Mausolus

Mouse Solos ( inscriptions also Maussollos ) or Mausolus II reigned 377-353 BC as a Persian satrap in Caria ( on the southwest coast of modern Turkey). His name lives on to this day in the tombs known as mausoleums. Mouse solos was the son of Hekatomnos of Mylasa and belonged to the dynasty of the Hekatomniden; his two brothers were Idrieus and Pixodaros, his sisters Artemisia II and Ada.

Since the Persian supremacy was only loosely and mouse Solos also understood during the Satrapenaufstände to maneuver skillfully and form a coalition, he reigned sovereign and enlarged its sphere of influence and sphere of influence. Without committing himself and to commit long term, he supported 365 BC the Persian central government, then 362 BC restrained the rebellious satraps and finally 357 BC the fallen members of the 2nd Athens Attic Seebunds, so also Rhodes Kos and his reign had been responsible.

Mouse Solos supported on the one hand the native Anatolian Carian culture, but on the other hand promoted Greek art and literature ( Hellenization ). Instead of the old Mylasa (today Milas ) he made around 367 BC, the port city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum) to equip the new capital of Caria and had it by Greek architects and artists with ostentatious buildings.

In addition, he was a tomb for himself in order that Maussoleion, which was not finished until under the rule of his sister, wife and successor, Artemisia. Because of its grandeur, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. His name has become a generic term for ostentatious grave sites and is a reminder of the Persian satrap. The building itself was later heavily damaged by an earthquake and its stones used to build the Crusader castle of Bodrum. Therefore, only the foundations and a few remains of the mausoleum are today, after excavations by Danish archaeologists visible.

After mouse Solos ' death, his widow Artemisia took over ( evidenced by an inscription stele from the Letoon ) and ruled until 351 BC successfully Caria and Rhodes the government. Legend has it that her love for her brother so large that they do not have to be expressed in words or poems. After his death, is such a big pain Artemisia have taken that they mixed the still warm ashes of her brother with wine drank to him to be a living grave. As a reminder to him she let the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus complete, had been begun in his lifetime of her brother.