Also, Carney thinks that the other Persian princess murdered at Stateira’s side on Roxane’s orders was not Drypetis, but Parysatis. This last daughter of Artaxerxes III had been added to Alexander’s wives in 324 at Susa. Clearly, a political marriage following the example set by Darius the Great. That is, not only as an alternative in case the future might demand the production of another imperial heir; but also as a precaution to avoid that Parysatis, who carried dynastic legitimacy, could marry some rival pretender to the throne.
Carney argues that from a political point of view, Roxane had no reason to murder Drypetis who, as Hefaistion’s widow, no longer retained the power her husband had wielded. Nor could she produce a son with sufficient credentials to surpass Roxane’s offspring. But Parysatis, to the contrary, díd have the theoretical capacity to present a baby son and proclaim him the imperial heir to Alexander. This made her a logical objective for a preventive assassination by Roxane.
On the other hand, if we want to take Plutarch literally when he writes that “Stateira and her sister” were killed, there is an additional option. Granted that Perdikkas agreed to Stateira’s murder, he probably preferred to do away with Drypetis too, lest she marry some rival pretender.
Once Alexander’s intended heir, the child by Stateira, has been eliminated, Perdikkas gets the agreement of the other generals to act as Regent for Arridaios and for Roxane’s child if it turns out to be a boy (as it does). The only one who openly voices opposition against Roxane’s child –or the son of Barsine, Herakles– as a High King under Perdikkas’ control, is Ptolemy, and he loses the vote.
At the same time, nobody takes Arridaios seriously, so Perdikkas thinks he has all the years until Roxane’s boy comes of age, to entrench himself in power. But within three years he is dead, killed by his own staff officers during a campaign against Ptolemy in Egypt, for having ordered his soldiers to swim across the Nile full of crocodiles.
From that moment on, Roxane and her boy Alexander IV are mere pawns in the power game of successive would-be leaders. Letting her ambition overcome common sense, she goes to Makedon. As professor Carney notes: “Roxane was consistently ignored by the Makedonian elite; see for example Polyperchon’s offer to Olympias –nót to Roxane– of epimeleia and prostasia (Diodoros 18.49.4)”. [It is Olympias, not Roxane, who becomes the regent for her grandson.] Roxane and her son end up in the hands of Kassander, the worst of all Alexander-haters. He has them secretly killed after a year in prison: as soon as they do not serve his purposes any more. The boy-king had just turned 13, then.
Alexander’s other son, Herakles born from Barsine, does not fare much better. During the regency of general Polyperchon he is brought to mainland Greece with his mother. Evidently Polyperchon first thinks he may be used as a counterweight against the heirs controlled by Kassander and Adea, but soon comes to the conclusion the ploy will not work. So he uses them to his personal advantage as bargaining chips in his negotiation with Kassander, and finally has them killed. Plutarch states: “Polyperchon agreed with Kassander for 100 talents to do away with Herakles, Alexander’s son by Barsine”.
But again we have strayed far into future fights of would-be heirs for Alexander’s throne, a succession for which he himself had established totally different plans. So we return to the moment in 324 BC when Alexander designs the future for the greatest multi-cultural empire the world has yet known.
Now he deliberately acts as the one who came not to destroy, but to continue the Achaemenid dynasty. His successor, born from a Persian princess, is to be the heir not only of Alexander the Great, but also of Cyrus the Great. And their world empire will be governed by the children of a joint Persian-Greek elite: a new ruling class that Alexander himself creates at the mass wedding of Susa.
THE SUSA BRIDES
The Greek and Roman authors, with their ingrained bias against women which they can only see as property of men, brush off the Susa brides as an extravaganza. With the commodity of hindsight, they consider them useless, too: after Alexander’s death, nearly all these brides were set aside by their recent husbands. So the whole mass wedding affair is judged to have been just one big waste.
