Encyclopedia > Roxana

  Article Content

Roxana

Roxana (Bactrian: Roshanak, meaning "little star") wife of Alexander the Great, was born in the year 327 BC although the date remains uncertain. The daughter of a Bactrian nobleman named Oxyartes, she married Alexander in 327 BC. The marriage was an attempt to politically win over the Bactrian satrapies although ancient sources describe Alexander's professed love for her. Roxana accompanied Alexander on his campaign in India in 326 BC. She bore Alexander a posthumus son called Alexander IV Aegus, after Alexander's sudden death at Babylon in 323 BC. With Alexander's death, Roxana and her son, became victims of the political intrigues which followed the break up of Alexandrian empire. They were protected by Alexander's mother, Olympias at Macedon, however her assassination in 316 BC allowed Cassander to seek kingship. As Alexander IV Aegus was the legitimate heir to the Macedonian empire, he was murdered along with Roxana c.309 BC.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Holtsville, New York

... have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.19 and the average family size is 3.47. In the town the population is spread ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 29.9 ms