Roxana (died BC, , ; Old Iranian: *Raṷxšnā- "shining, radiant, brilliant", ) sometimes known as Roxanne, Roxanna and Roxane, was a Bactrian or Sogdian princess who married Alexander the Great after he invaded Persia and defeated Darius, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire.
Life
Roxana was the daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes, satrap of Bactria and Sogdia. and reportedly fell in love with Roxana on sight. Where the celebration took place is disputed. Sources agree that Alexander fell passionately in love with her, but considering that he had difficulties in occupying and controlling Sogdiana, his decision to marry Roxana may also have been motivated by the advantages of a political alliance; the Bactrian and Sogdian armies became more loyal towards Alexander afterwards.
Alexander married Roxana despite opposition from his companions, Alexander thereafter made an expedition into India and while there he appointed Oxyartes as the governor of the Hindu Kush region adjoining India. an event that is considered fact by most scholars. The Alexander Romance alleges that the child died at 9 months and was named after his father.
When Alexander returned to Susa in spring 324 BC, he promoted a brother of Roxana's to the elite cavalry. During this time, Roxana was pregnant. This caused tensions between the Macedonian soldiers who opposed a so-called Persianization of the Macedonian court, and the loyalists around Perdiccas who suggested waiting to see if the child was a son and naming either a caretaker regent or a council to govern on his behalf.
A temporary compromise was found when Philip Arrhidaeus was declared king of Macedon; if the unborn child was a son, he was to become a king as well. Roxana gave birth to a son, Alexander IV, in 323 BC. However, by 317 BC, the young Alexander lost his kingship as a result of intrigues started by Philip Arrhidaeus' wife, Eurydice II. Following Olympias' assassination in 316 BC, Cassander imprisoned Roxana and her son in the citadel of Amphipolis. Their detention was condemned by the Macedonian general Antigonus in 315 BC. In 311 BC, a peace treaty between Antigonus and Cassander confirmed the kingship of Alexander IV but also Cassander as his guardian, However, Cassander ordered Glaucias of Macedon to kill Alexander and Roxana. It is assumed that they were murdered in spring 310 BC, but their death was concealed until the summer. The two were killed after Heracles, a son of Alexander the Great's mistress Barsine, was murdered, bringing the Argead dynasty to an end.
- At the Acropolis, there were found inscriptions of offerings Roxana dedicated as Alexander's wife to Athena.
- Lucian describes a painting of Roxana's marriage to Alexander by the Greek painter Echion (also known as Aetion) which won the painter the consent of the Olympic Hellanodike Proxenidas to marry his daughter.