Renewed display of the Carian Princess’ tomb in Halicarnassus

Bodrum Castle is the Underwater Archaeology Museum that holds the precious collection of the 3,500-years-old Uluburun shipwreck. Much less known are the separate buildings where the numismatic collection and the glasswork are exhibited. The eye-catcher, however, is the hall reserved for the Carian Princess.

Her tomb was found in 1989 with the skeleton still intact. She was lying with her arms crossed, surrounded by her grave goods that included a golden crown. Closer anthropological analysis revealed that she died when she was in her 40s and had at least one child. Based on the excellent condition of her teeth, it could be established that she enjoyed a good quality of life. The remains clearly belonged to a woman of high rank.

It was very tempting to attribute this tomb to Queen Ada, the youngest sister of King Mausolos. We will remember that after he died in 353 BC, it was his wife/sister Artemisia, who took over the rule of Caria. When she too died, the throne went to her younger brother, Idreus who had married his sister Ada. Idreus also died, and it was Ada’s turn to become Queen of Caria. But there was still another younger brother Pixodarus who hungered for power. He expelled the widowed Ada from Halicarnassus and she sought and found refuge in her stronghold of Alinda, further inland. Pixodarus aimed to befriend the Persians and ruled unofficially for a short while next to the Persian satrap Orontobates, who took over after Pixodarus’ death. This was the situation in Caria when Alexander the Great arrived at Halicarnassus in 334 BC.

Alexander besieged and eventually conquered Halicarnassus, and he generously handed Caria over to Queen Ada again. She ruled over her country till her death in 323 BC as she died in the same year as Alexander.

Further research about the lady in the sarcophagus has not been conclusive. It has been impossible to attribute the tomb to Queen Ada. That is the reason why it is safely called the Tomb of the Carian Princess.

The hall where these impressive remains are kept has now been refreshed and renewed according to the news published in the Hurriyet Daily News. What exactly has been changed in the setting or the presentation is unclear.

Thanks to facial reconstruction, this princess has been pieced together and until now she was meeting the visitor from the far end of the room. It was a very poignant encounter and I hope that she still gives that impression in the new setting. Said newspaper article does not include a picture of the renovated room but only states that with modern technology, visitors can download the photograph of the golden necklace and crown projected on the interactive screen via the QR Code.

Why can’t they share this picture on line, I wonder?

Alinda, the refuge fortress of Queen Ada of Caria

From 545 BC onwards, Caria was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire and as such was ruled by a satrap (governor). The most famous of them was Mausolus, who proclaimed Halicarnassus as his new capital – clearly a man with ambition and great visions. Mausolos married his sister Artemisia as was customary, and when he died childless in 353 BC, she continued ruling until her death. The power went to Artemisia’s younger brother, Idreus who had married his younger sister Ada. She ruled after her brother/husband died also. But there was still another younger brother, Pixodarus who hungered for the title of satrap and befriended the Persians. He expelled the widowed Ada from Halicarnassus and she sought and found refuge in her stronghold of Alinda, further inland.

Queen Ada managed to keep her independence in her fortress of Alinda but on Alexander’s approach in 334 BC, she decided to offer her surrender to the new conqueror and to adopt him as her own son – much to Alexander’s delight, no doubt. Alexander generously trusted Caria to Queen Ada who ruled over her country once again, except for the military affairs that were in the hands of a Macedonian garrison. She probably died in 323 BC, the same year as Alexander the Great.

Driving up to Alinda, it is quite clear that this is a very strategic location and the city’s defence walls running down into the fertile valley are there to prove it. The first constructions that welcome today’s visitor as he drives up from Karpuzulu are the remains of a Roman aqueduct with four arches still intact and a handful of scattered Carian sarcophagi. The heavily shattered and overgrown Roman theatre from the 2^nd century BC lies on the other side of the hill, just above the impressive market building. This is probably the best testimony of Alinda’s importance and was three storeys high. The highest level touches the agora measuring 30x30 meters.

It seems Alinda, as capital of Caria died together with Queen Ada as it was the last stronghold of the Carians. However, the city did not lose its importance entirely for Antiochus III established a garrison there in the mid-3^rd century BC but lost it to the Romans in the early 2^nd century BC.

Which Cnidos? Near modern Tekir or modern Datça? - Caria 4

History is often more complicated than it appears to be at first glance. The famous city of Cnidos, boasting about its unique statue of the first naked woman ever created in the shape of Aphrodite, is located at the end of the Dorian peninsula near today’s Turkish town of Tekir. The lizard-like peninsula is approximately forty miles long. Still, at no point more than eight miles wide, its name “Dorian” refers to the origin of its first settlers who came from the Greek city of Sparta, according to Herodotus.Being built shortly after 360 BC, it would have looked pretty new if Alexander the Great had visited Cnidos. We must imagine shining white stones and polished marbles enhanced with the bright colours on the pediments and the friezes of the many temples. This is one of those moments in life I wish I could travel back in time … 

Among the Carians, the Cnidians were renowned sailors who traded with cities all over the eastern Mediterranean and who, together with other Greeks, established several colonies, even as far as Sicily in the early 6th century BC. However, the best-known settlement is that of Naucratis founded as early as 610 BC in the Nile Delta, roughly 70 km away from the later city of Alexandria. 

Exceptionally, the Egyptian pharaoh allowed it to be called a city and named it Hellenium. Here a good half dozen states including Cnidos and Halicarnassus were allowed to trade, the only place in Egypt where Greeks were allowed to do so. The Cnidian entrepreneurship made them one of the most prosperous people in the Greek world and it is not surprising to see typical Cnidian amphora at the Archaeological Museum in Bodrum. I personally think that business was so flourishing that they could afford their own amphora factory and their own design with a cone-shaped base that served as a third handle - a funny-looking little knob. Cnidos of the wine from Chios. It was distributed all over the Mediterranean and the Aegean, reaching its peak between the 3rd and 1st century BC. This inexpensive, rather sweet wine called “protopon” was especially appreciated by the soldiers posted in Alexandria and Athens, it seems.

Yet the city of Cnidos was not always located near modern Tekir, which I visited (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?) but until about 360 BC was lying halfway the Dorian peninsula, near the pleasant harbor of modern Datça. Except for a few coastal patches, this peninsula had not much arable land between the mountains and the sea - most of the eastern end is truly bare. For that reason, the few villages settled near fertile land around the middle of the peninsula, exactly where I find Datça when sailing into its busy harbor. I don’t have the opportunity to investigate the scarce remains of this first settlement of Cnidos, but traces of a well-defended city wall dating to around 400 BC have been found. All we know of this city is based on the few stretches of walls, loose blocks, and solid foundations of a large building near the river-mouth, for most of it is now buried at considerable depth. The old city at Datça was not abandoned when the new Cnidos was built at the western tip of the peninsula, but since commerce was centered on this new efficient double harbor at Cape Crio, it is evident that the old location became less attractive. Looking at the overall landscape, I try to find the acropolis and the outlines of the ancient harbor. This is not easy, for the entire bay is crowded with ships and boats tied to the concrete shoreline where scores of cafés and restaurants compete for the tourist’s attention. To escape the crowds, the noise, and the invading music, I seem to walk around in circles, and I’m glad that we soon heave the anchor to rest in a more peaceful cove for our own meal on board.

Famous artists flocked to the new city of Cnidos. I mentioned Praxiteles earlier as the sculptor of the beautiful Aphrodite, but there were others, like Bryaxis who made a statue of Dionysus; Skopas who created another Dionysus and an Athena; the unknown creator of the famous head of Demeter that Newton found in the area; and finally Sostratos who eventually built the lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt. As early as the 5th century BC, Cnidos knew many good doctors, like for instance Euryphon who developed a new method to examine his patients. And there was Ctesias, in fact a historian whose excellent medical skills promoted him to become the personal physician of the Great Persian King. The most famous citizen of Cnidos is in my eyes the scientist, Eudoxus, a many-sided scholar, who is said to have built an observatory on top of the hill in Cnidos (the new city near Tekir, of course), but no trace has been found so far. Besides being an astronomer, he also was a mathematician, physician, geographer and philosopher. Some say that he was the one who wrote the code of laws for the new city – it would be interesting to find that out, wouldn’t it? He is known to have died about 355 BC (when Alexander was only one year old …).

