Nicator wrote: Who's to say that Barsine acted covertly. Who's to say she didn't gather intel for Artabazus but was never able to deliver it (especially if Alexander was aware of her intentions). And by the time she was again within 'earshot' of Artabazus, his position in the new order was significantly changed.
That is not at all likely. All the sources are clear that the top rank Persians took their wives and families on campaign as Diodorus (16.35.3) makes plain:
Not only the ladies of the royal house but also those of the King's Relatives and Friends, borne on gilded chariots, had accompanied the army according to an ancestral custom of the Persians...
Curtius actually names some (3.13.13):
The same group contained the wife of Ochus, the daughter of Darius' brother, Oxathres, and the wife of Artabazus, Darius' chief courtier, as well as Artabazus' son, whose name was Ilioneus. [14] The wife and son of Pharnabazus (the man whom Darius had given supreme command over the coastal area) were also taken, as were the three daughters of Mentor, and the wife and son of the renowned general Memnon. Scarcely any courtier's household was unaffected by the catastrophe.
Arrian, who notes that the "wives of Persian peers" (2.11.9) were also captured, only bothers to name those who fell in battle. Amongst these is a certain Bubaces who, just as with Artabazus, was "one of the Persian dignitaries". We can assume that all these noble Persians - peers, Friends and "dignitaries" took their wives and family and that, as Artabazus' were captured, he was there too.
For the proposition to be true that Barsine was taken to Damascus as a spy one has to accept that Artabazus took the field with the royal army banking on defeat. Not only defeat but that the royal headquarters at Damascus would fall into Alexander's hands along with all the other family members of the Persian hierarchy. That having occurred, he then has to ensure that his daughter survives the storming of the royal camp and is gifted to Alexander.
That entire premise is, to me, a nonsense and unsupported by the facts as they are preserved.
Nicator wrote:My contention is that Alexander was well aware of her status and of the danger of having such a well connected and educated woman in his entourage. Hold your friends close and you enemies closer. There is nothing to say that Barsine was just a bedmate for Alexander.
For this to accepted, there'd need to be evidence of Alexander passing on dis-information to Darius. Nothing so much as a scintilla exists and, as Agesilaos has pointed out, it is Alexander who is "wrong footed" in the lead up to Gaugamela.
Nicator wrote:As a side note, it seems clear enough that I have made my points about Barsine and I disagree that it is just up to me to prove my points. A well rounded rhetorician would be capable of providing insight to both sides of the story. Seeing as the purported facts seem to go either way, I am within the bounds here to deliver an overlooked interpretation of those few precious facts as they were laid down.
I would disagree with that as well. A good rhetorician might be "capable of providing insight to both sides of the story"; one attempting to provide a new interpretation of the source evidence would indeed provide evidential proof of his interpretation. Most of those who post here do so, whether or not this is "just a public forum".
Nicator wrote:And I have always valued your posts and replies whenever I can get them.
Awfully glad to hear it. It's been a while.