ARTHEMESIE. Artemesia II was the sister and wife of Mausolaus, satrap of Caria, 377-353 B.C. The satrap died in 353, and Artemesia ruled the country. She completed the colossal statue and tomb that her husband had begun. The finished mausoleum, adorned with friezes executed by the most famous sculptors of the day, reached a total height of about 134 feet. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Jerome tells that Artemesia promoted a literary competition every year in honor of her husband's memory, attended by all the most famous rhetoricians of the day, Epistola adversus Jovinianum (Letter Against Jovinian) I.44 (PL 23: 274).

To Dorigen, Arthemesie is exemplary of perfect wifehood, FranklT 1451. [Dorigen]

The form of the name is modified for the rhyme; intrusive h after t was not pronounced. The original name, Arthemisia, is an extended variant of Artemis.