Halicarnassus

Halicarnassus, a Greek city, originally known as Zephyria, and now called Budrun, is in Caria, Asia Minor. It was of Doric origin, and belonged for a time to the Hexapolis confederacy. It became of importance under Lygdamis, a Persian satrap of Greek birth, in 500 B.C., and reached its greatest glory under Mausolus and Artemisia a century and a half later. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, but its citadel held out against him. At Halicarnassus Herodotus, the father of history, was born. Interesting excavations have been made on the site of the ancient city during the present century.