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siege, major, ancient

Siege of Halicarnassus

Siege of Halicarnassus was a siege conducted in 334 BC at Halicarnassus, in what is now Turkey. It was part of the Wars of Alexander the Great, which ran from 336 BC to 323 BC. The recorded result: Macedonian victory.

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Plan of the siege of Halicarnassus
Plan of the siege of Halicarnassus. Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought334 BC
WhereHalicarnassus, Turkey37.038N, 27.424E
OutcomeMacedonian victory
BelligerentsMacedonia; Hellenic LeagueagainstAchaemenid Empire
Casualties and losses16and170
Part ofWars of Alexander the Great336 BC to 323 BC

Where it sits in the Wars of Alexander the Great

Battle of Thessaly, 336 BCBattle of Thebes, 335 BCAlexander's Balkan campaign, 335 BCBattle of Shipka Pass, 335 BCBattle of Mount Haemus, 335 BCSiege of Pelium, 335 BCSiege of Halicarnassus, 334 BCSiege of Miletus, 334 BCSiege of Termessos, 334 BCBattle of the Granicus, 334 BCBattle of Issus, 333 BCSiege of Tyre, 332 BCSiege of Gaza, 332 BCBattle of Gaugamela, 331 BCBattle of the Uxian Defile, 331 BCBattle of the Persian Gate on the Mountain, 330 BCSiege of Cyropolis, 329 BCBattle of Polytimetus, 329 BCBattle of Jaxartes, 329 BCBattle of Gabai, 328 BCSiege of the Sogdian Rock, 327 BC336 BC327 BCSiege of Halicarnassus, 334 BC
21 placed engagements of the Wars of Alexander the Great in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date334 BC (year precision)
PlaceHalicarnassus, Turkey
37.038N, 27.424E
KindSiege, ancient
Territorial changeAlexander captures Caria
Casualties and losses16170
Commanders
  • Orontobates
  • Memnon of Rhodes
Siege of HalicarnassusSiege of HalicarnassusBattle of CosBattle of GerontasBattle of CnidusBattle of KosBattle of LerosBattle of CosBattle of GerontasBattle of CnidusBattle of KosBattle of LerosDenizliSökeRodosAydın100 km37.038N, 27.424E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Siege of Halicarnassus
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Siege of Halicarnassus today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-08-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 11 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 687 m, 688 m of relief, steep country and today it is 28% built-up, 27% tree cover, 26% water.

built-up: 28%tree cover: 27%water: 26%shrubland: 11%grassland: 7%built-up 28%tree cover 27%water 26%shrubland 11%grassland 7%
west to east, 10.0 km6 to 407 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 348 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Siege of Halicarnassus is one of 143 engagements of the 4th century BC in the atlas and one of 687 in present-day Turkey.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q28933, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Halicarnassus, revision 1370741746, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.