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Why did Alexander the Great marry Roxana?
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Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, detail from Alexander and Porus, painting by Charles Le Brun, 17th century; in the Louvre, Paris, France.
Alexander the Great married Roxana in 327 BCE during his conquest of Asia. As the daughter of a Bactrian chief, her marriage to Alexander served as a symbolic union between the Macedonian conquerors and the local peoples of the region.123
By marrying into the local aristocracy of eastern Iran, Alexander sought to secure control over his vast, newly conquered territories and foster better relations with the powerful regional nobility. This act was part of a broader strategy to integrate Iranian elements into his empire, which also included training local men for his military and later staging mass marriages between Persians and Macedonians at Susa.34