Last king of the Achaemenid Empire (r. 336–330 BC)
Darius III 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁
King of Kings
Great King
King of Persia
Pharaoh of Egypt
King of Countries
Depiction of Darius III during the Battle of Issus in the Alexander Mosaic (c. 100 BC), ancient Roman floor mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, Italy
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
Reign
336–330 BC
Predecessor
Artaxerxes IV Arses
Successor
Alexander the Great (Macedonian Empire)
Artaxerxes V Bessus (self-proclaimed)
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign
336–332 BC
Predecessor
Artaxerxes IV Arses
Successor
Alexander the Great
Born
c. 380 BC
Died
July 330 BC (aged approximately 50) Parthia
Burial
Persepolis
Spouse
Stateira I
Issue
Stateira II
Drypetis
Ochus
Dynasty
Achaemenid
Father
Arsames
Mother
Sisygambis
Religion
Zoroastrianism
Darius III (Old Persian: 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁Dārayavaʰuš; Greek: ΔαρεῖοςDareios; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. During his early career, he was reportedly an obscure figure among his peers and first rose to prominence during the Cadusian expedition of Artaxerxes III in the 350s BC. As a reward for his bravery, he was given the Satrapy of Armenia. Around 340 BC, he was placed in charge of the royal "postal service," a high-ranking position. In 338 BC, Artaxerxes III met an abrupt end after being poisoned by the court eunuch and chiliarch (hazahrapatish) Bagoas, who installed Artaxerxes' youngest son Arses on the throne. He only reigned for a few years, until Bagoas had him poisoned as well. Darius was subsequently installed on the throne and soon forced Bagoas to drink his poison after discovering that the eunuch had planned to poison him as well.
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great began his invasion of the Persian Empire and subsequently defeated the Persians in several battles before looting and destroying their capital, Persepolis, by fire in 330 BC. With the Persian Empire now effectively under Alexander's control, Alexander then decided to pursue Darius. Before Alexander reached him, however, Darius was killed by his relative Bessus, who was also the satrap of Bactria.
Darius is partially remembered in Iranian traditions as Dara II, the last king of the mythological Kayanian dynasty, which reflected memories of the Achaemenids.
Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus. Darius fled the battle, causing...
BC) DariusIII (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) Crown princes Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, may have ruled briefly in 465 BC Darius, son...
BC) and of Issus (333 BC), won against the Achaemenid Persian army of DariusIII, Alexander employed the so-called "hammer and anvil" tactic. However,...
it led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire and of DariusIII. In November 333 BC, King DariusIII had lost the Battle of Issus to Alexander the Great...
his men murder DariusIII and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in the...
Empire, led by DariusIII. It was the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of Asia, and the first encounter between DariusIII and Alexander the...
succumbing to poison himself at the orders of Bagoas. Bagoas put Arses' cousin DariusIII on the throne after him. He is known as Arses in Greek sources and that...
Pierre (2015), Darius in the Shadow of Alexander, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0674493094 EIr. (1994). "Darius v. DariusIII". In Yarshater, Ehsan...
guardian deity, and also to Dara, which is possibly a combination of Darius I and DariusIII the Achaemenid, hints at a possible attempt to claim lineage from...
A daughter of Oxyathres, brother of DariusIII According to the classical Greek writer Plutarch, Artaxerxes III was also supported by his half-sister...
his example.[citation needed] Ochus adopted the name Darius (Greek sources often call him Darius Nothos, "Bastard"). Neither the names Xerxes II nor Sogdianus...
thus probably also involved in the murder of the last Achaemenid king DariusIII. After Bessus was captured by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great...
on the Persian King Darius. Alexander does not wear a helmet, allowing him to be recognized. The painting's protagonist, DariusIII, is reaching out to...
During DariusIII's reign, Alexander the Great led the Macedonian army to victory in conquering the Persian Empire, as such, this ended DariusIII's reign...
while Achaemenid subjects were forced to shave their heads. The mother of DariusIII, Sisygambis, having learned of Alexander's death, became depressed and...
Gordian III (Latin: Marcus Antonius Gordianus; 20 January 225 – c. February 244) was Roman emperor from 238 to 244. At the age of 13, he became the youngest...
family of Achaemenids, the Kings of Persia, who are descendants of Perseus. Darius the Great, in an effort to establish his legitimacy, later traced his genealogy...
Alexander III of Macedon from 336 BC to 323 BC. They began with battles against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, then under the rule of DariusIII of Persia...
the natural avenue for Alexander's continued campaign. Meanwhile, King DariusIII was trying to raise a new army at Ecbatana. Ariobarzanes was charged with...
Drypetis (died 323 BCE) was the daughter of Stateira I and DariusIII of Persia. Drypetis was born between 350 and 345 BCE, and, along with her sister...
Darius Gaiden is a 1994 horizontal-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Taito. The fifth entry in its Darius series, players control...
construction of the Palace of Darius at Susa. He also maintained the Royal Road built by his father. In 465 BC, Xerxes and his heir Darius were assassinated by...
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