Page "Mausoleum at Halicarnassus" Paragraph 29

Much of the information we have gathered about the Mausoleum and its structure has come from a Roman historian Pliny.

He wrote some basic facts about the architecture and some dimensions.

The building was rectangular, not square, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six columns.

There was a pyramidal superstructure receding in twenty four steps to the summit.

On top there were 4 horse chariots of marble.

The building was accented with both sculptural friezes and free standing figures.

" The free standing figures were arranged on 5 or 6 different levels .” We are now able to justify that Pliny ’ s knowledge came from a work written by the architect.

It is clear that Pliny did not grasp the design of the mausoleum fully which creates problems in recreating the structure.

However he does state many facts which help the reader recreate pieces of the puzzle.

Other writings by Pausanias, Strabo, and Vitruvius also help us to gather more information about the Mausoleum.