The prosperity of Cnidos must not have gone unnoticed by the Persians who were ever pushing further westwards. After taking Lydia in 546 BC, they gradually moved further south and took possession of Caria by 353 BC. Yet their rule was a pretty loose one, and the Carians were happy with the way the Hecatomids treated them. When Alexander the Great arrived there in 334 BC, he found a Persian satrap governing the region while the Carian Queen Ada, the true successor to the throne of King Mausolus, was living in exile in Alinda. How and what Alexander decided to do with Cnidos is not documented. It probably was simply included in Ada’s Caria till she died as well as Alexander. After that, Cnidos became the scene of the unfortunate wars of Alexander’s successors.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Cnidos]
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Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos? - Caria 3

While history spends time and words about Alexander’s siege of Halicarnassus, close to nothing is known about him in connection with other Carian cities, except Alinda which I’ll treat later on. One of these cities is the important harbor of Cnidos situated at the tip of the Dorian Peninsula, 18 miles due south of Halicarnassus, today’s Bodrum. I had the immense pleasure of sailing into the ancient commercial harbor of Cnidos on yet another trip with Peter Sommer Travels and watching the old city unfold on either side of me. When our gullet, the Almira, threw her anchor and was securely roped to the rocks, I felt like stepping back in time. What an experience! 

What remains of Cnidos may not seem spectacular at first sight, but it is the overall setting with the two distinct harbors, one on the north side called the Trireme Harbor and the other one facing south, which I just entered, that makes the place so unique. Sailing along the Carian coastline is by itself an unforgettable experience. I always have visions of the daring seafarers from Phoenician, Greek, and Roman times who crossed these waters and witnessed the same rocky hills and peaceful coves, but entering one of those ancient harbors is absolutely rewarding! 

Cnidos was built in the 4th century BC. It was laid out in the Hippodamic plan inside a four-kilometer-long wall reinforced by forty towers to protect it on the land side. I’m amazed to learn that this port-city counted more than 70,000 inhabitants in its heydays. Cnidos was also known to shelter one of the four medical schools of antiquity, the Asclepion, with those at Pergamon, Epidaurus, and Kos. And last but not least, it was here that Praxiteles put his first nude woman ever on display, i.e., Aphrodite, who was worshipped as Aphrodite Euploia, de goddess of Good Sailing. The story goes that the people of Cos had ordered a statue of this deity from Praxiteles, but they rejected the nude figure he proposed and requested a clothed one instead. However, the residents of Cnidos accepted the nude statue of the goddess of love, an easy way to immortalize their city and bring in flocks of worshippers (today, we would speak of tourists). Praxiteles’ beautiful mistress and courtesan represented here has been saved for posterity thanks to its many copies over the centuries. It must have been so gorgeous and so lifelike that a young admirer fell deeply in love with her. One night, so the story goes, he sneaked into the sanctuary where she stood and embraced her. Since then, she bore a dark stain on one of her inner thighs where he had kissed her so passionately. The somewhat controversial “archaeologist” Iris Love pretended in 1969 that she had found the base of the circular temple where the statue once stood, but nothing is less certain. She also claims that the very head of this Aphrodite is resting in the basement of the British Museum. Yet, the museum authorities insist that the battered head belongs to Persephone, discovered by Charles Newton in the 19th century.

Cnidos still awaits discovery beyond the handful of houses and a small restaurant on the waterfront. Few excavations have been carried out over the years, yet just enough to entice the visitor’s appetite. Otherwise, we can let our imagination run freely. On the right-hand side of the harbor lies the eastern part of the city where we find the official buildings (theatre, temples, sanctuaries, etc.), while the left-hand side on the western tip of Cape Crio was occupied by the people of Cnidos.

On the hilly slopes, the city was built over several terraces. The Temple of Dionysus welcomes us like any visitors from eons past. It was converted into a church in Byzantine times, but excavations have removed most of those traces. Except for this church's rounded apse, we now walk over a clean floor searching for outlines of this once grand temple dedicated to the god of wine and pleasure. Right behind it and parallel to its long side runs a one hundred meters long Stoa (3rd century BC) leaning against a heavy back wall that still supports the higher terrace. It sheltered 25 small rooms for ceremonial use, all of the same size and opening up towards the temple. Most probably, this is where lavish banquets were held during the Dionysian festivals. Shards of tableware and offerings from the small corridor between the rooms and the back wall support this theory. This Stoa may have been two stories high. A few of the five-meter-high Corinthian columns added around the 2nd century AD have been re-erected to help our imaginary reconstruction. Small marble slabs still cling to the bottom of the rooms’ entrances next to stumps of columns, capitals, and architraves. 

At the western end of this Stoa, a Nympheion marks the corner with one of the stepped main streets running uphill. It is so fascinating walking over this marble pavement, wondering how many feet have trodden across the same floors and stairs over the centuries. It is hard to imagine what it would have looked like flanked by columns and leading to the entrance of the many temples and sanctuaries on either side. The remains of occasional earthen pipes show how the city coped with its water management. Looking over my shoulder about halfway through my climb, the old Trireme Harbor is in full view with the lighthouse on the highest top of Cape Crio behind it – I wonder if there was one there already in antiquity?

