DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4376#0018
2 HISTORY OP CARIA.
It will be convenient, before entering on a detailed
account of tbe expedition itself, to give a brief
sketch of tbe bistory of Halicarnassus, and of tbe
nation and dynasty to which. Mausolus belonged,
and to recapitulate the few well-known passages in
classical or Byzantine writers which give us any
information on the subject of his celebrated tomb.
The ancient Caria, of which Halicarnassus ulti-
mately became the capital, was in historical times
a province on the western coast of Asia Minor;
bounded by Ionia on the north, Phrygia on the
north-east, and on the east by Lycia and Milyas.
On the west and south the sea was its frontier.
The history of Caria can be best understood by
tbe study of its physical features. The coast is
indented by gulfs running far inland, which afforded
great facilities and protection for early navigation.
Along these shores are a number of sheltered spots
convenient for the formation of small maritime
settlements, but the greater part of tbe coast is
separated from the interior by a barrier of rocky
mountains, which an invader could only penetrate
through easily defended passes.a
The origin and early history of the races who are
said to have first occupied Caria is involved, by tbe
admission of the ancients, in much uncertainty. It
a The perils of making war in Caria are recorded in a proverb
preserved by the scholiast on the Equites of Aristophanes, p. 350 :—
IloXXot trrparriyol Kapiav airtoXeaav,
as cited by Ste. Croix,—Memoires de l'lnstitut, Classe d'Hist.
Paris, 1815, ii. p. 562. I cannot, however, find this line in the
scholiast.
It will be convenient, before entering on a detailed
account of tbe expedition itself, to give a brief
sketch of tbe bistory of Halicarnassus, and of tbe
nation and dynasty to which. Mausolus belonged,
and to recapitulate the few well-known passages in
classical or Byzantine writers which give us any
information on the subject of his celebrated tomb.
The ancient Caria, of which Halicarnassus ulti-
mately became the capital, was in historical times
a province on the western coast of Asia Minor;
bounded by Ionia on the north, Phrygia on the
north-east, and on the east by Lycia and Milyas.
On the west and south the sea was its frontier.
The history of Caria can be best understood by
tbe study of its physical features. The coast is
indented by gulfs running far inland, which afforded
great facilities and protection for early navigation.
Along these shores are a number of sheltered spots
convenient for the formation of small maritime
settlements, but the greater part of tbe coast is
separated from the interior by a barrier of rocky
mountains, which an invader could only penetrate
through easily defended passes.a
The origin and early history of the races who are
said to have first occupied Caria is involved, by tbe
admission of the ancients, in much uncertainty. It
a The perils of making war in Caria are recorded in a proverb
preserved by the scholiast on the Equites of Aristophanes, p. 350 :—
IloXXot trrparriyol Kapiav airtoXeaav,
as cited by Ste. Croix,—Memoires de l'lnstitut, Classe d'Hist.
Paris, 1815, ii. p. 562. I cannot, however, find this line in the
scholiast.