Alexander - Roxanne’s Dance

In 327 BC, Alexander the Great married the daughter of the Bactrian (near modern day Afghanistan) nobleman Oxyartes, Roxanne. Roxanne - her name Roshanak means “little star“ - was the daughter of a Sogdian nobleman named Oxyartes (Vaxšuvadarva), who defended a mountain fortress against the army of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. “One of these daughters was named Roxane. She was a girl of marriageable age, and men who took part in the campaign used to say she was the loveliest woman they had seen in Asia, with the one exception of Darius’ wife. Alexander fell in love with her at sight; but, captive though she was, he refused, for all his passion, to force her to his will, and condescended to marry her.“ Arrian The marriage between Roxanne and Alexander which finally took place in 327 BC has continued to be a point of contention among historians. Was it a marriage of love or a political alliance as Plutarch suggested? Such marriages were something Alexande