On my right, I pass one back wall after another, each supporting the terrace above. Then I reach the Propylaion, once covered with white marble, where Ionic columns straddled across the north-south and east-west cross-road and serving at the same time as the entrance to the Temple of Apollo Karneios built in early Hellenistic style. A spring of running water seems to be still in working order on the north side. Amazingly, the northern terrace wall steps were used to seat the visitors during the ceremonies – hard to picture. From here, I have a higher view over the Trireme or Military Harbor, and I clearly can see the round towers on either side of the entrance (in fact, both ends of the city walls) from where in case of danger, the harbor entrance could be closed off with a metal chain. The higher I climb, the better the overview of this harbor, which was very well protected and defended on all sides, and by now, I also can spot the Commercial Harbour. The very privilege of Cnidos is this double harbor. The prevailing winds along most of the Carian coast blow from the north, making it very difficult for the ships to enter the ports along this coastline. The lay-out in Cnidos is such that ships could and still can anchor at all times in either of the two harbors. Under northerly winds, the ships coming from the Aegean would enter the western harbor, while under southerly winds, those sailing from the eastern Mediterranean find shelter in the Commercial Harbour. The geographer Strabo tells us that in his days (end 1st century BC/early 1st century AD), a canal connected both harbors, making it possible for the ships to move from one side to the other, enabling them to sail by any wind. How ingenious! 

Close to the northern city wall, the so-called Round Temple lies at the far end of my upwards street, which Iris Love attributes to the famous Aphrodite. Well, as far as I’m concerned, this is hard to believe if we follow Lucian’s description of the site (2nd century AD), who places the temple amidst splendid gardens for which there certainly is no room on this terrace. From the accounts that have reached us, the temple stood on a round podium about 1.5 meters high with two steps still in situ and was surrounded by 18 Doric columns. It had no cella wall, but the space between the columns was closed with barriers reaching halfway to the roof. The statue's base that occupied its center, Aphrodite or not, measured approximately 1.3 x 1.10 meters. Based on Lucian’s description, one would not be able to walk around the statue inside the temple since he had to ask for the back door to be unlocked for him. Another theory suggests that this Round Temple was dedicated to Athena because of the inscription found on its pavement. Others tend to opt for Apollo instead because of the omphalos retrieved here, an exact copy of the one in Delphi. Many terracotta statues have been found in the close vicinity, among which curiously enough a quantity of erotic and pornographic pottery as referred to by Lucian. This Round Temple can be dated to the 2nd century BC based on the many elements. However, many questions still remain unanswered, and only time will tell.

At the far end of my upwards street, close to the northern city wall, lies the so-called Round Temple, the one which Iris Love attributes to the famous Aphrodite. Well, as far as I’m concerned this is hard to believe if we follow Lucian’s description of the site (2nd century AD), who places the temple amidst splendid gardens for which there certainly is no room on this terrace. From the accounts that have reached us, the temple stood on a round podium about 1.5 meters high with two steps that still are in situ and was surrounded by 18 Doric columns. It had no cella wall, but the space between the columns was closed with barriers reaching halfway to the roof. The base of the statue that occupied its centre, Aphrodite or not, measured approximately 1.3 x 1.10 meters. Based on Lucian’s description one would not be able to walk around the statue inside the temple since he had to ask for the back door to be unlocked for him. Another theory however suggests that this Round Temple where I am standing was dedicated to Athena because of the inscription found in its pavement. Others tend to opt for Apollo instead because of the omphalos that was retrieved here, an exact copy of the one in Delphi. Many terracotta statues have been found in the close vicinity, among which curiously enough a quantity of erotic and pornographic pottery as referred to by Lucian. This Round Temple can be dated to the 2nd century BC based on the many elements. However, many questions still remain unanswered, and only time will tell. 

A little further to the east are the remains of a Corinthian Temple, definitely Roman (second half 2nd century AD) that counted four columns at the entrance. However, the cella walls were decorated with six half-columns on the outside and pilasters on the inside. Money seems to have been an issue as this temple is entirely built of white marble. I find the top of the pediment and a stone shield from its relief decoration, probably once covered in gold among the scattered stones. Underneath that temple, another Byzantine church has been excavated with a clear apse and out-of-place Arabic graffiti on its pavement. Nearby stands a genuine sundial from Hellenistic times, like a marble pulpit sharing its wisdom with the sun.

