Roxana (Bactrian: Roshanak; literally "midnight soul" or "nightmare"), was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 341 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain. She was the daughter of a Bactrian named Oxyartes of Balkh in Bactria (then eastern Persia, now northern Afghanistan), and married Alexander in 327 BC after he visited the fortress of Sogdian Rock. Balkh was the last of the Persian Empire's provinces to fall to Alexander, and the marriage was an attempt to reconcile the Bactrian satrapies to Alexander's rule, although ancient sources describe Alexander's professed love for her. Roxana accompanied him on his campaign in India in 326 BC. She bore him a posthumous son called Alexander IV Aegus, after Alexander's sudden death at Babylon in 323 BC. With the king's death, Roxana and her son became victims of the political intrigues of the collapse of the Alexandrian empire. Roxana murdered Alexander's other widow, Stateira II, and Stateira's sister Drypteis (Pl. Alex. 77.4). Roxana and her son were protected by Alexander's mother, Olympias, in Macedon, but her assassination in 316 BC allowed Cassander to seek kingship. Since Alexander IV Aegus was the legitimate heir to the Alexandrian empire, Cassander ordered him and Roxana assassinated around 309 BC. Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Bactrian language is an extinct language which was spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria, also called Tocharistan, in northern Afghanistan. ... Roshanak (روشنک in Persian) is a traditional Afghan name for a female. ... Bactria, about 320 BC Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi (now... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC - 340s BC - 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 346 BC 345 BC 344 BC 343 BC 342 BC 341 BC 340 BC 339 BC 338... Oxyartes was a Bactrian, father of Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great. ... Today Balkh (Persian: بلخ) is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazari Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC - 320s BC - 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 332 BC 331 BC 330 BC 329 BC 328 BC - 327 BC - 326 BC 325 BC 324... Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured by the forces of Alexander the Great in 328 or 327 BC. Oxyartes of Bactria had sent his wife and daughters, one of whom was Roxane, to take refuge in the fortress because it was thought to be... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC - 320s BC - 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 331 BC 330 BC 329 BC 328 BC 327 BC - 326 BC - 325 BC 324 BC 323... Alexander IV Aegus (in Greek Aλέξανδρος Aιγός; 323–309 BC) was the son of Alexander the Great and Roxana, a princess of Bactria. ... Babylon (in Arabic: بابل; in Syriac: ܒܒܙܠ in Hebrew:בבל) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq), the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. ... On his way from Ecbatana to Babylon, Alexander the Great fights and crushes the Cossaeans. ... The marriages of Alexander III of Macedon with Stateira II and Hephaestion with Drypteis, at Susa Stateira II was daughter of Stateira I and Darius III of Persia. ... Drypteis (d. ... Olympias (Greek: Ολυμπιάς) (c. ... Ancient Macedons regions and towns Macedon or Macedonia (from Greek Makedonía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 321 BC 320 BC 319 BC 318 BC 317 BC 316 BC 315 BC 314 BC 313...  Kingdom of Cassander Other diadochi  Kingdom of Seleucus  Kingdom of Lysimachus  Kingdom of Ptolemy  Epirus Other  Carthage  Rome  Greek colonies Cassander (in Greek, Κάσσανδρος — Kassandros, ca. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 314 BC 313 BC 312 BC 311 BC 310 BC 309 BC 308 BC 307 BC 306...

Portrayal in film

In Oliver Stone's 2004 biopic Alexander, Rosario Dawson portrayed Roxana, opposite Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great. William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ... Alexander is a 2004 epic motion picture film, based on the life of Alexander the Great. ... Rosario Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress and occasional singer known for her roles in films such as Sin City, Rent, Clerks II, Alexander, and Grindhouse. ... Colin James Farrell (born May 31, 1976) is an Irish actor who has appeared in several high-profile Hollywood films including Daredevil, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth and S.W.A.T.. // Farrell was born prematurely, weighing 1 pound 6 ounces, in Castleknock, Dublin to Rita and Eamon Farrell. ...

External links

• Livius.org: Roxane by Jona Lendering
• Wiki Classical Dictionary: Roxane, daughter of Oxyartes
• Roxana from Charles Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1867)