Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία

1. Family

Ada I was the fourth child of the satrap of Caria, Hecatomnus of Mylasa. She was the sister of Mausolus, Artemisia, Idrieus and Pixodarus. She married her brother, Idrieus, which is confirmed by ancient writers. Arrian says they were married according to the Carian custom. The phenomenon of incest in the Hecatomnids is explained by their wish to maintain control over their wealth and power.¹

2. Activity

When Artemisia II died in 351/350 BC, Idrieus and Ada succeeded her and ruled jointly the satrapy of Caria, as evidenced by a resolution found at the sanctuary of Sinuri.² But when her husband died in 344/343 BC, Ada ruled Caria single-handedly until 341/340 BC. It is not known whether Ada was officially called “satrap” when she succeeded her husband in power, because it is not known whether this title was awarded to women in the Persian Empire. In 341/340 BC she was dethroned by her usurper brother, Pixodarus, and retired to Alinda. When Pixodarus died in 335/334 BC, the command of the satrapy was given by the Persian king Darius III to Orontobates, the husband of Ada II, daughter of Pixodarus.³

In 334 BC Alexander the Great invaded Caria and Ada surrendered Alinda to him and proclaimed him her adopted son. The adoption of Alexander was a political move for their common benefit. Ada secured her restoration to the Carian power with the help of Alexander’s military help against Orontobates, while Alexander secured the Carian support, as he was officially recognised as the legal heir to the Hecatomnid dynasty. According to Strabo, Alexander recognised Ada as the queen of Caria. Ada attacked and captured Halicarnassus, aided by Ptolemy and Asnader, Alexander’s generals, although it is doubted whether she headed the attack.⁴

3. Construction Projects and Monuments

Idrieus and Ada were associated with the construction of two extremely important architectural monuments of Asia Minor, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the temple of Athena in Priene. The two rulers probably continued the construction of the Mausoleum, as it has not been verified whether the splendid burial monument was completed in the years of Artemisia. What is more, Ada’s portrait has been identified in one of the heads of the colossal statues that used to adorn the monument. Modern researchers assume that the two Carian tyrants funded the construction of the temple of Athena in Priene. Moreover, the head of a female statue found in the temple is considered to be the idealistic representation of Ada; the head is quite similar to the representation of the Mausoleum.⁵

As regards the representations of Ada in monuments of mainland Greece, two examples may be reported. The Milesians offered bronze statues of Idrieus and Ada to the Delphi oracle of Apollo. The statues were made by the sculptor Satyros and the only part preserved is the pedestal with the votive inscription. Τhis sculptural group (syntagma) must have been erected before 344 BC, that is, before Idrieus died, in the period when the couple were the joint rulers of Caria.⁶ A small votive relief representing Idrieus and Ada worshipping Zeus Stratius or Labraundeus, who is standing between them, was found in Tegea. This stele was originally believed to have been offered to the temple of Athena Alea by an unknown person and must have been erected when Idrieus and Ada were the joint rulers of Caria.⁷ However, according to a more recent opinion, the presence of the two monuments representing the two Hecatomnids in the Panhellenic sanctuaries of the Delphi and Tegea led to the assumption that the two Carian tyrants possibly contributed financially to the reconstruction of the temple of Apollo and the temple of Athena Alea in the mid-4th century BC.⁸

4. Death

Nothing is known about Ada’s death. Since philological sources report Philoxenos as the satrap of Caria in 324/323 BC, Ada must have died circa 324/323 BC, which justifies the presence of a Macedonian in the office of the satrap of Caria. Therefore, Philoxenos was the immediate successor of Ada.⁹ Quite recently a grave extremely rich in goods was found in Halicarnassus. Judging from the goods, the grave is dated to the second half of the 4th century BC and must belong to a dead woman aged around forty. It possibly belongs to Ada I.¹⁰

5. Evaluation and Judgement

As regards the first phase of the joint rule of Ada and Idrieus, it should be mentioned that contemporary research associates the two tyrants with the re-foundation of Priene towards the mid-4th c. BC, as the Ionian city was close to their sphere of influence, Caria.¹¹ As regards the rule of Ada in Caria, our knowledge is very limited. In the second period, that is, after Caria was captured by Alexander the Great in 334 BC, the Hecatomnids must have been deprived of their power and wealth. The Hecatomnid fleet and army as well as the commercial supremacy of the dynasty were permanently lost and Ada was completely unable to revive them due to economic distress. No coins attributed to Ada have been found, while the Hecatomnid coinage must have been suspended towards the late 330 BC. Ada was the last Hecatomnid satrap, who experienced the decline of this great dynasty, as well as the first Carian satrap of Alexander the Great, who lived at the beginning of the new era.¹²

1. Strabo 14.2.17; Diod. S., ΧVI.69.2; Αrr., Αn. Ι.23.7; RE I.1 (1893), column 339, see entry “Ada” (W. Judeich); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology I (1856), p. 18, see entry “Ada” (C. P. Mason); Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), p. 359; Alpozen, O., “Ada I revived in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Some museological considerations”, in Pedersen, P. - Isager, J. (ed.), Hekatomnid Caria and the Ionian Renaissance, Acts of the International Symposium at the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, Odense University, 28-29 November 1991 (Odense 1994), p. 111; Bosworth, A.B., A Historical Commentary on Arrian’s History of Alexander I (Oxford 1980), p. 152; Berve, H., Das Alexanderreich auf Prosopographischer Grundlage (Munchen 1926), pp. 11-12.

