Barsine
Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 9:49 pm
So, I just finished a few books I bought and am working on Briant's "From Cyrus to Alexander", the translation by Peter T. Daniels. Oh, as an aside, we are having the snowiest, iciest weather since 1990 and that is the perfect book for this...a big fat tome full of information. Something like 1200 pages in total...
Anyway...after reading Maria Brosius' book on Persian women and now wading into this..a thought struck me. There is much discussion about Alexander not marrying Barsine, or if Artabazus' was offended when ATG married Roxane or that Heracles was not considered, etc.
Artabazus was married, we are told, to the Rhodian sister of Mentor and Memnon. Yet, Artabazus was a high born Persian noble, the grandson of a Great King. Certainly he ruled a part of the empire where Greek influences were strong on the culture and Barsine was said to have been raised in the Greek ways, but still, he was a Persian noble, a Satrap with his own court and ritual (at least before his exile) and even after he returned from Macedon, he was a loyal supporter of the Great King. A Greek wife might have been a bit too scandalous for the Persian court?
As a high born noble, would he have really married the sister of Greek mercenaries? Rather, perhaps, she was one of his women, or the woman of the satrapal palace, and not a legitimate wife (in the eyes of his fellow aristocrats). I have always had problems with the idea that one woman bore 21 children, anyway...and we "know" that his last wife and a young son, were found at Damascus, along with other family members including Barsine. Perhaps he had other "real" wives as well, the actual mothers of most of his children.
Illegitmate children seem to have been part of the family and acknowledged. Illegitmate sons of the Great King could be given satrapies. But marrying Barsine off to the Greek mercenaries does seem a bit less than respectable for a legitimate Persian noblewoman (a great granddaughter of a Great King). Here, I may be in error, that Artabazus was not so far removed from his own Persian heritage that he'd actually marry the Greek mercenaries' sister. However valuable they might have been, and eventually bound by some family relationships. But no other daughters that we know of were married to either Mentor or Memnon. Instead Barsine alone was passed onto Memnon, when Mentor had died. I can't remember, but was Thymondas known to have married a Persian woman either? He possibly had a son named Memnon, but there is no mention of a Persian or any wife I believe.
So...Barsine, though a child of Artabazus, may not have been legitimate in the eyes of the Persians, including her father, and hence her place as a "woman of the King (ATG)" was quite acceptable to Artabazus and to Barsine as well. As she was not of pure Persian blood, and perhaps not even legitimate, the fact that she wasn't a proper choice for the new "Great King" was understood all around. Being a "Woman of the King" was not a bad thing at all...much different than the Greek perception of a concubine. And though being a "Woman of the King" was a respectable status, her situation may have precluded her marriage to said King. Perhaps being a Royal concubine was a great deal for her. Her marriage options may have been limited.
Her sisters who were later married to Ptolemy and Eumenes were not taken as ATG's concubines. Were they too young to have been in Macedonia during the exile? Or were they legitmate, the daughters of a "proper" Persian wife, and so, off limits for forging a bond to Artabazus' family that would not have entailed marrying them, especially so soon in the campaign? Well, that, and the fact that Barsine was twice widowed...this certainly would have been an issue for a legitmate heir to the throne for ATG...I think.
Anyway...after reading Maria Brosius' book on Persian women and now wading into this..a thought struck me. There is much discussion about Alexander not marrying Barsine, or if Artabazus' was offended when ATG married Roxane or that Heracles was not considered, etc.
Artabazus was married, we are told, to the Rhodian sister of Mentor and Memnon. Yet, Artabazus was a high born Persian noble, the grandson of a Great King. Certainly he ruled a part of the empire where Greek influences were strong on the culture and Barsine was said to have been raised in the Greek ways, but still, he was a Persian noble, a Satrap with his own court and ritual (at least before his exile) and even after he returned from Macedon, he was a loyal supporter of the Great King. A Greek wife might have been a bit too scandalous for the Persian court?
As a high born noble, would he have really married the sister of Greek mercenaries? Rather, perhaps, she was one of his women, or the woman of the satrapal palace, and not a legitimate wife (in the eyes of his fellow aristocrats). I have always had problems with the idea that one woman bore 21 children, anyway...and we "know" that his last wife and a young son, were found at Damascus, along with other family members including Barsine. Perhaps he had other "real" wives as well, the actual mothers of most of his children.
Illegitmate children seem to have been part of the family and acknowledged. Illegitmate sons of the Great King could be given satrapies. But marrying Barsine off to the Greek mercenaries does seem a bit less than respectable for a legitimate Persian noblewoman (a great granddaughter of a Great King). Here, I may be in error, that Artabazus was not so far removed from his own Persian heritage that he'd actually marry the Greek mercenaries' sister. However valuable they might have been, and eventually bound by some family relationships. But no other daughters that we know of were married to either Mentor or Memnon. Instead Barsine alone was passed onto Memnon, when Mentor had died. I can't remember, but was Thymondas known to have married a Persian woman either? He possibly had a son named Memnon, but there is no mention of a Persian or any wife I believe.
So...Barsine, though a child of Artabazus, may not have been legitimate in the eyes of the Persians, including her father, and hence her place as a "woman of the King (ATG)" was quite acceptable to Artabazus and to Barsine as well. As she was not of pure Persian blood, and perhaps not even legitimate, the fact that she wasn't a proper choice for the new "Great King" was understood all around. Being a "Woman of the King" was not a bad thing at all...much different than the Greek perception of a concubine. And though being a "Woman of the King" was a respectable status, her situation may have precluded her marriage to said King. Perhaps being a Royal concubine was a great deal for her. Her marriage options may have been limited.
Her sisters who were later married to Ptolemy and Eumenes were not taken as ATG's concubines. Were they too young to have been in Macedonia during the exile? Or were they legitmate, the daughters of a "proper" Persian wife, and so, off limits for forging a bond to Artabazus' family that would not have entailed marrying them, especially so soon in the campaign? Well, that, and the fact that Barsine was twice widowed...this certainly would have been an issue for a legitmate heir to the throne for ATG...I think.