In addition to the cost of the eighty simultaneous marriages celebrated there, Arrian stresses, “Alexander ordered a list to be made up of all other Makedonians who had married Asiatic women. They were over 10,000 in number, and to these he also made presents on account of their weddings.” Plutarch who, following the description of the chamberlain Chares, sets the total of Persian brides at 92, tells of 9,000 golden cups presented as gifts to the guests at the banquet. He adds that “Alexander went so far as to discharge all the debts owned by any of these guests, which cost him 9870 talents.” Arrian includes other outlays of the Susa weddings and ups the amount to 20,000 talents – that is, about 525 tons of silver!
These descriptions in the classical sources, dismissing the Susa weddings as a massive squander, are echoed by all later commentators up to the present. But this ignores the fact that, for Alexander, the Susa marriages constitute a political project of the highest order. This is where he reveals his blueprint for the future, and shows the new ruling class he wants to run his empire. The pity is that we only see a glimpse of his designs.
We get to know the princesses he and Hefaistion marry at Susa: two granddaughters of Sisygambis, which means that finally Alexander and his friend/lover have made sure that their children will be family. Now Hefaistion’s unrivalled status is evident for the whole world to see. Alexander has made true his words to Sisygambis at Issos: “He, too, is Alexander.” And as uncle to Alexander’s heir, Hefaistion’s political control will be unassailable, if he has to act as Regent of the empire.
As an additional precaution, Alexander includes among his wives the last daughter of Artaxerxes III, Parysatis, in case this branch of the Achaemenid dynasty would have to produce an alternative heir.
Also we hear of another curious detail at the Susa weddings. The former concubine Barsine, who according to conventional wisdom had been repudiated three years ago, gets the signal honour of contributing no less than three of these ‘first ladies’ for the state apparatus. The brides for Ptolemy, Eumenes and Nearchos, top ranking men at Alexander’s side with a brilliant political future, are described as “two sisters and a daughter of Barsine”. In other words, they owe their marriage to Barsine’s status. Clear proof, in my view, that Alexander’s feelings for Barsine have been consistently underestimated in the classical sources.
Finally, we are told about three more Susa brides. Princess Amastris, the other granddaughter of Sisygambis, is married to Krateros. Apame, daughter of a former satrap in Baktria from the lineage of the prophet Zoroaster, is given to Seleukos. And for Perdikkas, there is a bride described as “daughter of the satrap of Media and present leader of the Zoroastrians, Atropates” – her own name being ignored.
So there we are: we don’t get to know the names, much less the family connections, of the vast majority of the 90-odd Persian brides whom Alexander has chosen for his top men. We can only guess at his reasons why he wanted thése young women, and not others, at the side of the men governing his dominions.
Good reasons there were for sure. Krateros, whom Alexander will soon send off as ‘supreme theater commander’ in the West and intended Regent of the European territories, is drafted into the core Royal Family through his marriage to Amastris. And general Perdikkas, army commander in Mesopotamia under Alexander’s direct supervision, receives a wife who endows him with an influential Persian father-in-law.
The far-sighted election of the brides is confirmed later by the decisive support for Seleukos that his wife Apame obtains from the Persian nobles, during his long struggle to establish the Seleukid kingdom. If we had learned more about the other Persian brides and the political significance of their parents, we would have a much clearer picture of Alexander’s plans. And about the information he uses for the election of these girls (or their families) he wants to play leading
roles in his realm.
Only four months have passed since his return to Persia, after an absence of five years on his campaigns throughout Central Asia and India. He has no first-hand knowledge of his own about these brides, or the political usefulness of their family connections. So whose counsel does he trust himself to, for the choices that are to anchor the future of his world empire?
ALEXANDER’S WOMEN ADVISORS
The only logical answer is that an extraordinarily well informed Persian woman helps him to choose the Susa brides. This brings me to my basic argument: right from the start, Alexander has always been ready to accept intelligent women as his advisors – more often than men, by the way.
