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II. THE TOMB OF MAUSOLUS.

My eyes have looked on the Wall of Babylon and on the Zeus by the Alpheus [Olympia], and on the Hanging Gardens, and the colossal Helios [Rhodes], and on the high Pyramids, and the gigantic monument of Mausolus, but when I saw the vast Temple of Artemis [Ephesus] soaring to the clouds, the others were all dimmed, for except in Heaven the Sun has never looked on like."-ANTIPATER OF SIDON (c. 100 B.C.) ON THE SEVEN WONders.

SOURCES AND THE SITE.

IN the British Museum Catalogue of Greek Sculpture, vol. ii., pp. 66 and 67, are set out small prints of eight various restaurations which have been suggested for the world-famous Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, together with a good bibliography of the subject. Having been interested in the noble remnants of this puzzling monument preserved in the Museum, I was drawn on to read what had been written on the subject with the hope of discovering that which had been proved in regard to it and what is mere embroidery of conjecture. I propose to review the evidence of the stones themselves, and to bring out the points in what has been written which seem to me most in accordance with the facts.

The main sources of evidence are three-the marbles in the

Museum, Newton and Pullan's acct of their discovery,* and

a short description by Pliny. As shown by the surveys, the city. of Halicarnassus was built around a deep, almost circular natural harbour. It was rebuilt by Mausolus, and his great monument has such a prominent position in the centre of the scheme that Adler is probably right in arguing that it was begun by himself before his death, in 353 B.C. The city is so

*Cited below as Newton for text and Pullan for plates.

D

accurately described by Vitruvius that it almost seems that he might have visited the Mausoleum, which it is clear that he regarded as supreme among buildings. "The site of the city is like a theatre in form. On the lowest part by the harbour is the Forum, on the curve, higher up, about the middle, was a broad street or precinct, in the centre of which stood the Mausoleum, a work so marvellous that it was counted among the seven wonders of the world. In the centre of the highest part of the city was the Temple of Mars, with a colossal akrolithic statue. At the right hand point of the curve was the Temple of Venus and Mercury and the Fountain of Salmacis. On the left horn stood the Royal Palace, planned by Mausolus himself."*

The explorations of Sir C. Newton laid bare the platform of the Mausoleum, which was "cut like a step in the side of the rising hill. . . . It is probable that it was connected with the Agora, which was on the shore of the harbour below, by a series of terraces." The monument stood in a temenos, apparently over three hundred feet square, and within this space, on the south and east at least, there were also terraces. Towards the northern peribolus wall the actual foundations were discovered, in an area which had been excavated out of the rocky platform to various. depths, but always with level surfaces. The depth averaged about 10 feet. This space was rectangular, 108 feet north and south by 127 feet east and west. There were some extensions

* In an account of the site by Covel (c. 1675) he mentions the walls and the fountain (B.M. MSS.).

beyond the general form, and to the west a rock-cut flight of steps descended to the bottom. "The whole of this area had been filled up with the courses of the foundation, consisting of slabs of a coarse green stone, strongly bound together with iron cramps, and generally about 4 feet square by I foot thick. In some places as many as three courses of those foundation slabs remained." (Fig. 30.) A still better account of the great foundation is given by Lieutenant Smith in a Government paper describing the excavations. "The cavity appeared like a bed cut out to receive the foundations. The whole of this quadrangle is cut out of the rock to depths varying from 2 to 16 feet below the surface. Where the rock has failed at the sides the line of cutting is continued as a wall. Throughout the area the rock is cut in beds or levels at different depths, caused by the irregularity of the ground." The site seems to have been originally a quarry. This accounts for the irregularities of depth and the extensions beyond the square.

Besides this immensely strong basis, fragments of marble columns and entablature were found sufficient to give data for a complete restoration of an "order," also many fine sculptures, including friezes, and a quantity of wide step-like stones suitable for roofing. The sculptures and architectural fragments are now exhibited in the Mausoleum Room of the British Museum.

The description of the Mausoleum given by Pliny also furnishes important data. It is to this effect:-It was 63 feet on the north and south sides, and shorter on the front. Its entire circuit was 411 (or 440) feet, and the height [of this part?] was 25 cubits (37 feet), around the pteron (peristyle) were 36 columns. Four famous artists wrought the sculptures on the several fronts. A pyramid equal to the lower part in height surmounted the pteron, diminishing in 24 steps to a meta (generally a steep cone or pyramid). On the summit was a marble chariot the work of Pythis (Pythios, the architect), the total height being 140 feet.

Falkener, in an article in the "Museum of Classical Art," brought together one or two other notices. Lucian says: "Nothing is equal to it either in size or beauty. It is enriched with the most perfect works of art, with statues of men and horses of costly marble, such as can hardly be found in temples, so that it

is the perfect model for all tombs." Pausanias also says that its size was great and its decorations magnificent.

It is easy from these accounts to get some general idea of the monument, and before the site had been explored many

A

B

Fig. 31.-Types of Proposed Restorations.

restorations had been suggested. The finds fully confirmed the general good faith and accuracy of the descriptions. One main difficulty of interpretation arose in that sides of 63 feet and shorter fronts will not make up a circuit of 411 or 440 feet, and the restorations fall into two groups-(A) the small plan.

type, and (B) the large plan type. In the type A the 36 columns are arranged in two rows, in the type B in a single row. (See Fig. 31.)

THE PERISTYLE.

I have felt that it might be possible, by a detailed examination of the order, to obtain data which should offer proofs of one or the other types of restoration proposed; for in the order of the Mausoleum, if anywhere, we may expect an example of systematic relation of parts. Vitruvius tells us how Pythios, its architect, with other contemporaries, gave up the Doric order because of the incongruous arrangements which arose in its use, and how Pythios wrote commentaries on architecture and a special description of the Temple of Athene at Priene, of which he was also the architect, at a later time. Moreover, "Satyrus and Phyteus,* who were very fortunate," wrote on the Mausoleum itself. The beautiful order of the Mausoleum, says Laloux, was considered to have "particularly happy proportions, and they were copied in the principal productions of the school of Pythios." Adler speaks with less than enthusiasm of the order, but he judged only from poor, dry, and inaccurate prints. The actual stones at the Museum are surely very beautiful.

For

It is most difficult to get any statement of accurate dimensions of the order. Pullan's measurements, figured on his plates, are acknowledged to be untrustworthy, and the Museum should publish an amended account of the remains. instance, Pullan gives the small top diameter as 2, 9.65.† The Museum Catalogue says that "the diameter at the top of the flutes is 36" He gives a flute at the bottom as 4.5 inches; in fact, it is over 5.5. The large diameter he gives as 3, 5.35. In the Museum Catalogue the bottom diameter is not given, but only the sizes of the two top drums.

I have had the advantage of consulting a set of careful, fullsized drawings of this order, made by students of the Archi

The mistake must be, I think, that Pullan intended 3.535 feet.