Amastris (ruler of Heraclea)

This article is about the daughter of Oxyathres. For other uses, see Amastris.
Amastris
Ἄμαστρις
Didrachm of Amastris. Amastris was the first woman to issue coins in her own name. British Museum.
Born
Persia
Diedc. 284 BC
Heraclea Pontica
(modern-day Karadeniz Ereğli, Zonguldak, Turkey)
SpousesCraterus
Dionysius
Lysimachus
ChildrenClearchus II and Oxyathres
FatherOxyathres

Amastris (‹See Tfd›Greek: Ἄμαστρις; c. 340/39- 284 BC) also called Amastrine, was a Persian princess, and Tyrant-ruler of the city of Heraclea from circa 300 to her death. She was the daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of the Persian King Darius III.[1] She was the first woman in the Mediterranean publicly identified as the political, economic, and administrative royal authority.[2]

  1. ^ Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri, VII. 4.
  2. ^ Monica D'Agostini. (2020). Can Powerful Women Be Popular?: Amastris: Shaping a Persian Wife into a Famous Hellenistic Queen. In Celebrity, Fame, and Infamy in the Hellenistic World. Edid. Riemer Faber. Canada: University of Toronto Press.