A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Amastris
AMASTRIS,
Daughter of Oxathres, the brother of Darius Codomannus, the last king of Persia, was given in marriage by Alexander, after his return from India, to Craterns, from whom she was separated about B. C. 323. Dionysius, the tyrant of Heracles, was her next husband, to whose prosperity hex; influence, wealth, and talents greatly contributed. At his death, B. C. 306, he left to her the government of the state, and the guardianship of their three children. She next married Lysimachus, and after living with him for some time at Heracles, followed him to Sardls, where he divorced her, in order to marry Arsinoë, the daughter of Ptolemy the First, king of Egypt. She then returned to her kingdom of Heraclea, and was murdered by her two sons, who had governed the state badly during her absence. Thus sadly terminated the career of this woman, who displayed singular talents for government, and whose memory is preserved in the name of the city Amastris, which she founded on the coast of Paphlagonia.