2. NPauly 2 (1997), column 100, see entry “Ada” (Ε. Badian); OCD (Oxford 1996), p. 11, see entry “Ada” (S. Hornbower); Hazel, J., Who’s Who in the Greek World (London - New York 2000), p. 1. About the resolution at the sanctuary of Sinuri, see Robert, L., “Décret d’une Syngeneia Cariènne au Sanctuaire de Sinuri”, Hellenica VII, pp. 59-68; Robert, L., Le Sanctuaire de Sinuri 1 (Paris 1945), pp. 94-97.

3. Diod. S., ΧVI.74.2; Strabo, 14.2.17; Αrr., Αn. Ι.23.8; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), pp. 123-126, 133, 135; Berve, H., Das Alexanderreich auf Prosopographischer Grundlage (Munchen 1926), pp. 11-12; Debord, P., L’Asie Mineure au IVe siecle, 412-323 A.C. (Bordeaux 1999), pp. 140, 404.

4. Diod. S., ΧVII.24.2; Strabo, 14.2.17; Αrr. ΙΙ.5.7; Plut. Αlex. 22.4-5; Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), pp. 50, 222; RE I.1 (1893) column 339, see entry “Ada” (Judeich, W.); Bosworth, A.B., Historical Commentary on Arrian’s History of Alexander I (Oxford 1980), p. 154; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), pp. 139-146; Berve, H., Das Alexanderreich auf Prosopographischer Grundlage (Munchen 1926), pp. 11-12; Debord, P., L’Asie Mineure au IVe siecle (412-323 A.C.) (Bordeaux 1999), pp. 140, 160-161, 448-449.

5. Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), pp. 238-239, 330; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), p. 104; Botermann, H., “Wer baute das neue Priene?”, Hermes 122 (1994) p. 178; Carter, J.C., The Sculpture of the Sanctuary of Athena Polias at Priene. Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London No XLII (London 1983), pp. 27, 30-31.

6. About the Milesian offering to the Delphi, see Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), pp. 44, 111, 241, 275; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), p. 104; Debord, P., L’Asie Mineure au IVe siecle (412-323 A.C.) (Bordeaux 1999), p. 402; Waywell, G.B., The Free-Standing Sculpture of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in the British Museum (London 1978), pp. 80, 84.

7. About the relief from Tegea, see Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), pp. 241, 275; Smith, A.H., “Some Recently Acquired Reliefs in the British Museum”, JHS 36 (1916), pp. 65-70; Jongkees, J.H., “New Statues by Bryaxis”, JHS 68 (1948), pp. 29-39; Waywell, G.B., The Free-Standing Sculpture of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in the British Museum (London 1978), p. 80; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (1992) p. 105; Waywell, G.B., “The Ada, Zeus and Idrieus Relief from Tegea in the British Museum”, in Palagia, O. – Coulson, W. (ed.), Sculpture from Arcadia and Laconia (Oxford 1993), pp. 79-86; Debord, P., L’Asie Mineure au IVe siecle (412-323 A.C.) (Bordeaux 1999), p. 402.

8. Waywell, G.B., “The Ada, Zeus and Idrieus Relief from Tegea in the British Museum”, in Palagia, O. - Coulson, W. (ed.), Sculpture from Arcadia and Laconia (Oxford 1993) pp. 79-86; Gunter, A.C., “Looking at Hecatomnid Patronage from Labraunda”, REA 87 (1985), p. 120.

9. Ps. Arist, Οίκων ii 1351b 36; Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982) p. 51; Bosworth A.B., Historical Commentary on Arrian’s History of Alexander I (Oxford 1980), pp. 154, 281; Berve, H., Das Alexanderreich auf Prosopographischer Grundlage (Munchen 1926), p. 12; Debord, P., L’Asie Mineure au IVe siecle (412-323 A.C.) (Bordeaux 1999), pp. 160-161. He must be Philoxenos, who was moving with forces from Caria to reinforce Alexander the Great, who was in Babylon (see Arr., Αn. VII.23.1, 24.1). However, it is not known whether Philoxenos, the satrap of Caria, coincides with the one reported by Arrian as responsible for collecting Alexander’s taxes in Asia (Αrr., Αn. 3.4.1). See Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), pp. 153-155; Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), p. 51.

10. Alpozen, O., “Ada I revived in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Some museological considerations”, in Pedersen, P. - Isager, J. (ed.), Hekatomnid Caria and the Ionian Renaissance, Acts of the International Symposium at the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, Odense University, 28-29 November 1991 (Odense 1994), pp. 110-114; Prag, A.J.N.W. - Neave, R.A.H., “Who is the 'Carian Princess'”, in Pedersen, P. – Isager, J. (ed.), Hekatomnid Caria and the Ionian Renaissance, Acts of the International Symposium at the Department of Greek and Roman Studies, Odense University, 28-29 November 1991 (Odense 1994), pp. 97-109.

11. See Hornblower, S., Mausolus (Oxford 1982), pp. 323-330; Botermann, H., “Wer baute das neue Priene?”, Hermes 122 (1994), pp. 162-187; Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), p. 158.

12. RE I.1 (1893), column 339, see entry “Ada” (W. Judeich); Ruzicka, S., Politics of a Persian Dynasty: The Hecatomnids in the Fourth Century B.C. (Oklahoma 1992), pp. 153-154.