True, for his normal, daily activities Hefaistion is the one he trusts most. But apart from the indispensable support on the personal level he gives, Hefaistion is not seen to influence Alexander’s vision as a statesman, or even as an army leader. (Remember the famous fight between Hefaistion and Krateros, when Alexander himself has to intervene to avoid a bloody outcome, and reacts furiously by shouting to Hefaistion that “he would be mad to think that, without Alexander, he had any significance!”)
None of the other men in Alexander’s intimate circle can boast that the king takes his advice on important matters. And worse, poor Parmenion is blackened to this very day, 23 centuries later, by anecdotes that paint him as a stupid oaf every time he tries to counsel Alexander.
On the other hand, nobody doubts that Alexander, in the initial years of his career, blindly trusts the political instincts of his mother Olympias. Later, he will often disregard her unstoppable stream of advice via letters. But we can not forget that his last heavyweight political decision, sending Krateros to Europe with the order to strip Antipater of all his powers, is exactly what his mother has been hammering on for years.
ALEXANDER’S MOTHER
Olympias is an extraordinary woman. (In a personal aside, I confess that the main reason why I still like to revisit Oliver Stone’s Alexander is the intense Olympias character portrayed there by Angelina Jolie; together with the unforgettable ‘elder Ptolemy’ created by Anthony Hopkins.)
As a politically active woman in Makedon, Olympias is not a total exception. Already a generation before, Alexander’s grandmother Eurydike had acted forcefully to save the throne for her sons, with the help of the Athenian general Ifíkrates. Her intelligence and determination made it possible for Philip to become king, and he honoured her with a statue in the Philippeion at Olympia.
In this short text, I cannot include the full description of Olympias’ life and deeds that she deserves. Therefore I recommend the thoroughly researched biography published by professor Elizabeth Carney in 2006. At this point, I will limit myself to underscore one aspect of Olympias’ life that also features in Carney’s Olympias. That is, the highly unusual decision of king Philip and the princess from Molossia (Olympias, though in that period she still calls herself Myrtale) to choose the faraway island of Samothrace for their wedding site.
Molossia borders on Makedon: bride and groom could have met for their marriage ‘at your place or mine’, saving themselves much travel hardship. Professor Carney tells us that Samothrace was chosen because Makedon sponsored the Mysteries religious festival on this island. I think that Myrtale preferred precisely thése Mysteries, because they were related to the ‘old faith’ that had profound roots in Molossia. Its capital Dodona, birthplace of the princess, was famous for its oracle tree in the ancient grove of the Gaia/Great Goddess cult.
At her own religious initiation, the young princess had changed her birth name of Polyxena into Myrtale. In other words, she had dedicated herself to the myrtle, the symbol of the goddess Afrodite and her predecessor, the Great Goddess.
To me it is clear that Alexander felt deep respect for his mother’s faith; a religious ‘world vision’ that included such social values as equal rights for women. A vision he would later encounter again in the two other women whom he called “mother”.
After Alexander’s departure for Asia (March, 334 BC), Olympias and her daughter Kleopatra, his only full sister, often act publicly as his social or political representatives. They do so apart from –or even against– the regent Antipater. For example, to combat widespread famine in Makedon and Molossia, they order and pay grain transports from faraway suppliers. This coincides with the moment when Alexander sends them a substantial amount of money in golden ‘darik’ coins, the product/booty of his sack of Gaza in 332 BC. Evidently he has appointed them to manage his charity programme on the home front, to increase his popularity there.
Plutarch goes one step further and states that mother and daughter set up “a political faction against Antipater”. This is something that can only happen with the approval of the king. It is perfectly logical that Alexander takes steps to prevent that his regent Antipater could exceed the powers allotted to him. In her letters, Olympias accuses Antipater over and again of abuse of power. Whatever the motive, it is evident that Alexander has full confidence in the political know-how of his mother and sister.
