Roman Times: The fate of Persian noblewomen married to Macedonians after the death of Alexander the Great

Last night I was thinking more about the second set of remains in the lavish funerary urn with Persian-style bull-griffin protomes at the British Museum found in Athens and dated to about 300 BCE and realized the second set of remains could have been Eumenes Persian wife, Artonis, rather than an offspring.

House of the Golden Bracelet VI 17,42 Pompeii 2021 Triclinium 20, fresco from south wall depicting the wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxanne courtesy of Fabien Bièvre-Perrin

House of the Golden Bracelet VI 17,42 Pompeii 2018 Triclinium 20, closeup of fresco from south wall depicting the wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxanne courtesy of courtesy of Buzz Ferebee

House of the Golden Bracelet VI 17,42 Pompeii 2022 Triclinium 20, closeup of fresco from south wall depicting the wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxanne courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella

House of the Golden Bracelet VI 17,42 Pompeii 2018 Triclinium 20, closeup of fresco from south wall depicting the wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxanne courtesy of courtesy of Buzz Ferebee

I asked ClaudeAI about Persian noblewomen accompanying their husbands on military campaigns and it replied:

"Yes, this is another compelling possibility! During the Achaemenid period and continuing into the early Hellenistic era, high-status Persian women did sometimes accompany armies on campaign. The most famous example is the family of Darius III who were captured by Alexander after the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE.

In Eumenes' case specifically, we know his wife Artonis was sister to Barsine (who had a relationship with Alexander), and both women came from the Persian nobility. This Persian noble background of Artonis would also help explain:

The strong Achaemenid artistic influences on the urn

The high status of the burial

The cultural fusion represented in the funerary assemblage

We know Eumenes died violently - he was handed over to Antigonus and executed after the Battle of Gabiene. If Artonis was with him during the campaign, she might have shared his fate, which would explain:

The simultaneous burial (suggested by the obols attached to one jawbone)

The presence of two individuals in one prestigious burial vessel

The incorporation of both Greek and Persian cultural elements in the funerary treatment

The British Museum's mention of the animal bone fragment is also interesting in this context, as it could potentially represent Persian rather than Greek funerary traditions, though without knowing the species it's hard to make that connection definitively."

I pointed out the Macedonians, especially during the time of Alexander, did not seem to have any hesitation about executing female family members as evidenced by the fates of Eurydice, after Philip II's assassination, Roxanne, and Olympias.

ClaudeAI replied: "You make an excellent point. The Hellenistic period, particularly during the Wars of the Diadochi, was marked by brutal power politics that didn't spare women of royal or noble status. The examples you've cited are particularly telling:

Olympias (Alexander's mother) was executed by Cassander in 316 BCE, notably the same year as Eumenes' death.

Roxane (Alexander's wife) and her young son Alexander IV were murdered by Cassander in 310 BCE.

Eurydice (Philip III Arrhidaeus's wife) was forced to commit suicide by Olympias in 317 BCE

This violent treatment of high-status women reflects how the struggle for power after Alexander's death dismantled many traditional protections that noble women might have expected. The fact that Persian noble women like Artonis were connected to these power struggles through marriage made them equally vulnerable to the political violence of the period.

If Artonis was indeed the second person in the urn, her death alongside Eumenes would fit the pattern of how the Diadochi dealt with potential rival power bases - eliminating both male and female members of opposing factions to prevent future claims or vengeance.

The elaborate nature of the burial urn might then represent not just wealth and status, but also an attempt by supporters or surviving family members to provide an honorable burial despite the violent circumstances of the deaths."

I mentioned the Eurydice I was actually referring to was Philip II's wife at the time of his assassination and ClaudeAI replied:

"Ah, I apologize. I was thinking of the later Eurydice (wife of Philip III Arrhidaeus), but you're referring to Eurydice/Europa, the last wife of Philip II who was killed on Olympias's orders shortly after Philip II's assassination in 336 BCE, along with her infant daughter by Philip.

This earlier example actually helps establish the pattern even better - it shows that this ruthless treatment of royal/noble women was already present before Alexander's campaigns and continued through the Wars of the Diadochi. The continuity of this practice from Philip II's time through to Cassander's execution of Roxane and Alexander IV shows how deeply embedded it was in Macedonian power politics.

This context makes the possibility of Artonis sharing Eumenes' fate even more plausible. The Diadochi, having grown up in this political culture and witnessed or participated in these practices during Alexander's campaigns, would have had no compunction about executing a Persian noblewoman along with her husband."

Then I pointed out Heracles of Macedon, Alexander's son by Barsine, Artonis' sister, was also murdered.

ClaudeAI replied, "That's correct. Heracles, Alexander's illegitimate son by Barsine, was murdered along with his mother in 309 BCE by Polyperchon. This was another tragic example of the systematic elimination of potential claimants to Alexander's legacy.

The deaths of Barsine and Heracles are particularly relevant to our discussion of the Athens urn and its possible connection to Artonis (Barsine's sister) because:

It shows that Persian noble women like Barsine and potentially Artonis were not protected by their high status

The timing (309 BCE) fits within the general period of the urn's creation.

It demonstrates how thoroughly the Diadochi worked to eliminate potential rival power bases, including women and children connected to Alexander's inner circle.

In fact, if we look at the fates of Alexander's extended family and close associates, there's a striking pattern:

Olympias (executed 316 BCE)

Eumenes (executed 316 BCE)

Roxane and Alexander IV (murdered 310 BCE)

Barsine and Heracles (murdered 309 BCE)

This systematic elimination of potential rivals and their families makes the possibility of Eumenes and Artonis being buried together in the urn historically plausible."

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