Walking back down to the waterfront, I can’t miss the Greek theatre that counted 35 rows and must have seated 5,000 people (definitely far from enough for the 70,000 inhabitants mentioned earlier). Overall it is pretty well preserved, although the footing is rather loose, and I wouldn’t venture beyond the first couple of top rows. An exciting feature is a vaulted entrance because it could be Greek and not Roman, as one would automatically assume. The theatre was altered in Roman times with a skene behind the orchestra. This orchestra lying below street level may have been turned into a small pool for naval games. As always, the location is superb, with both harbors at your feet. This by itself would be enough to entertain the theatre-goer before or after the spectacle! 

That evening we have a fish barbecue on board, a fairy-like sight of red-hot glowing charcoal against the orange-pinkish sky after sunset. The black masts of our gulet stand out against this fiery background, and by the time we hit our bunks, the waves peacefully rock us to sleep.

Click on the Label Caria 2012 to read the full story.
[Click here to see all the pictures of Cnidos]

Halicarnassus, capital of Caria

As part of the Persian Achaemenid’s Empire from 545 BC onward, Caria was governed by a succession of uneventful satraps (governors). The first satrap to make Caria more independent was Hyssaldomus of Mylasa – the capital city at that time. He was succeeded by his son, Hecatomnos, followed in turn by his son, Mausolos in 377 BC. Mausolos was a man with ambition and quite a visionary. He really established Caria’s independence, rebuilt the cities of Myndos and Syangela, fortified the city walls of Latmos and Caunos, and as if it were the most evident step, moved everyone else to Halicarnassus, which he proclaimed his new capital to replace Mylasa because its location was more favorable. Mausolos married his sister Artemisia, as was customary, and when he died childless in 353 BC, she was the one to finish the construction of the grand Mausoleum. She continued ruling until she too died from grief, it is said, after which the power went to her younger brother, Idreus. Idreus had married his younger sister Ada, who ruled after her brother’s/husband’s death. But there was still another younger brother, Pixodarus, who hungered for the title of satrap. He expelled the widowed Ada from Halicarnassus and she sought and found refuge in her stronghold of Alinda, further inland. Pixodarus aimed to befriend the Persians and ruled unofficially for a short while next to the Persian satrap Orontobates, who took over after Pixodarus’ death. This is the situation in Caria when Alexander the Great arrives at Halicarnassus in 334 BC.

The city of Halicarnassus was built as a natural theater around its well protected harbor and was, on the land side, defended by a seven kilometres-long wall dating from 365 BC, the reign of King Mausolos. This wall ran along the surrounding hillcrests, meaning that the approaching enemy could be watched and attacked from higher grounds, giving the city an unmistakable advantage. Only a few parts of that city wall are still visible today as most of Halicarnassus is hidden under the modern houses and streets of Bodrum.

Arrian tells us that when Alexander arrived from Mylasa in the east, he set up camp about half a mile from this well-fortified city. The very next day, he faced the first attack without difficulty. A few days later, hoping to find an easier approach, Alexander moved to the other side of Halicarnassus near the road to Myndos (modern Gümüşlük). Luckily for us, this Myndos city gate has been preserved and partially restored, giving us an insight into what Alexander was up against. The imposing towers of andesitic blocks open up into a well-defended courtyard from where another gate led into the city. Next to the Myndos Gate, a short stretch of city wall is still visible surrounded by the remains of the moat which, according to Arrian, ran 45 feet wide and 23 feet deep. These measurements seem to fit with what I see here, including the restored trench that runs over a length of some fifty meters. The feel of it alone is a unique experience and it is very rewarding to stand between the towering walls of the gate itself, where I easily picture Alexander shouting orders amidst the battle-cries of the Macedonians.

The Persians had amassed a substantial force of troops and mercenaries at Halicarnassus, under the leadership of the Rhodian general Memnon whom the Persian King Darius had by now appointed to control all of Asia Minor and to command the Persian fleet anchored in the harbor below. We’ll remember how Memnon, although under the command of the Persian satrap Arsites,  had lost the previous confrontation with Alexander at the Granicus a year earlier, and we can be sure that he was not willing to face another defeat.

Here on the Myndos (western) side of the city, Alexander started to fill the moat without much difficulty and brought his siege engines in position. The Halicarnassians didn’t waste any time either and as soon as darkness fell they set fire to the siege towers, but the Macedonians on guard acted promptly and extinguished the fire.

