Carian people

Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, Karia; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian mainlanders and they called themselves Caria because of the name of their king. He reports the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in seafaring and were akin to the Mysians and the Lydians. The Carians spoke Carian, a native Anatolian language closely related to Luwian. Also closely associated with the Carians were the Leleges, which

Mausolus ( or , Mauśoλ) was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by his father Hecatomnus ( ), who was the first satrap of Caria from the hereditary Hecatomnid dynasty. Alongside Caria, Mausolus also ruled Lycia and parts of Ionia and the Dodecanese islands. He is best known for his monumental tomb and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the construction of which has traditionally been ascribed to his wife and sister Artemisia.

4th-century BC female ruler of Caria

4th-century BC Satrap and Queen of Caria

Pixodarus or Pixodaros (in Lycian 𐊓𐊆𐊜𐊁𐊅𐊀𐊕𐊀 Pixedara; in Greek Πιξώδαρoς; ruled 340–334 BC), was a satrap of Caria, nominally the Achaemenid Empire Satrap, who enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position his predecessors of the House of Hecatomnus (the Hecatomnids) created when they succeeded the assassinated Persian Satrap Tissaphernes in the Carian satrapy. Lycia was also ruled by the Carian dynasts since the time of Mausolus, and the name of Pixodarus as ruler appears in the Xanthos trilingual inscription in Lycia.

Hecatomnus of Mylasa or Hekatomnos (, Carian: 𐊴𐊭𐊪𐊵𐊫 k̂tmno “under-son, descendant(?)”) was an early 4th-century BC ruler of Caria. He was the satrap (governor) of Caria for the Persian Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II (404–358 BC). However, the basis for Hecatomnus' political power was twofold: he was both a high appointed Persian official and a powerful local dynast, who founded the hereditary dynasty of the Hecatomnids. The Hecatomnids followed the earlier autochthonous dynasty of the Lygdamids (520-450 BC) in Caria.

charioteer and lover of Roman Emperor Elagabalus (died 222)

thumb|upright=1.23|Achaemenid coinage of Caria during the reign of Idrieus. Circa 350-341 BC. thumb|left|Tomb of Idrieus in Labraunda (present day [[Turkey)]] Idrieus, or Hidrieus (; died 344 BC) was a ruler of Caria as a Satrap under the Achaemenid Empire. Alongside his sister and wife Ada, he enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position he inherited from his predecessors of the House of Hecatomnus (the Hecatomnids).

thumb|300px|Location of Caria within the classical regions of Asia Minor thumb|Carian soldier of the Achaemenid army . Tomb of [[Xerxes I.]] thumb|Ancient copy of the cult image of a local Hellenistic goddess as [[Aphrodite at Aphrodisias]] The Carians (; , Kares, plural of , Kar) were the ancient inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia, who spoke the Carian language.

thumb|right|upright=1.2|Caria, under the Hecatomnids. thumb|upright=0.5|Statue of a Hecatomnid ruler, perhaps Mausolus ([[British Museum)]] The Hecatomnid dynasty or Hecatomnids were the rulers of Caria and surrounding areas BCE. They were satraps (governors) under the Achaemenid Empire, although they ruled with considerable autonomy as a hereditary dynasty. The dynasty had previously ruled the city of Mylasa, which became the capital of Hecatomnus, the first indigenous satrap of Caria. The dynastic capital was moved to Halicarnassus by Mausolus and Artemisia, who built the Mausoleum at Halica

Hermeias () or Hermias (; Greek: Ἑρμείας or Ἑρμίας; died 220 BC) was a Carian by birth, who had raised himself to be the favourite and chief minister of Seleucus III Ceraunus (225–223 BC), and was left at the head of affairs in Syria by that monarch when he set out on the expedition across the Taurus Mountains, in the course of which Seleucus met with his death, 223 BC.

eponymous king of Caria, inventer of augury from birds

Aridolis () was a tyrant of Alabanda in Caria, who accompanied the Achaemenid king Xerxes I in his expedition against Greece, and was taken by the Greeks off Artemisium in 480 BCE, and sent to the isthmus of Corinth in chains. His successor may have been Amyntas II (son of Bubares).

Damasithymus (; ; died 480 BC) was the king of Calyndos (), a city in ancient Caria. His father was Candaules ().