Queen Amastris of Heraclea – The first Hellenistic Queen

Queen Amastris of Heraclea is generally considered to be the first Hellenistic queen.^[1] She was a Persian princess and married three times.^[2] Her third husband, King Lysimachus, made her queen regnant of Heraclea.^[3] She was the first queen to mint coins in her own name.^[4] Therefore, Queen Amastris of Heraclea proved to be a very proficient queen.^[5]

In circa 340/39 B.C.E., Queen Amastris of Heraclea was born in Susa.^[6] Her father was Prince Oxyathres (the brother of King Darius III of the Achaemenid Empire).^[7] Her mother is unknown.^[8] Her early life is also unknown.^[9] In 324 B.C.E., King Alexander the Great married Princess Amastris to General Craeterus.^[10] In 322 B.C.E., Amastris and Craeterus separated.^[11] Historians believe that the cause of this separation may be because Princess Amastris did not want to go to Europe but wanted to remain in Persia.^[12]

In that same year, Princess Amastris married Dionysus (the tyrant of Heraclea).^[13] The marriage allowed Dionysus to increase his wealth in Heraclea and strengthen his power.^[14] It also allowed him to “improve the welfare and goodwill of his subjects.”^[15] In circa 321 B.C.E., Princess Amastris gave birth to a daughter, who was also named Princess Amastris.^[16] Unfortunately, nothing else is known about her daughter.^[17] Princess Amastris also bore Dionysus two sons, Prince Clearchus (born circa 321/0 B.C.E.) and Prince Oxyathres (born circa 319/8 B.C.E.).^[18] In 306 B.C.E., Dionysus died. Because his sons were still too young to rule on their own, Dionysus left Princess Amastris as the regent of Heraclea.^[19]

In 302 B.C.E., Princess Amastris married Lysimachus during his war against Antigonus.^[20] In 301 B.C.E., Lysimachus became King of Asia Minor. Amastris became Queen of Asia Minor.^[21] In circa 300 B.C.E., Queen Amastris bore King Lysimachus a son named Prince Alexander.^[22] Shortly after the birth of Prince Alexander, King Lysimachus married Ptolemy I of Egypt’s daughter, Princess Arsinoe.^[23]

Queen Amastris moved back to Heraclea, where she reigned on King Lysimachus’s behalf as queen regnant.^[24] Queen Amastris founded the city of Amastris, which is located on the Paphlagonian coast (present-day Amasra).^[25] Queen Amastris also issued coins in her own name.^[26] This made her the first queen in history to issue coins in her own name.^[27] It also provides evidence that she was queen regnant of Heraclea.^[28]

In 284 B.C.E., Queen Amastris was drowned in the Black Sea by her two sons, Prince Clearchus and Prince Oxyathres.^[29] Historians believe that they were trying to break off any connections with King Lysimachus and wanted to gain their own independence.^[30] However, Queen Amastris’s murder only infuriated King Lysimachus.^[31] He wanted to avenge his estranged wife’s death.^[32] King Lysimachus executed both Prince Clearchus and Prince Oxyathres.^[33] He then made himself the ruler of Heraclea.^[34]

Queen Amastris of Heraclea proved to be a very capable queen.^[35] She reigned for nearly fourteen years.^[36] She founded a city and minted coins.^[37] She also combined “Persian and Greek royal and religious ideology”^[38] into her queenship.^[39] Thus, Queen Amastris of Heracles proved to be a very competent and important queen during the Hellenistic era.^[40]

Sources:

Schmitt, R. (n.d.). “Amestris”. Encyclopaedia Iranica (Online Edition). 1/9. pp. 935-936. Retrieved on May 24, 2025 from https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amestris-gr/#citation.

van Oppen de Ruiter, B. F. (2020). “Amastris: The first Hellenistic queen”. Historia – Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte, 69(1), 17-37. https://doi.org/10.25162/HISTORIA-2020-0002.