Alexander the Great ascended the Macedonian throne at age 20 and died just 12 years later, having conquered one of the largest empires in the ancient world. During that time, did he father any children, and, in the power vacuum following his death, what happened to these heirs?

In a word: yes. Alexander had one and possibly even two children — both sons. One, known as Alexander IV, was his son with his wife Roxana. The other, known as “Heracles of Macedon,” was his son with Barsine, his mistress.

Roxana was the daughter of a chief in Bactria, an area in Central Asia. Alexander’s forces captured her while campaigning in the region and she married him in around 327 B.C., wrote Ian Worthington, a professor of ancient history at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, in his book “Alexander the Great: A Reader” (Routledge, 2012). But Alexander didn’t live to see their son; She was pregnant with Alexander IV when Alexander died in Babylon in 323 B.C.

“Heracles of Macedon” was born to a mistress named Barsine, a Persian noblewoman, around 327 B.C., making him about four years older than Alexander IV. Some scholars in modern times question whether Alexander was actually the father of Barsine, as Alexander never formally acknowledged the child. But there appears to be a consensus among some modern scholars that Heracles was his biological son.

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