a native Lycian fighting for liberation against Persians in western Lycia; one inscription explicitly describes his rival Arttum̃para as a Mede ( Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊗𐊗𐊒𐊐𐊓𐊀𐊕𐊀:𐊎𐊁𐊅𐊁, ''Arttum̃para mede''). Arttum̃para may have been one of two Achaemenid officials in Lycia whom Pericles contested, the other being Mithrapata. By rejecting Persian rule in the 370s and 360s BCE, Pericles was participating in the Revolt of the Satraps. Pericles' domination of an independent Lycia was ended by the Autophradates, the satrap of Lydia, at the end of the great revolt . Autophradates ruled Lycia himself for as 'king' and/or 'satrap' (TL 61: 𐊚𐊏𐊚 𐊜𐊑𐊗𐊀𐊇𐊀𐊗𐊀 𐊇𐊀𐊗𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊅𐊅𐊀𐊗𐊁𐊛𐊁, ''ẽnẽ xñtawata Wataprddatehe'', "while Autophradates was king"; TL 40d: 𐊜𐊖𐊖𐊀𐊅𐊕𐊀𐊓𐊀 𐊓𐊀 ���𐊈���, ''xssadrapa Pa z'', "Persian satrap"). Lycia had returned to the Achaemenid control. Autophradates ruled for only a short period, though, and rule of Lycia was transferred to Mausolus sometime in the period BCE.

Mausolus ruled Lycia as satrap in the later part of his reign. From this time onwards, independent Lycian coins were no longer struck, and instead coins of Mausolus and his successors circulated in Lycia. Although he did not conquer Lycia, he may have been militarily active there, as Stephanus of Byzantium tells us that he campaigned in Milyas to the north of Lycia. How Mausolus and Artemisia governed Lycia is not clear. The Pseudo-Aristotelian ''Economics'' records that Mausolus had a hyparch (ὕπαρχος, 'deputy') active in Lycia, although this account is far from trustworthy. A later trilingual inscription shows that their brother Pixodarus had garrison-commanders ( grc, ἐπιμελητής), which may have been true in Mausolus' time as well.

Mausolus and Artemisia made an alliance with Phaselis, a city at the eastern border of Lycia with Pamphilia, showing the extent of their domain. Theodectes of Phaselis, a tragic poet, wrote a play called ''Mausolus'' to honour the satrap at his funeral.

Mausolus also invaded Ionia and several Greek islands; and he cooperated with the Rhodians in the Social War against Athens.

Mausolus embraced Hellenic culture. He is best known for the monumental shrine, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, erected and named for him by order of his widow (who was also his sister) Artemisia. Antipater of Sidon listed the Mausoleum as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The architects Satyrus and Pythis, and the sculptors Scopas of Paros, Leochares, Bryaxis and Timotheus, finished the work after the death of Artemisia, some of them working (it was said) purely for renown. The site and a few remains can still be seen in the Turkish town of Bodrum. Derived from his name, the term ''mausoleum'' has come to be used generically for any grand tomb.

Mausolus was not beloved by all his subjects. Mausolus appears as a stereotypical despot or tyrant in the accounts of contemporary Greeks. The ''Economics'' attributed to Aristotle tells many stories about the injustice of his rule, in part because he needed to raise funds to pay tribute to the Achaemenid Great King. He supposedly deceived the people of Mylasa by telling them that Artaxerxes II 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' hyparch Condalos was also authoritarian, according to the ''Economics''. While collecting money for Mausolus, Condalos noted that the people of Lycia wore their hair long, unlike the Carians. He told his Lycian subjects that Artaxerxes demanded hair to make wigs (προκομία) for his horses. Mausolus therefore demanded that the Lycians shave their heads and send him their hair. If the Lycians did not want to shave their heads, they could pay their Carian governors in money instead of hair, and Mausolus could buy hair from the Greeks instead. The entire thing was a sham. No hair was sent anywhere, but Condalos and Mausolus made a lot of money.

Not all of Mausolus' subjects accepted his authoritarian rule easily. A series of inscriptions from Iasos and Mylasa record how Mausolus punished nobles who conspired against him. The most dramatic is from 355/4 BCE, late in Mausolus' reign, when he survived an assassination attempt by disaffected subjects during the royal procession at the yearly festival at Labraunda. A similar plot had been thwarted in Mylasa over a decade earlier (367/6 BCE). Alongside these attempts on Mausolus' life, he also punished a group of brothers who conspired to desecrate a statue of his father Hekatomnos in Mylasa (361/0 BCE). These same brothers were celebrated in Iasos, where the city granted them proxeny around this time, perhaps in defiance of Mausolus. Nonetheless, Iasos still punished a series of unknown conspirators against Mausolus in the 360s BCE, putting their property to auction.

Death

Mausolus died shortly after the failed assassination attempt at Labraunda. Diodorus Siculus tells us that he died in 353/2 BCE. Modern consensus agrees with this date, in part because Mausolus was known to have participated in the Social War (357–355 BCE), but had died by the time Demosthenes wrote his speech ''On the Liberty of the Rhodians'' (351 BCE). Pliny the Elder incorrectly claimed that Mausolus died in 351 BCE, which is when his sister and wife Artemisia passed away. It is unknown what he died of.

When Mausolus died, his remains were interred in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which he and Artemisia had been building while they were still alive. It is likely that the Mausoleum functioned as a heroön and that Mausolus received cult worship after his death.

Artemisia threw a lavish funeral for Mausolus, including games and ceremonies, in which many distinguished Greeks participated. Many of were students of Isocrates who themselves were from Greek cities within the Hecatomnid sphere of influence. Theopompus of Chios won the prose competition, defeating Isocrates. This may have been Isocrates of Apollonia, rather than the more famous Isocrates of Athens, who would have been very old at the time. Theodectes of Phaselis won the verse competition with a tragic play entitled ''Mausolus''. This coming together of famous and influential Greeks at Halicarnassus on the occasion of Mausolus' death, overseen by Artemisia, may be why she became so renowned for her grief in later tradition.

Mausolus and Artemisia had no children. After he died, his sister-wife Artemisia ruled alone for a short period before she herself died (353351 BCE). She was then succeeded by her brother and sister Idrieus and Ada, who were themselves married. There is no evidence that Artemisia was ever formally a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire, rather than just a local dynast. Only the men of the Hekatomnid family were ever referred to as satraps, as far as we know. So, although Artemisia succeeded Mausolus in real terms, his successor to the office of satrap was probably his brother Idrieus.

Centuries after the death of Mausolus, Lucian of Samosata wrote a dialogue between the deceased satrap and the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic, conversing in the afterlife. Although Mausolus ruled widely as satrap, was rich in his lifetime, and left behind a magnificent tomb in Halicarnassus, Diogenes taunts him, as they both have nothing after their deaths.

References

Bibliography

* Simon Hornblower: ''Mausolus'', Clarendon Press, Oxford 1982

External links

LiviusMausolus
by Jona Lendering

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{{Authority control

Year of birth unknown
353 BC deaths
Carian people
Achaemenid satraps of Caria
Hecatomnid dynasty