Susa weddings

Common card · No. 431097

The Susa weddings were arranged by Alexander the Great in 324 BCE, shortly after he conquered the Achaemenid Empire. In an attempt to wed Greek culture with Persian culture, he and his officers held a large gathering at Susa and took Persian noblewomen as wives. The mass wedding involved 80 couples and blended various Greek and Persian traditions. Through these weddings and his own Persian wife, Alexander intended to legitimize his rule over Persia and solidify his claim as the successor of the Achaemenid dynasty. It was also expected that any children produced from these marriages would, as the product of both Greek and Persian blood, serve as a symbol of the two civilizations coming together under Alexander's Macedonian Empire.

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