ADA AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Ada, the sister of Mausolos, became the Caria ruler after her husband’s death. But after a short period, she was dethroned by her brother Pixadorus and exiled from the city to Alinda by him. When Alexander the Great is marching towards Halicarnassus, he met Queen Ada in the town of Alinda. He promised her that he would make her the Caria ruler again after the capture of Halicarnassus.
Alexander, who was accustomed to seeing cities and armies surrendering without any fight up to that date, had extreme resistance at Halicarnassus. The city had strong fortification walls and rock-cut trenches, preventing the siege engines from approaching the city walls. The massive Persian fleet was in the Halicarnassus harbor. So, it was impossible to make the city starve. The Macedonian siege of the city lasted three months. During this siege, the Persians came out through the Myndos Gate and attacked Alexander’s army. After a short period of panic in the Greek army, experienced soldiers in Alexander’s army had a counter-attack. This sudden attack ended disastrously. The Macedonians killed many Persian soldiers trying to retreat outside the city walls. The wooden bridges over the trenches broke down, and the Persians closed the city’s gates in panic. It was why the great massacre of the Persian soldiers outside the city walls happened. Finally, the city fell, and a great fire started. This terrible fire ravaged the town, and Halicarnassos was never recovered.
After Alexander the Great, the Caria Region often changed hands between the Seleucid of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt.