city state · Greece and the Aegean

Halicarnassus

900 BCE – 377 BCE (approx.) · capital Halicarnassus

Greek and Carian port city, birthplace of Herodotus and home of Queen Artemisia, which became the capital of Mausolus and the site of his Mausoleum.

Origins

Halicarnassus was founded by Dorian settlers from Troezen on a bay of the Carian coast, beside native Carian communities, and the two populations mixed. It belonged to the Dorian Hexapolis but, according to Herodotus, was expelled after one of its citizens carried off a prize tripod.

Rule and society

Under the Achaemenid Empire it was ruled by a Carian-Greek dynasty: Lygdamis I and his daughter Artemisia I, who commanded ships for Xerxes at Salamis in 480 BCE. Herodotus, born there, opposed Lygdamis II and went into exile. After the tyranny ended, Halicarnassus joined the Delian League.

Decline and legacy

Mausolus of Hecatomnid Caria made Halicarnassus his capital in the 370s BCE, absorbing it into his dynastic state; his tomb, the Mausoleum, was a Wonder of the World. Alexander besieged the city in 334 BCE. It is modern Bodrum.

Lineage

HalicarnassusHecatomnid Caria 395 BCE – 334 BCE

Connections (2)

Halicarnassus was part of Achaemenid Empire546 BCE – 479 BCE
Halicarnassus was part of Delian League478 BCE – 412 BCE

More states of Greece and the Aegean →

Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Halicarnassus. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/halicarnassus
MLA: “Halicarnassus.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/halicarnassus. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Halicarnassus.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/halicarnassus.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Halicarnassus’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/halicarnassus (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