Roxana (Bactrian: Roshanak, meaning "little star") wife of
Alexander the Great, was born in the year
327 BC although the date remains uncertain. The daughter of a
Bactrian nobleman named Oxyartes, she married Alexander in
327 BC. The marriage was an attempt to politically win over the Bactrian satrapies although ancient sources describe Alexander's professed love for her. Roxana accompanied Alexander on his campaign in India in
326 BC. She bore Alexander a posthumus son called
Alexander IV Aegus, after Alexander's sudden death at
Babylon in
323 BC. With Alexander's death, Roxana and her son, became victims of the political intrigues which followed the break up of Alexandrian empire. They were protected by Alexander's mother,
Olympias at
Macedon, however her assassination in
316 BC allowed
Cassander to seek kingship. As Alexander IV Aegus was the legitimate heir to the Macedonian empire, he was murdered along with Roxana c.
309 BC.