Stateira II - Marriage To Alexander The Great

Marriage To Alexander The Great

For the next two years, Stateira and her family followed Alexander's army. Her mother died at some point between 333 and 331, leaving Sisygambis to act as her guardian. Although Darius tried several times to ransom his family, Alexander refused to return the women. Darius then offered Alexander Stateira's hand in marriage and agreed to relinquish his claim to some of the land Alexander had already seized in exchange for ending the war. Alexander declined the offer, reminding Darius that he already had custody of both the land and Stateira, and that if he chose to marry her Darius' permission would not be necessary.

In 330 BCE, Alexander left Stateira and her family in Susa with instructions that she should be taught Greek. Historian Elizabeth Donnelly Carney speculates that Alexander had already decided to marry Stateira and was preparing her for life as his wife. Stateira became Alexander's second wife in 324 BCE, almost ten years after her capture, at in a mass ceremony known as The Susa weddings. The marriage ceremony lasted five days. Ninety other Persian noblewomen were married to Macedonian - Greek soldiers who were loyal to Alexander; this included Drypetis, who married Alexander's friend, Hephaestion. At the same ceremony, Alexander married Parysatis, daughter of previous Persian ruler Artaxerxes III. It was fairly common practice for conquering rulers to marry the widow or daughter of the man they had deposed. By wedding both women, Alexander cemented his ties to both branches of the royal family of the Achaemenid Empire.

Alexander died the following year, 323 BCE. After his death, his first wife Roxana colluded with Perdiccas to kill Stateira. Roxana wished to cement her own position and that of her son, Alexander by ridding herself of a rival who could be - or claim to be - pregnant. According to Plutarch's account, Stateira's sister, Drypetis, was killed at the same time; Carney believes that Plutarch was mistaken, and it was actually Parysatis who died with Stateira.