Artemisia II of Caria

Who was Artemisia II of Caria?

Artemisia II of Caria was both the sister and the wife, as well as the successor, of Mausolus, ruler of Caria, who was nominally the Persian Satrap; Mausolus enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created through the efforts of their father Hecatomnus and himself after the former succeeded the assassinated Persian Satrap Tissaphernes in the Carian satrapy. After the death of her brother/husband she reigned for two years, from 353 to 351 BC. Her administration was conducted on the same principles as the one of her husband, whence she supported the oligarchical party on the island of Rhodes.