Roxana was born as the daughter of a Bactrian nobleman namedOxyartes, the satrap ofBactria andSogdia,[2] who served Bessus, and thus probably also involved in the murder of the last Achaemenid king Darius III. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she was of childbearing age by 326 BC, placing her birth before 336 BC.
AfterBessus was captured by theMacedonian rulerAlexander the Great, Oxyartes and his family fled north, and continued to resist the Macedonians. Along with other notables such as the Sogdian warlordSpitamenes, they took up a defensive position in a fortress known as theSogdian Rock.[8]
They were eventually defeated by Alexander, who attended a celebration,[9] and reportedly fell in love with Roxana on sight.[10] Where the celebration took place is disputed,[9] possibly in the Sogdian Rock or another fortress of Chorienes (also called Sisimithres byQuintus Rufus Curtius), but according to theMetz Epitome it was in the house of Chorienes in which Roxana was introduced to Alexander as the daughter of Oxyartes.[11][9] Curtius apparently misrepresented Roxana as a daughter of Chorienes.[9]Arrian states that Oxyartes surrendered to Alexander when he became aware of the good reception Alexander awarded his daughter Roxana.[9] A.B. Bosworth mentions the possibility of Roxana being captured at the Sogdian Rock, but that the two married at the fortress of Chorienes.[9] The marriage was in 327 BC, and according to the majority of the sources it was in the Macedonian rite rather than the Persian.[12] The sources agree that Alexander fell passionately in love with her, but considering that he had difficulties in occupying and controlling Sogdiana his decision to marry Roxana may also have been motivated by the advantages of a political alliance.[2]
The Wedding of Alexander and Roxane (1898–1899), an engraving byAndré Castaigne.Alexander the Great and Roxana, a 1756 painting byPietro Rotari.
Alexander married Roxana despite opposition from his companions,[13][12] who would have preferred a Macedonian or Greek to become queen.[14] However, the marriage was also politically advantageous as it made the Bactrian and Sogdian armies more loyal towards Alexander and less rebellious after their defeat.[15] Alexander thereafter made an expedition into India and while there he appointed Oxyartes as the governor of theHindu Kush region adjoining India.[2] According toMetz Epitome, Roxana accompanied Alexander into India, where their first-born son died in infancy near the banks of theAcesines River in November 326 BC;[16] an event that is considered fact by most scholars.[17] This first son is also mentioned in Alexander Hebrew Romance that alleges this child was named after his father and died at the age of 9 months.[18]
When Alexander returned to Susa in spring 324 BC, he promoted a brother of Roxana to the elite cavalry.[8][2] To encourage a better acceptance of his government among the Persians, Alexander also marriedStateira II, the daughter of the deposed Persian kingDarius III.[2]
AfterAlexander's sudden death atBabylon in 323 BC, Roxana is believed to have murdered Stateira. According toPlutarch, she also had Stateira's sister,Drypetis, murdered with the consent ofPerdiccas.[19] Roxana was pregnant, which caused some discussions between Alexander's loyalists around Perdiccas[20] andPtolemy[21] who suggested waiting to see if Alexander's posthumous child was a son and naming either a caretaker regent or a council to govern on his behalf, and theMacedonian soldiers who opposed a so-calledpersianization of the Macedonian court.[20]
For the Macedonian succession a temporary compromise was found asPhilip Arrhidaeus was declaredking of Macedon; if the unborn child was a son, he was to become a king as well.[22] By 317 though, Roxana's son, calledAlexander IV lost his kingship as a result of intrigues started by Philip Arrhidaeus' wife,Eurydice II.[2] Afterwards, Roxana and the young Alexander were protected by Alexander the Great's mother,Olympias, in Macedonia.[23] Following Olympias' assassination in 316 BC,Cassander imprisoned Roxana and her son in the citadel ofAmphipolis.[24] Their detention was condemned by the Macedonian generalAntigonus in 315 BC.[25] In 311 BC, a peace treaty between Antigonus and Cassander confirmed the kingship of Alexander IV but also Cassander as his guardian,[25] following which the Macedonians demanded his release.[26] However, Cassander orderedGlaucias of Macedon to kill Alexander and Roxana.[27] It is assumed that they were murdered in spring 310 BC, but their death was concealed until the summer.[28] The two were killed afterHeracles, a son of Alexander the Great's mistressBarsine, was murdered, bringing theArgead dynasty to an end.[24]
At theAcropolis, there were found inscriptions of offerings Roxana dedicated as Alexander's wife toAthena.[30]
Lucian describes a painting of Roxana's marriage to Alexander by the Greek painterEchion (also known as Aetion) which won the painter the consent of theOlympicHellanodike Proxenidas to marry his daughter.[30]
In one of the versions of theAlexander Romances,Darius III is her father and dying gives his consent to the marriage in which she wears the royal jewelry Alexander had requested from his mother Olympias. The marriage takes then place inDarius' palace.[30]
^Loube, Heather (1995).The Metz Epitome: Alexander (July, 330 B.C. - July, 325 В.С.) A Commentary. Department of Classical Studies University of Ottawa. pp. 10-11 of Introduction.
^Loube, Heather (1995).The Metz Epitome: Alexander (July, 330 B.C. - July, 325 В.С.) A Commentary. Department of Classical Studies University of Ottawa. pp. 10-11 of Introduction.
^Loube, Heather (1995).The Metz Epitome: Alexander (July, 330 B.C. - July, 325 В.С.) A Commentary. Department of Classical Studies University of Ottawa. p. 10 of Introduction.
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