The last Persian Great King of the Achaemenid
dynasty - Darius III Codomannus - is remembered in
history as the premier enemy who was beaten by
Alexander. Darius had to abandon his commanding
battlefield position twice, both at Issus and
Gaugamela, under the pressure of the attacks by
Alexander and his Macedonian Companion cavalry. With
Darius the Achaemenid empire ceased to exist.
Ascencion
Darius had inherited a Persian empire that had
been going through a period of revitalisation. Under
king Artaxerxes III Ochus - one of the most able but
also most violent Achaemenid monarchs - the empire
had tightened its grip on the peoples living under
its sway. Egypt was reconquered and Persian rule had
been firmly re-established throughout West and
Central Asia. However, Artaxerxes' harsh methods had
made him lots of enemies in the court circles and he
was poisoned in 338 BC. The next king, his son
Arses, proved to be a weak non-entity who was
quickly disposed of in another court intrigue. It is
no surprise that Alexander's father Philip II
launched his first advance campaign against Persia
during the wobbly reign of Arses (a.k.a. Artaxerxes
IV). Egypt too had managed to brake away from Persia
once more.
This was the situation that Darius III inherited
when he ascended to the 'peacock' throne in 336 BC -
the very same year that Alexander became king of
Macedon. Darius was not a close relative of earlier
Persian kings - he might have been a cousin of
Artaxerxes III. But the cruel Artaxerxes had already
deprived Persia of most of its crown princes, so
there were few obvious candidates for the kingship.
Darius appeared to have been just the ruler that
Persia needed. He was reputedly mild and forgiving -
quite a relief from Artaxerxes. But he also had a
reputation for bravery in war, having killed a
warrior champion of the fierce Cadusians in single
handed combat. For this feat, which happened during
a military campaign under Artaxerxes probably around
340 BC, Darius had been rewarded with the satrapy of
Armenia. In the first year of his rule as a king,
Darius reclaimed Egypt. He also sent his foremost
general Memnon the Rhodian against the Macedonian
advance forces in Asia. Memnon was initially
succesful in curtailing the Macedonian exploits.
Some of our main sources have contributed to the
popular image of Darius as a cowardly leader who was
no match for Alexander's heroism at all. Neither in
Arrian nor in Plutarch Darius comes alive as a
character. Arrian simply dismisses him as "feeble
and incompetent", and that is about it. Curtius has
recorded detailed speeches of Darius, but scholars
fear these are personal inventions modelled after
Herodotus. It is Diodorus who presents us with a
totally different approach. Diodorus describes
Darius as a clever strategist and an energetic king
who "wasted no time". Even his final escape from the
battlefield at Gaugamela was executed with brilliant
tactical insight, claims Diodorus.
Strategy
If one examines Darius' conduct of the "great
war" one can not ignore the impression that Darius
deliberately tried to smother the conflict by
creating various - at least six - independent
theatres of war in an effort to divert Alexander's
attention. Around early 333 BC his trusted general
Memnon died of illness. This was an enormous blow
for Darius' overall plans. It appears that only
after Memnon's death Darius began hastily
preparations for a pitched battle against the
invaders, which lead to his first solid defeat at
Issus. The important contingents from Bactria for
example never arrived in time at Babylon to be
included in the defense army.
At Issus Alexander 'confiscated' Darius' wife
(and sister) Statira, his daughters Statira and
Drypetis, his son Ochus and his mother Sisigambis as
the 'spoils' of war. Though Alexander treated the
Royal family with respect, Darius' wife Statira died
in childbirth somewhere within the two years between
Issus and Gaugamela. According to Curtius the news
of his wife's death reached Darius shortly before
his defeat at Gaugamela. That would allow plenty of
room for speculation that Statira's child was
conceived by Alexander, not Darius. Arrian however
goes to great lengths to convice his audience that
Alexander never touched "the most beautiful woman in
Asia" (Arr. 4.20). If one accepts Arrian, Statira
must have died early in 332 BC.
After Issus Darius had returned to Babylon on the
double and had again started raising forces. While
Issus was fought in November 333 BC, Darius was back
in Babylon long before the year was out and
according to Diodorus he was "not crushed in
spirit". This may be the best indication of the
personality we are dealing with. Many other kings
might never have survived such a humiliating
military disaster. But Darius remained firmly 'in
the saddle' and in 331 BC he faced Alexander for the
second time, at Gaugamela, now with an improved army
that came close to matching the Macedonians.
Murder
Darius fled to Ecbatana and in July 330 BC -
whilst heading for safety in distant Bactria - he
was murdered by his kinsmen Bessus, Nabarzanes and
Barsaentes. Our sources are unanimous in stating
that Darius had desired to battle Alexander again,
even with the ramshakle remnants of his once
glorious army. Bessus and his conspirators however
must have decided that enough was enough. The big
mystery is not why Darius was murdered. The mystery
is why he was not disposed of much earlier. He had
remained undisputed as the Great King after Issus
and his rule even lasted for many months after the
empire had collapsed at Gaugamela, even though the
Royal capitals of Susa, Babylon and Persepolis were
lost. It is quite difficult to reconcile these facts
with the popular image of a feeble, imcompetent and
cowardly king.
The common Macedonian soldier Polystratus found
the dying Darius, who was pierced by javelins and
abandoned, and Polystratus was the last soul to
speak to him. He brought Darius his last drink of
water, and Darius allegedly complained that he was
not able anymore to reward Polystratus for his
kindness - then closed his eyes for ever. The
traitor Bessus crowned himself as the new Persian
king Artaxerxes V, but no historian has ever
accepted Bessus' rule as genuine. Bessus and
Barsaentes were both executed by Alexander,
Nabarzanes was pardoned.
Darius is commonly believed to have been born
around 380 BC. He was fifty years of age when he
died. His original Persian Royal name was
'Darayavaush', to be translated as "he who is
holding the good". |