Women and Dunasteia in Caria

. This article considers the role of Hecatomnid women in the public presentation of the dynasty. It examines the rule and co-rule of women in Caria, the reasons for the dynasty's practice of sibling marriage, the dynasty's apparent indifference to the creation of heirs, and the impact of the role of Hecatomnid women on the Hellenistic dynasties. It argues that the position of women in the Hecatomnid dynasty was a function of a family dynamic and image shaped by the precarious nature of rule in the region, particularly by the dynasty's subordination to its Persian overlords.