![]() ![]() In addition to all this, he added concubines to his retinue in the manner of Darius, in number not less than the days of the year and outstanding in beauty as selected from all the women of Asia. He distributed to his companions cloaks with purple borders and dressed the horses in Persian harness. There is speculation that Stateira could have been pregnant when she died if so, she and her child played no part in the succession battles which ensued after his death.ĭiodorus Siculus writes, "Then he put on the Persian diadem and dressed himself in the white robe and the Persian sash and everything else except the trousers and the long-sleeved upper garment. He fathered at least one child, Alexander IV of Macedon, born by Roxana shortly after his death in 323 BC. Īlexander married three times: to Roxana of Bactria, Stateira, and Parysatis, daughter of Ochus. Regardless, ancient reports state that Alexander and Barsine became lovers, as Alexander was enthralled by her beauty and knowledge of Greek literature. In a man who named cities after his horse and dog, this strains credulity. Yet twelve years after his death a boy was produced, seventeen years old.a claimant and shortlived pawn in the succession wars.no source reports any notice whatever taken by him of a child who, Roxane's being posthumous, would have been during his lifetime his only son, by a near-royal mother. No record at all exists of such a woman accompanying his march nor of any claim by her, or her powerful kin, that she had born him offspring. Mary Renault, however, was skeptical of such a story: ![]() There is speculation that he may have fathered a child, Heracles, of her in 327 BC. Īccording to Plutarch, the only woman with whom Alexander had sex before his first marriage was Barsine, daughter of Artabazos II of Phrygia but of Greek education. According to Carystius (as quoted by Athenaeus), when Alexander praised the beauty of a boy at a gathering, probably a slave belonging to one Charon of Chalcis, the latter asked the boy to kiss Alexander, but Alexander refused, to spare Charon the embarrassment of having to share his boy's affections. Īncient authors see this and other anecdotes as proof of Alexander's self-control in regards to sensual pleasures, and accounts are also known of Alexander's stern refusal to accept indiscreet offers from men who tried to pimp him male prostitutes, among whom, according to Aeschines and Hypereides, was the renowned Athenian orator Demosthenes. One instance tells of him spending thirteen days making love with a tribe-leader of woman-warriors hailing from the Caucasus mountains. However, the ancient sources report Alexander as sexually active with women throughout his life and how in adulthood he brought concubines to bed every night. Some modern historians, such as James Davidson, see this as evidence of Alexander's homosexuality. According to Athenaeus, Callixena was employed by Olympias out of fear that Alexander was "womanish" (γύννις), and his mother used to beg him to sleep with the courtesan, apparently to no success. Campaspe taking off her clothes in front of Apelles by order of Alexander, c.1883 by Auguste Ottin (1811–1890).Ĭurtius reports, "He scorned sensual pleasures to such an extent that his mother was anxious lest he be unable to beget offspring." To encourage a relationship with a woman, King Philip and Olympias were said to have brought in a high-priced Thessalian courtesan named Callixena.
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