Alexander -Did he bear any children

[osiris]

i apologise jankovska you are right he did not have a child with darius daughter i checked and here is what one site writes about alexanders children.

http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=children

[osiris]

he first child of Alexander was Herakles, son of Alexander's mistress Barsine. Barsine was the widow of Memnon, the prominent Greek mercenary general serving under the Persian King Darius III. She was the daughter of the Persian satrap Artabazus. Barsine was captured by Parmenion in Damascus, in late 333 BC, shortly after the battle of Issus. Barsine had traveled with the Persian army from Babylon to the Mediterranean but went to Damascus before the battle.

According to Diodorus Herakles was 17 years of age when he died in 309 BC. This implies that Herakles was born in 326-327 BC during the Indian campaign. When Alexander died in 323 BC Herakles is reported to have lived in Pergamon, in western Asia Minor, together with his mother.

There is no further mention of him in the sources until he is summoned to Europe by Polyperchon in 309 BC, after the death of Alexander IV. (According to Justin Herakles and Barsine stayed in Pydna, Macedonia.) The army started to show some interest in Herakles, as he was the last remaining member of Alexander's Argead house. So Cassander persuaded Polyperchon to murder him. Herakles was apparently strangled after a banquet. Barsine was murdered too. Their bodies, according to Justin, were buried privately to conceal the plot.

Our source Justin raises some confusion about Herakles' age and date of birth by saying that he was 14 when he died, which should put his date of birth around 324 BC. Justin has probably mistaken Herakles' age with that of Alexander IV.

Alexander IV
Alexander's second child was Alexander IV, son of Alexander's first wife Roxane. Roxane was the daughter of Persian nobleman Oxyartes, a local ruler in Sogdiana who surrendered to Alexander during the siege of the Sogdian Rock. Alexander is said to have fallen in love with Roxane at first sight. The marriage was arranged in spring or August of 327 BC. The motives for the marriage, however, certainly had a political context too. Some references claim Roxane was only 12 at the time, but there is no evidence for that.

When Alexander died in June 323 BC Roxane was either six (Curtius) or eight (Justin) months pregnant. The newborn infant Alexander IV was recognized as king-to-be, formally sharing kingship with Alexander's halfbrother Arrhidaeus for the time being. Antipater, Alexander's regent in Macedonia, brought Alexander IV and his mother Roxane to Macedonia. After Antipater's death the new regent Polyperchon placed Olympias, Alexander's mother, in charge of Alexander IV.

In 316 BC Cassander took over power in Macedonia. Grandma Olympias was eliminated in 315 BC. Cassander put Roxane and Alexander IV under guard of his aide Glaucias, in Amphipolis, and removed all signs of Royal status from the child. Alexander IV and his mother were finally killed by Glaucias on orders of Cassander, probably in 310 BC. It is relevant to note that although Babylonian sources indeed mention Arrhidaeus as Alexander's Royal successor, they never refer to the infant kingship of Alexander IV.

[Jankovska]

i apologise jankovska you are right he did not have a child with darius daughter i checked and here is what one site writes about alexanders children.
http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=children

Nothing to appologise about osiris. We probably will never know the truth. He didn't have a 'royal' child that survived but no one can never know if he had other chidlren at all.
As for Cleopatra, his sister, she is the daughter of Philip and Olympia, married to her uncle, she has Philip's blood in her, if she had any children wouldn't they be the Macedonian royals?

[osiris]

Other' Children of Alexander

Roxane's first child
The Metz Epitome, a late Antiquity source, mentions a first child of Alexander and Roxane, that is supposed to have been born at the Indus in 326 BC, and died soon after birth.

"There he found the ships which Porus and Taxiles had built, 800 biremes and 300 store-ships, and he put on board crews and provisions. In the meantime Alexander's son by Roxane died." (Metz Epitome, 70.)

Queen Cleophis' son
Alexander is said to have conceived a child with the Indian Queen Cleophis of Massaga, now in northern Pakistan. Our source for this is Justin. Cleophis is said to have achieved by sexual favours what she could not achieve by force of arms, and her son Alexander rose to sovereignity over the Indians. However: "Queen Cleophis was from that time called the 'royal whore' by the Indians." (Justin, 12.7.11.)

There are other tales of Alexander fathering children on Indian princesses. The Malay annals have him fathering a son on Shahru’l-Bariyah, daughter of Raja Kida Hindi. The son is left behind in India as Alexander has long since gone.

Queen Statira's child
Queen Statira, wife of Darius III, was captured by Alexander at Issus in 333 BC. She is said to have died in childbirth before the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. (Plutarch, 30.) The question is: when exactly? Arrian tries to convice his readers that Alexander never touched 'the most beautiful woman' in Asia. However, if Statira died later than spring 332 BC, there is a slight chance that she might have carried Alexander's child, not the child of Darius. We will never know.


'No' Children of Alexander

Princess Statira's pregnancy
Alexander married to princess Statira, daughter of Darius III and Queen Statira, in Susa in 324 BC. She had been captured at Issus, together with her mother and sister. Soon after Alexander's death in 323 BC Statira was murdered by Roxane and Perdiccas. Nothing in the sources suggests that Statira was pregnant at that time.

Thalestris, the Amazon Queen
Our classic sources seem to confirm - or suggest - that Alexander spent thirtheen nights with Thalestris, the Queen of the legendary female Amazon warriors. This is supposed to have happened around 330BC/329 BC, near the shores of the Caspian. Thalestris begged Alexander to conceive a child with her. It did not happen.

Grandchildren of Alexander
Alexander the Great had no grandchildren. The only two 'confirmed' children of Alexander, Herakles and Alexander IV, were murdered before adulthood.


Many thanks to Linda DeSantis, Susan Holmes, Jona Lendering.

[TrueMacedonian]

TM, it's not entirely true that they were of 'no' consequence or importance - perhaps they were of 'lesser' historical importance, though nonetheless they would have been the grandchildren of Philip and the children of a former King of Macedonia (after Alexander's death).

They were royalty.

Whether they ruled over the Macedonian Kingdom or whether they made the history pages is a different point altogether.


Similarly, I'd like to know about the children of Alexander's Generals. Can we say they were of lesser or no consequence or importance too?

I recall Cleopatra being of some significance, as a descendant of one of those generals.

All of these children and grandchildren would have made up the nobility of the time and so it is worthwhile exploring what happened with them, if at all possible.

If Alexander's half brother did have a child this child made no sort of impact on history irregardless of his bloodline. So he becomes of no consequence because no one would know who he /or she is.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Having sex with women instead of boys might have increased his odds.

RtG, do you believe that Alexander engaged in homosexual activities?