Alexandra (, flourished 4th century) was a Greek noblewoman.
Little is known on the origins and life of Alexandra. Alexandra was from the city of Antioch and her brother was a certain CalliopiusJones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, p.818 a rhetor who served as a grammaticus and assistant-teacher under Libanius, and later, ca. 388, served as a magister epistolarum in the imperial court.Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, p.175
Alexandra married a wealthy rhetor called Seleucus.Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, p.p.175&818 Alexandra bore Seleucus two known children: Daughter Olympias, born in 361,Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, pp. 642-643 who later became a great Christian saint.Budge, Paradise of the Holy Fathers Part 1, p.163 It is possible, however, that Olympias was the daughter of an otherwise unknown man named Seleucus.Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, p.818 Either a son or daughter, who was a parent of Olympias and SeleucusMoret, Sertorius, Libanios, iconographie: a propos de Sertorius, journée d'étude, Toulouse, 7 avril 2000 [suivi de] autour de Libanios, culture et société dans l'antiquité tardive : actes de la table ronde, Avignon, 27 avril 2000, p.207
Alexandra is known as one of the correspondents from the surviving letters of Libanius as her husband was an intimate friend of Libanius, Julian and Calliopius.Selected Letter of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian She was a cultivated woman, in which Libanius highly praised and admired her.Selected Letter of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian, p.193
In 361 Alexandra remained in Antioch, while her husband was in Euphratensis, on imperial businessSelected Letter of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian, p.193 on behalf of Constantius II and later Julian the Apostate. In 362, Alexandra accompanied Seleucus to Cilicia in Anatolia where Julian sent Seleucus there, as the emperor made him either high-priest or perhaps Roman governor in that province.Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395, Parts 260-395, p.818
Libanius thanked Alexandra for slaves she sent to him as a gift, but bemoans the fact that they arrived without an accompanying letter.Selected Letter of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian, p.194 After this moment, no more is known of her.
References
Sources A.H.M. Jones, J.R. Martindale & J. Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press, 1971 E.A. Wallis Budge, Paradise of the Holy Fathers Part 1, Kessinger Publishing, 2003 P. Moret & B. Cabouret, Sertorius, Libanios, iconographie: a propos de Sertorius, journée d'étude, Toulouse, 7 avril 2000 [suivi de] autour de Libanios, culture et société dans l'antiquité tardive : actes de la table ronde, Avignon, 27 avril 2000, Presses Univ. du Mirail, 2003 Selected Letters of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian, Liverpool University Press, 2004