Ochus

Ochus: Achaemenid prince, son of king Darius III Codomannus and queen Statira.

After the battle of Issus in November 333, the Persian royal family was captured by the Macedonians of Alexander the Great. The names of its members are recorded: king Darius' wife Statira, his mother Sisygambis, and his daughters Barsine/Statira and Drypetis. The name of the six-year old crown prince appears to have been Ochus; it is mentioned in the Fragmentum Sabbaiticum and by Curtius Rufus.note

Although we don't know his fate for certain, he was of an age to have survived the childhood illnesses. The appearances are against the Macedonian conqueror: the boy must have been killed - he was too dangerous to Alexander's claim to the Persian throne.

This page was created in 2005; last modified on 27 April 2019.