A tribute to Darius III

When I read about the war waged by Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire, I always feel sad. For its king, Darius III, Codomannus, was not an incompetent king, and by no means an incompetent general. He was just unlucky that he had to face the greatest European leader of the world of antiquity. This account is an excerpt from Gaugamela.com and tells of the terrible situation Darius faced after having his peace overtures to Alexander were rejected:

‘Darius had groaned and wailed. His mood is described as a frenzy of grief. Meanwhile Bion, a Greek soldier in Persian service, deserted to Alexander and told the Macedonians about the battlefield prepared by Darius. He revealed the hidden traps set by the Persians and informed Alexander about Darius battle formation. Eleven days prior to the battle there had been an eclipse of the moon. This allows us to determine the date of Gaugamela: the 1st of October 331 BC. The battle is also known as Arbela, after the principal city in the district. Gaugamela had an unpleasing sound to the ears of the ancients. It meant so much as the “grazing place of the camel”. Arbela, obvioulsy, was a more convenient name for this decisive event, the pinaccle of European superiority over the east.’

After his crushing defeat at Gaugamela, Darius despaired of any true victory: Alexander would soon march on Susa, Babylon and Persepolis – the capital of the Persian Empire. This account is from Gaugamela.com:

‘According to Curtius Rufus Darius had assembled in Ecbatana a force of 30,000 infantry, including 4,000 Greek mercenaries, plus 3,300 cavalry under Bessus. Arrian gives a much lower estimate of Darius’ strength, but considering the situation – six months after Gaugamela – Curtius’ numbers are quite plausible. Although Darius seems determined to fight Alexander again, his speeches to his men echo only despair and pessimism.

“I am not going to live to see the loss of this empire”, Curtius records. “My rule and my life shall end together.” Altough this is perfectly symmetric with the Persian concept of kingship, these words can hardly be seen as a motivation to his men. One might conclude that Darius did not longer believe in military successes, but wanted to avoid a disgraceful end of the empire at all costs. Honor was at stake here, not victory.’

Darius met a most dishonourable end, killed by his own satrap, Bessus. Yet he showed good faith to the end, hoping in the end that if he could not rule his empire, he would rather Alexander rule it than Bessus.

As I write, my heart sincerely grieves for the Persian King. He may have been a Middle Eastern tyrant in the modern sense, but I speak of him as a human being, not a king or politician. I myself have never been to the ruins of Persepolis yet – although I do want to visit someday. So many factors worked against Darius that in the end he died an ignoble death. It must have been agony for him.

May the great king Darius III Codomannus be reborn into an auspicious realm.