Ada was a noblewoman of the Persian satrapy of

Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...

who lived in the second half of the 4th century BC. In 336 BC

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

intended to marry her, but this plan failed.

Life

Ada was the eldest daughter of

Pixodarus Pixodarus or Pixodaros (in Lycian script, Lycian 𐊓𐊆𐊜𐊁𐊅𐊀𐊕𐊀 ''Pixedara''; in Greek language, Greek Πιξώδαρoς; ruled 340–334 BC), was a satrap of Caria, nominally the Achaemenid Empire Satrap, who enjoyed the statu ...

, who had been satrap of Caria since about 340 BC, and Aphneïs, a woman from

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

. In the spring of 336 B.C., Pixodarus endeavoured to forge closer ties with King

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

through a marriage alliance and sent Aristocritus as his envoy to the Macedonian court. Such a union was favourable to Philip's political ambitions against the Persian king

Darius III Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

; and Pixodarus could hope to gain greater independence from Darius III. The Macedonian king therefore proposed his mentally disabled son Arrhidaius, who had previously been excluded from the succession to the throne and was an elder stepbrother of Alexander the Great, as bridegroom for Pixodarus' daughter Ada. Alexander had only recently returned to the Macedonian royal court in

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

after a quarrel with his father Philip II, but he continued to worry about his right of succession to the throne, which was now in question. When he learned of Philip's marriage project, he tried to thwart it by asking for Ada's hand himself in order to prevent the legitimisation of his stepbrother. In the end, neither of them materialised due to the contradictory nature of the two marriage plans. Shortly afterwards, Pixodarus returned to a pro-Persian policy and gave his daughter Ada in marriage to the Persian nobleman Orontobates. After Pixodarus' death (335 BC), Ada may have briefly ruled over Caria with her husband. The following year, Alexander launched his Asian campaign, during which he reinstated Ada's aunt of the same name as Carian regent in the summer of 334 BC. There is no record of Ada's subsequent fate.Waldemar Heckel: ''Who’s Who in the Age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander’s Empire'', 2006, p. 4.

Sources

* Helmut Berve, :
Ada 2)
', in: ''

Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler A ...

'', supplementary volume 4, Stuttgart 1924, col. 7. *

Waldemar Heckel Waldemar Heckel (born 1949) is a Canadian historian. Heckel was born in Bad Königshofen, Germany in 1949. He attained his master's degree in 1973 from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and earned his doctorate in 1978 at the University ...

: ''Who’s Who in the Age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander’s Empire.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 2006, , p. 4. * Siegfried Lauffer: ''Alexander der Große''. Third edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1993, {{isbn, 3-423-04298-2, p. 36.

Notes

Carian people Hecatomnid dynasty People associated with Alexander the Great 4th-century BC women