Mauso'lus
（
*Mau/swlos or
Μαύσσωλος, the latter form is that found on his coins), king or dynast of Caria, was the eldest son of Hecatomnus, whom he succeeded in the sovereignty. If the chronology of Diodorus be correct, his accession may be placed in B. C. 377.
But the first occasion on which he appears in history is not till long afterwards, in B. C. 362, when he took part in the general revolt of the satraps against Artaxerxes Mnemon. (
Diod. 15.90.)
He is said to have at that time already possessed several strong fortresses and flourishing cities, of which his capital, Halicarnassus, was the most conspicuous; but he appears to have availed himself of the opportunity of that war to extend his dominions by conquest, having overrun great part of Lydia and Ionia as far as Miletus, and made himself master of several of the neighbouring islands. (Lucian.
Dial. Mori. xxiv.; and comp.
Polyaen. 7.23.2.) His ambition was next turned towards the more important acquisitions of Rhodes and Cos; and it was apparently as a preliminary step to that object that he overthrew the democracy in the former island, and established there an oligarchical government in the hands of his own friends. (Dem.
de Rhod. Lib. pp. 191, 198.) Shortly after (B. C. 358) he joined with the Rhodians, Byzantians, and Chians in the war waged by them against the Athenians, known by the name of the Social War, of which indeed he was, according to Demosthenes, the prime mover and instigator, though we do not hear of his taking any farther part in it than sending a body of troops to assist in the defence of Chios. (Dem. 1. c.;
Diod. 16.7.)
He died, according to Diodorus (
16.36) in B. C. 353, after a reign of twenty-four years, leaving no children, and was succeeded by his wife and sister Artemisia.
The extravagant grief of the latter for his death, and the honours she paid to his memoryespecially by the erection of the costly monument, which was called from him the Mausoleum, and was accounted one of the seven wonders of the world-are well known. [ARTEMISIA.] On occasion of the consecration of that monument, a prize was proposed by Artemisia for the best panegyric of her husband, and the praises of Mausolus were celebrated by rival orators, among whom Theopompus was the successful candidate. (
Gel. 10.18.) Nevertheless, the character transmitted to us of the Carian prince is by no means one of unmixed praise.
He is said to have been very greedy of money, which he sought to accumulate by every means in his power, and thus amassed vast treasures at the expense of his subjects.
The sums thus accumulated were in great part expended upon the decoration of his new capital, Halicarnassus, to which he had transferred the seat of government from Mylasa, the residence of the former princes of Caria, and where he not only constructed a splendid palace for himself, but adorned the city with a new agora, temples, and many other public works. So much taste and judgment, as well as magnificence, were displayed by him in these improvements, that they are cited by Vitruvius as a model in their kind. (
Vitr. 2.8. §§ 11, 13.)
The reception afforded by him to the astronomer Eudoxus (
D. L. 8.87) is also a sign that he was not without tastes of an elevated character. (
Strab. xiv. p.656; Lucian.
l.c. ; Theopomp. apud
Harpocrat. et Suid. s. vv. Μαύσωλος, Ἀρτεμισία;
Polyaen. 7.23.1;
Plin. Nat. 36.6.) Concerning the chronology of his reign see Clinton,
F. H. vol. ii. p. 286.
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E.H.B]
