[Daffynition]

Halicarnassus was originally a Dorian colony of Greece. Things were swell and cultured for a while, but then Lygdamis came to power and started killing the poets. The long-winded Herodotus, a native of Halicarnassus, left in 457 BCE.

By 387 BCE the Dorian cities of Asia became subservient to Persia, and under the Persian satrap Mausolus things started looking up again.

The city prospered, and was wealthy enough for Mausolus’ widow Artemisia II (who was also his sister!) to build a gigantic tomb named the Mausoleum after its occupant. It was about 45 meters tall, and the exterior walls had sculptural reliefs. It was so gigantic and elaborate that it was included in the standard list of Seven Wonders of the World (compiled by one Antipater of Sidon). And, “Mausoleum” became a general term for an above-ground tomb, especially ones that were large, elaborate, or ideally, both.

IIRC, The Knights of Malta used what was left of the ruins after earthquakes and pillaging to built the castle. Today we call that recycling.

Bodrum is a nice little town.

[glide625]

The first thing we do is kill all the poets?

[colorado tanker]

There was a substantial Greek population on the coast until modern times. At the end of WWI Greece was awarded a piece of the Aegean and Black Sea coasts. It wasn't enough for the Greeks, who invaded to grab more. Ataturk rallied the Turks and threw the Greeks off the Anatolian mainland altogether. There was an exchange of populations after that nasty little war.

Kinda set the tone for Greek-Turkish relations the next century.