biography
| name: |
Darius III
|
| |
also known as Codommanus
|
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (d.330 BC)
|
| biography:
| King of Persia (336–330 BC), the last ruler of the Achaemenid dynasty. He was placed on the throne by the eunuch Bagoas, who had poisoned the two previous kings, Artaxerxes III and his son, Arses. When Darius asserted his independence, Bagoas tried to poison him too, but Darius forced him to drink it himself. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded Persia; Darius was unprepared, and his army was defeated at Issus (333 BC) and at Gaugamela (331 BC). He fled to Ecbatana and then to Bactria, where he was murdered by Bessus, satrap of Bactria. |
|
|
