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Stateira (; 370 BC – early 332 BC) was a queen of Persia as the wife of
Pothos.org - Stateira, mother and daughter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stateira 01 4th-century BC births 330s BC deaths 4th-century BC women Deaths in childbirth Women in Hellenistic warfare Women in ancient Near Eastern warfare Queens consort of the Achaemenid Empire 4th-century BC Iranian people Darius III
Stateira (; 370 BC – early 332 BC) was a queen of Persia as the wife of Darius III of Persia
Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. D ...
of the Achaemenid dynasty
The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east.
Origins
The history of the Achaemenid dy ...
.
She accompanied her husband while he went to war. It was because of this that she was captured by Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
after the Battle of Issus
The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on 5 November 333 BC between the League of Corinth, Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III of Persia, Darius III. It was the second g ...
, in 333 BC, at the town of Issus. Her husband abandoned his entire family at the site as he fled from Alexander, including his mother Sisygambis and his daughters Stateira II and Drypetis
Drypetis (died 323 BCE) 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 marriage
When Darius III ...
. Alexander is reported to have treated them with great respect.
According to Plutarch, Stateira died giving birth to a son, Ochus, in early 332 BC. She was given a splendid burial by Alexander, befitting her status as the wife of the Great King of Persia. However, this does not fit with other narratives as Ochus was already of an age to have survived childhood illness (between 4 and 7 years old) by 333 BC. We cannot say with certainty what happened to Stateira or her son. Darius' mother Sisygambis had a lifelong respect and genuine friendship with Alexander.
In 324 BC, her daughter, Stateira, married Alexander, and her other daughter, Drypetis, married one of his lifetime companions, Hephaestion
Hephaestion ( ''Hēphaistíōn''; c. 356 BC – 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman of probable "Attic or Ionian extraction" and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest ...
. When Alexander died one year later these royal Persian women mourned his death, further indicating personal relationships rather than merely diplomatic ones. According to Plutarch, both of her daughters were assassinated by another wife of Alexander, Roxana
Roxana (died BC, , ; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant", ) sometimes known as Roxanne, Roxanna and Roxane, was a Bactrian or Sogdian princess whom Alexander the Great had married after defeating Darius, ruler of the ...
and Perdiccas
Perdiccas (, ''Perdikkas''; 355BC – 320BC) was a Macedonian general, successor of Alexander the Great, and the regent of Alexander's empire after his death. When Alexander was dying, he entrusted his signet ring to Perdiccas. Initially ...
, one of Alexander's generals. Upon hearing the news of Alexander's death, Sisygambis said farewell to her family, turned to the wall, and fasted herself to death.
Historical novels and film
* Stateira is a minor character in ''The Conqueror's Wife'' by Stephanie Thornton, 2015, Softcover * Stateira is a secondary character in the Netflix series '' Alexander: The Making of a God'' by Hugh Ballantyne, 2024References
External links
Pothos.org - Stateira, mother and daughter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stateira 01 4th-century BC births 330s BC deaths 4th-century BC women Deaths in childbirth Women in Hellenistic warfare Women in ancient Near Eastern warfare Queens consort of the Achaemenid Empire 4th-century BC Iranian people Darius III