In the women's quarters of the satrap’s palace, the birth of a girl is a matter of little importance. It is neither a cause to rejoice nor a cause to mourn; it is but another girl who may, or may not, live to serve as a useful political tool, be married off to her father’s advantage, and require a suitable dowry. Thus the birth of the new daughter to Artabazus, Satrap Of Hellespontine Phrygia, born in 363 was not to be greeted with great celebration as had her older brother Pharnabazus. The girl would be named, Barsine; she would be remembered for thousands of years.

Barsine would remain a footnote in history, lurking in the margins for all those years. She was a Persian noblewoman and educated in both the Persian and Greek cultures. Her father’s satrapy was a Persian government forced upon the Hellenes of what is now northwest Turkey and it was a wise move to educate her in two languages making her useful in a marriage alliance to either a Greek or a Persian.

In 358, her father rebelled against the new king, Artaxerxes III, and hired an army of Greek mercenaries among which were two brothers from Rhodes, Mentor and Memnon who became close favorites of Artabazus, so close, in fact that Artabazus married the sister of Mentor and Memnon and, in return gave his eight year old daughter in marriage to Mentor thus uniting the two families in two ways. Such marriages were not consummated until the child bride was thought ready by the husband, yet she would move into his house and become his possession.

When Artaxerxes III defeated the armies of his rebellious satrap, Artabazus fled to the court of Philip in Macedon taking his wives and children as well as Barsine and her husband’s brother, Memnon. As they stayed for 11 years, Barsine must have continued her education in Greek and have Known young Alexander. How she impressed him it is impossible to say, but he was 13 and she was 20 and an exotic beauty from Persia when she finally left. A thirteen year old Macedonian boy most certainly would have noticed her.

In the rebellion of 343,Barsine’s husband, Mentor, had fled, not to Macedon, but rather to Egypt which was free of Persian rule at the time. He aided Artaxerxes in reconquering Egypt and asked as his reward, the forgiveness of his brother, Artabazus, and his family. Barsine was thus returned to the husband she had not seen since she was a child. but the marriage was a short one for Mentor died two years later leaving her a widow with one daughter. She was immediately married to her dead husband’s brother, Memnon and moved to his estate in The Troad.

When Alexander attacked The Persian Empire, Memnon was called upon to defend his adopted country. He was made Commander Of The West and Barsine was sent to live at the court of Darius as a hostage. Memnon died in 333 and Barsine stayed on with Darius. She was among the royal women Alexander captured after the battle of Issus. Did he know that she was among the captives? She certainly knew who her captor was. When Alexander paid his visit to the tent of the royal women, she would be there and they would meet again. This time Alexander was King and a grown man invading her homeland. He had won two major battles with the king’s armies and put the King, himself, to flight. She knew that she was his possession as surely as the gold plates were his. The women were spear won loot. Barsine became Alexander’s woman not by force, that would not have pleased Alexander’s vanity. It is most likely that the attraction was mutual. They were together for some three years and Barsine bore Alexander’s first son, Herakles. A few days later Alexander married a stranger, Roxane.

Why Barsine left Alexander is not known; it would have been perfectly normal for her to remain with him even after his marriage. She may have left on her own or Alexander may have sent her away. She and her children traveled east and she settled in Pergamon where she lived for the next eighteen years.

Barsine was a wealthy widow and must have lived very well for those years in Pergamon as an independent woman of means. She outlived Alexander by fourteen years. Her daughter married Nearchus who had been an admiral and close friend of Alexander’s. This would bind her even more closely to her memories of him. He had been the only young man to whom she had been married. He was handsome and extremely attractive. He had been, briefly, the most powerful man in the world and he had been her lover for three years. This could not be forgotten. Still, her last eighteen years were the only time in her life when she was not under the direct control of a man.

In 309, Polyperchon, successor to Antipatros, tried to use young Herakles in his political power games, but Cassandros persuaded him to do away with the boy. Both he and his mother were murdered. They had their part in Alexander’s funeral games, though a small part. The Mother and the son were sacrifices. The story has always been a footnote in history and for many years most scholars did not believe that Herakles even existed. Over the last twenty years that position has been reversed and Barsine and her son, Herakles, Son Of Alexander, have been generally accepted. Barsine, a woman of little importance, has moved out of the shadows at last.