Parysatis, the youngest daughter of Artaxerxes III of Persia, married

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

in 324 BC at

the Susa weddings The Susa weddings was a mass wedding arranged by Alexander the Great in 324 BC in the Persian city of Susa. Alexander intended to symbolically unite the Persian and Greek cultures, by taking a Persian wife himself and celebrating a mass wedding ...

. She may have been murdered by Alexander's first wife,

Roxana Roxana (c. 340 BC – 310 BC, grc, Ῥωξάνη; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant"; sometimes Roxanne, Roxanna, Rukhsana, Roxandra and Roxane) was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married af ...

, in 323 BC.

Early life

After her father's murder in 338 BC, her brother Arses ruled briefly, before being succeeded by their second cousin,

Darius III Darius III ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Dari ...

, in 336 BC.Garthwaite (2005), p. 39. It is likely that after her father's death, Parysatis and her sisters continued to live at the Persian court. During Darius's campaign against the invasion by

, Parysatis and her sisters, along with many other members of the Persian elite, accompanied the Persian army. Following the

Battle of Issus The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on November 5, 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III. It was the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of ...

in 333 BC, Parysatis and many of her relatives were captured in Damascus by Macedonian general

Parmenion Parmenion (also Parmenio; grc-gre, Παρμενίων; c. 400 – 330 BC), son of Philotas, was a Macedonian general in the service of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. A nobleman, Parmenion rose to become Philip's chief milita ...

.Carney (2000), p. 110.

Alexander III of Macedonia

It is possible that Parysatis remained at

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

with the women of Darius's family while Alexander led a campaign in India. According to

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best so ...

, in 324 Parysatis married Alexander at Susa. On the same day, Alexander married Darius's eldest daughter, Stateira. By wedding both women, Alexander cemented his ties to both branches of the royal family of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

.O'Brien (2001), p. 197. The marriage celebration lasted five days. During that time, 90 other Persian noblewomen were married to Macedonian and other Greek soldiers who were loyal to Alexander. After the marriage, there are no further written accounts that refer to Parysatis by name; however, some historians, including Elizabeth Donnelly Carney, believe that in an account of the death of Stateira,

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ' ...

misidentified Parysatis as Stateira's sister

Drypetis Drypetis (died 323 BCE; sometimes Drypteis) was the daughter of Stateira I and Darius III of Persia. Drypetis was born between 350 and 345 BCE, and, along with her sister Stateira II, was a princess of the Achaemenid dynasty. Capture and marria ...

. In Plutarch's history, after Alexander's death in 323 BC, his first wife,

, ordered the murder of Stateira and her sister in order to cement her own position and that of her son,

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. Carney maintains that Parysatis "makes more sense as a murder victim". If Parysatis were Alexander's wife, then, like Stateira, there was a possibility that she could be – or could claim to be – pregnant with his child, and thus pose a threat to Roxana.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parysatis 02 Wives of Alexander the Great 4th-century BC women Achaemenid princesses 4th-century BC Iranian people Ancient Macedonian queens consort