Darius III
Darius Codoman (-380/-330) is king of Perse of -336 to its death in -330. Overcome by Alexandre Large the, he is the last king of the dynasty Achéménide.
Origins of its reign
Darius is member of a collateral branch of the dynasty of the Achéménides, being the son of Arsamès and Sisygambis and the grandson of Ostanès, him even wire of Darius {{II}} and brother of Artaxerxès {{II}}. It reaches the throne following the crimes of eunuque the Bagoas which assassinates in -338 Artaxerxès {{III}} then the son of this one, Arsès, in -336. It quickly considers an identical fate for Darius, undoubtedly less flexible than provided, but this one anticipates its poisoning by doing itself to drink in Bagoas the fatal cut that this one intended to him. Regarded by Persians as a warrior of elite, Darius seems supported by most of the aristocracy and army. An ancient tradition into force at the Macedonians, claims that Darius would have been one of the slaves of Bagoas.
Darius, although before satrap of Arménie, still has little political experiment. He manages however to make Phénicie a satrapie and to bring back the order to Egypt. He tries to impose the Persian domination in an empire more and more undermined by the ambitions of the satraps and threatened by the expansionism Macedonian.
Fight against Alexandre
The reign of Darius is exclusively marked by the fight against the Macedonians. As of -336, Philippe {{II}} sends a task force in Asia Mineure but its assassination delays the projects of invasion. When Alexandre crosses Hellespont in spring -334, Darius immediately does not take the measurement of the event; it leaves the satraps and with Memnon of Rhodos, the chief of the Greek mercenaries, the care to stop the Armée Macedonian. Badly prepareds, those are beaten with the Bataille of Granique into -334. Darius then concentrates a new army in Babylonia and made in Syria its junction with the Greek mercenaries. Darius, which orders in person, is overcome with the Bataille of Issos in -333. Not without to have tried to resist the attack of the heavy cavalry Macedonian, it escapes, leaving her royal tank and her attributes (its arc, its shield and its coat), which is a true dishonor according to the codes of the royalty achéménide. Especially, Darius abondonne the royal family with her fate: his/her mother, his wife Stateira and their children are indeed captured by Alexandre.
Not being able to prevent Alexandre from conquering the Phénicie and the Egypt, it has time to form a new army by integrating this time many quotas of the Eastern satrapies (of which some elephants of war). It takes care to choose this time a favorable ground with its innumerable cavalry and its tank with forgery, but it is definitively overcome with the Bataille of Gaugamèles in -331. It escapes towards the mountains of Médie but, given up by all its faithful, it is assassinated by Nabarzane and the satrap Bessos who proclaims king de Perse in July -330.
Darius is buried by Alexandre, with immense honors, in the necropolis royal of Persépolis. The Macedonian regards himself indeed as his legitimate successor and wife his daughter Stateira at the time of the weddings of Suse in -324. Alexandre thus takes logically his continuation in the imperial chronicles.
Posterity
A historical tradition tends to depict Darius as a king whose cowardice would have equal only poor talent of strategist. One can already moderate this matter by asserting weakness even of the Persian empire vis-a-vis the expansionism Macedonian. Darius in addition shows a certain military talent while managing to place itself on the backs of the army Macedonian before the battle of Issos.
It is especially advisable to underline the maladjustment of the Persian military tactic on the battle field. According to a very ritualized code, Darius is held perched on its tank with the center of the army, in a hieratic and majestic way, protected by the battalion from: 10000 Immortal and equestrian guard of the Parents of the King. He cannot, paralyzed in a solidified device, truly to resist the load of the cavalry of the Compagnons, as shows it well the Mosaïque of Alexandre . In spite of the chivalrous spirit of its riders, Darius does not have of an army and a command able to face the force of impact of the army Macedonian.
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