Artemisia

Artemisia, the sister and wife of Mausolus (or Maussollus), king of Caria, was sole ruler from about 353 to 350 B.C. She has immortalized herself by the honours paid to the memory of her husband. She built for him, in Halicarnassus, a very magnificent tomb, called the Mausoleum, which was one of the seven wonders of the world, and from which the name mausoleum was afterwards given to all tombs remarkable for their grandeur. She appointed panegyrics to be composed in his honour, and offered valuable prizes for the best oratorical and tragic compositions. She also erected a monument, or trophy, in Rhodes, to commemorate her conquest of that island. When the Rhodians regained their freedom they built round this trophy so as to render it inaccessible, whence it was known as the Abaton. There are statues of Mausolus and Artemisia in the British Museum.

Vitruvius ii. 8; Diodorus Siculus xvi. 36; Cicero, Tusc. iii. 31; Val. Max. iv. 6.

* * *