hal-i-kar-nas'-us (Halikarnassos):  The largest and strongest
city of the ancient country of Caria in Asia Minor, situated on
the shore of a bay, 15 miles from the island of Cos. Its site
was beautiful; its climate temperate and even; the soil of the
surrounding country was unusually fertile and noted for its
abundance of fig, orange, lemon, olive and almond trees. When
the ancient country fell into the possession of the Persians,
the kings of Caria were still permitted to rule. One of the
rulers was the famous queen Artemisia who fought at the battle
of Salamis. The most famous of the kings, however, was
Maussollos (Mausolus), who ruled from 373 to 353 BC, and the
tomb in which he was buried was long considered one of the
wonders of the ancient world. Pliny describes the tomb as a
circular structure, 140 ft. high, 411 ft. in circumference, and
surrounded by 36 columns; it was covered with a pyramidal dome.
The ancient writer Vitruvius, in his description of the city,
says that the agora was along the shore;