Both have all the necessary experience and wit. Olympias has been through all possible variations of power politics at the side of –and at times, against– her husband king Philip. Kleopatra is queen of Molossia since 336 BC and Regent for her under-age son. But around 325 BC she leaves the government there in the hands of her mother; in correspondence with Athens, Olympias calls Molossia “my kingdom”. Kleopatra returns to her birthplace Pella, the capital of Makedon, to be Alexander’s shadow Regent there.
ADA, QUEEN OF KARIA
In the meantime, Alexander has found himself more women advisors. The first one appears right at the beginning of his Asian conquests: queen Ada of Karia, a small but prosperous country on the southern frontier of Ionia (today, the southwest of Turkey). But when he has his first personal encounter with Ada, she has fallen on bad times.
Ada is a worthy daughter of the Hekatomnid dynasty that has carved out for Karia a special place within the Persian empire. Her father Hekatomnos and her elder brother Maussolo have taken advantage of the relaxed Persian control over the provinces under the amiable High King Artaxerxes II. (And also, the initial years of his anything but amiable successor Artaxerxes III Ochus, who first has to subdue other rebellious dominions).
Hekatomnos and Maussolo are in theory satraps for Persia, but in reality independent rulers of their kingdom. Over time, the energetic Maussolo raises Karia to a first-rate naval power. His legacy is impressive, quite apart from his spectacular ‘Mausoleum’ that will set the example for –and give its name to– all later monumental tombs. As his successors, queen Ada and her husband king Hidrieus are “the most powerful princes in Western Asia”, the historian Theopompos assures.
Persia draws on, but envies, this flourishing power. When Ada has become dowager queen after the death of her husband in 344 BC, the Persians persuade her younger brother Pixodaro to stage a palace coup. They calculate that a civil war in Karia will weaken the country and allow them to recover control. The ploy is partially successful: Pixodaro submits to Persia again and Ada, expelled from the capital Halikarnassos, is hard pressed to hold on to her last castle, Alinda. But the situation changes dramatically when Alexander appears on the scene. Arrian writes:
“This queen Ada was daughter of Hekatomnos and wife of her brother Hidrieus, as the Karian usage permitted. When Hidrieus was dying, he confided the administration of affairs to her, for it had been a custom in Asia, ever since the time of Semiramis, even for women to rule men. But Pixodaro expelled her from the rule, and seized the administration of affairs himself. On the death of Pixodaro, his son-in-law Orontobates was sent by the king of the Persians to rule over the Karians. Ada only retained Alinda, the strongest place in Karia.
When Alexander invaded Karia she went to meet him, offering to surrender Alinda to him, and adopting him as her son. Alexander confided Alinda to her, and did not think the title of son unworthy of his acceptance. Moreover, when he had captu
red Halikarnassos and become master of the rest of Karia, he granted her the privilege of ruling over the whole country.”
Alexander decides to sustain Ada as an independent sovereign in Karia. After all, he has the guarantee that, as her sole son, he will inherit the dominion back. But as long als she lives, Alexander will never consider Karia as one of his conquered dominions, despite all the hard fighting his army had to go through there. This he makes abundantly clear in his speech at Opis3 where he sums up all the territories won by the Makedonians in his long campaigns: Karia is very notably absent in his list of conquests in Asia Minor.
Ada reigns in Karia again, but Arrian cannot really conceive that Alexander would allow a woman even to rule men, so he adds that “Ada was appointed to act as his viceroy”. But the truth is that Alexander feels perfectly comfortable leaving her in Karia as a queen in her own right, with full government powers.
Plutarch too is unable to see Ada in a different light from his submissive Greek women. So he does not tell about her qualities as a ruler, but as a doting mother to Alexander:
“Queen Ada kept sending him meats and delicacies every day, finally offering him such cooks and bakers as were thought to be masters of their craft. Alexander demurred politely. He told her he needed none of them, because he already had better cooks: a night march to get him ready for the morning meal, and short rations to prepare him for the evening meal.”
All Alexander's Women Page 4