Wine, Women, and Royalty in Gandhara

Curtius Rufus (VIII. 10.33-34) narrates that when Alexander had conquered the city of Massaga, which was the capital of the kingdom of the Assacenians, the inhabitants asked the king for clemency by sending ambassadors. When they had obtained it, the queen presented herself to the conqueror with a numerous retinue of high-born women who libated wine from golden cups: in this way she managed to maintain her high role. Beyond the episode that can reproduce a topos relating to the relationship between Alexander and women, the paper will investigate the plausibility of the ritual act that the text reports, i.e., the libation of wine, in the historical context of ancient Gandhara and, more in general, of North/West India in connection with royalty and the presence of women of rank.