Meanwhile, it was on the Mylasa (eastern) side that another situation developed, involving two Macedonian infantrymen who one evening were bragging about their bravery. Under the influence of wine, their boasting reached such extremes that they decided to grab their weapons and set out to conquer Halicarnassus single-handed. The guards on the city walls reacted, the two soldiers got support from their mates and friends, the defenders got their own reinforcements, and in no time the brawl turned into a full-blooded battle. Halicarnassus was nearly taken and would have been if the attack had been organized and planned in full force. I’m not sure how Alexander took this incident, I don’t think all too kindly. The next morning, Alexander brought in his siege engines, which were again promptly torched by the town’s people. Yet as soon as the King appeared in person, the brave attackers hurriedly withdrew.

All in all, however, the defenders of Halicarnassus had the advantage of a commanding view over their enemy from the height of the city walls. Alexander personally led a new attack, his catapults hurling heavy stones towards the walls and soon a breach was made. The defenders counterattacked on two fronts, one group pouring out of the gap in the wall and another near the Tripylum Gate (north side). Disaster struck at this gate when the Macedonians had to retreat in force over a bridge across the moat. The narrow bridge collapsed and the soldiers were either trampled or shot by their comrades in the commotion. One such bridge has been reinstalled over the moat at the Myndus Gate, a shivering thought when you know this story. Worst of all was the slaughter which occurred near the city gates where the over-anxious Persians and mercenary soldiers, in order to keep the Macedonians out, were shutting their own men out. Lots of them were stranded before closed doors and turned out to be easy prey for the Macedonians who simply cut them down there and then. Once again, Alexander nearly took the city. This is what Arrian tells us.

If however, we follow Diodorus, we read a rather different story. He tells us that Memnon collected two thousand picked men equipped with lighted torches. At daybreak he threw the city gates wide open, and while one group of his soldiers set fire to the Macedonian siege engines he led the other to attack Alexander’s men who were moving forward to extinguish the fire. At this stage, Alexander himself sounded the attack. Under dense showers of missiles, the Macedonians killed the fires, sustaining heavy losses. That was however too much for the Macedonian veterans who were witnessing these events from a distance as they themselves were exempted from duty. After all, they had served under King Philip, Alexander’s father, and were far more experienced. Besides, they felt that the honor of Macedonia was at stake as well. They joined the fight and with great effort, the Macedonians pushed the enemy back within the city walls and Alexander sounded the recall.

At this point, according to Arrian again, Orontobates and Memnon set up a meeting to discuss further action since part of the city wall was gone and other parts were seriously damaged. It was clear they couldn’t hold out much longer. Besides, they had suffered heavy losses. They still had the harbor with the fleet in their hands, but the ships were of no use in the present situation. It was decided to set the city’s magazine on fire as well as the houses close to the walls, but strong winds spread the flames all over the city. When reports of these fires reached Alexander, he immediately took action and ordered his Macedonians to kill every man they saw setting buildings afire. The inhabitants, however, should be spared and rescued. Meanwhile, the surviving enemy army withdrew to the Arconese, an island stronghold in the harbor of Halicarnassus (where today’s fort is located, probably on top of the Carian Royal Palace - now attached to the land), and on the high grounds of the Acropolis.

Diodorus simply mentions that Memnon decided to abandon the city, moving his best men to the acropolis with sufficient provisions, and sending the rest of the army to the nearby island of Cos. When Alexander discovered this move the next morning, he razed the city (although we may wonder how much of the city was actually razed) and surrounded the citadel with a formidable wall and trench. Arrian, on the other hand, simply tells us that Alexander decided not to besiege the Persians in their strongholds which were difficult to take. Besides, such a siege would not bring him much advantage as the city of Halicarnassus was already his.

Alexander generously handed Caria over to Queen Ada who ruled over her country once again. She probably died in 323 BC, the same year as Alexander the Great. As to Memnon, he organized fierce opposition in the Aegean which could have been a serious threat to Alexander’s back had he not died of illness on Lesbos in 333 BC.

Since I first was here with Peter Sommer on his tour "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" I was mesmerized by the locations that spoke to me as if the battle had happened just yesterday. Since then, I have returned several times, and each time I am rewarded with new vivid memories of what happened here 2,500 years ago.

Click on the Label Caria 2012 to read the full story

[Click here to see all the pictures of Halicarnassus]