Bodrum is a Turkish port located in the Gulf of Gokova, on the Bodrum Peninsula, right across the Greek island of Kos in a part of Asia Minor known in ancient times as Caria. Nominally a satrapy of the Persian Empire, its location ensured the city enjoyed considerable autonomy.

Previously known as Halicarnassus, Mausolus made the city his capital. When he died in 353 BC, his wife, Artemisia, employed the Greek architects Satyros and Pithios, and the sculptor Scopas to build a monument to him, the first Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.