Alexander meets the Princess of Persia
19.8 هزار بار بازدید -
3 سال پیش
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Stateira II possibly also known
Stateira II possibly also known as Barsine, was the daughter of Stateira I and Darius III of Persia. After her father's defeat at the Battle of Issus, Stateira and her sisters became captives of Alexander of Macedon. They were treated well, and she became Alexander's second wife at the Susa weddings in 324 BC. At the same ceremony Alexander also married her cousin, Parysatis, daughter of Darius' predecessor. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, Stateira was killed by Roxana, his first wife.
In the negotiations before the battle of Gaugamela, Darius offered Barsine to Alexander as his bride, adding as her dowry all country west of the Euphrates. Alexander refused, saying that he knew that her father had already promised the girl to his general Mazaeus. The real reason may have been another one: he had started an affair with Barsine's mother Statira. Alexander's biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea tells us that Alexander, "esteeming it more kingly to govern himself than to conquer his enemies",note sought no intimacy with Darius' wife. However Statira was captured in November 333 and died in childbirth in September 331. Darius cannot have been the father of the baby.
After the battle of Gaugamela (1 October 331), Alexander occupied Babylonia, Elam, and Persia. Barsine and Drypetis were left behind in the capital of Elam, Susa, to be educated as Macedonian girls. Seven or eight months later, they learned that their father had been killed by his courtiers.
In March 324, Barsine married to Alexander, at the same time, her sister Drypetis married to Alexander's closest friend Hephaestion (text). It was probably on this occasion that Barsine received her new name, Statira - like her deceased mother, who had been her husband's former lover. At the same time, Alexander married to Parysatis, the daughter of the former Persian king Artaxerxes III Ochus.
After the death of Alexander (11 June 323), his first wife Roxane and his successor Perdiccas, saw to the murder of Barsine. This suggests strongly that she was pregnant, because otherwise, she would not have been a threat to Roxane.
In the negotiations before the battle of Gaugamela, Darius offered Barsine to Alexander as his bride, adding as her dowry all country west of the Euphrates. Alexander refused, saying that he knew that her father had already promised the girl to his general Mazaeus. The real reason may have been another one: he had started an affair with Barsine's mother Statira. Alexander's biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea tells us that Alexander, "esteeming it more kingly to govern himself than to conquer his enemies",note sought no intimacy with Darius' wife. However Statira was captured in November 333 and died in childbirth in September 331. Darius cannot have been the father of the baby.
After the battle of Gaugamela (1 October 331), Alexander occupied Babylonia, Elam, and Persia. Barsine and Drypetis were left behind in the capital of Elam, Susa, to be educated as Macedonian girls. Seven or eight months later, they learned that their father had been killed by his courtiers.
In March 324, Barsine married to Alexander, at the same time, her sister Drypetis married to Alexander's closest friend Hephaestion (text). It was probably on this occasion that Barsine received her new name, Statira - like her deceased mother, who had been her husband's former lover. At the same time, Alexander married to Parysatis, the daughter of the former Persian king Artaxerxes III Ochus.
After the death of Alexander (11 June 323), his first wife Roxane and his successor Perdiccas, saw to the murder of Barsine. This suggests strongly that she was pregnant, because otherwise, she would not have been a threat to Roxane.
3 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1400/02/25 منتشر شده
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