Darius
III (Darius Codomannus), d. 330 B.C., king of ancient Persia (336–330 B.C.). A cousin of Artaxerxes III, he was raised to the throne by the eunuch Bagoas,
who had murdered both Artaxerxes and his son, Arses; Darius in turn
murdered Bagoas. His rule was not stable, however. When Alexander the Great invaded Persia, Darius was defeated in the battle of Issus (333 B.C.) and again in the battle of Gaugamela near Arbela (331 B.C.). For the first time Persia was confronted by a united Greece, and Darius' greatest
error was in underestimating Alexander's strength. Darius used the wrong
tactics in battle and was forced to flee to Ecbatana and then eastward
to Bactria. It was there that the satrap of Bactria, Bessus, had Darius
murdered on Alexander's approach and took command himself in the unsuccessful
opposition to the Macedonian conqueror. These events brought the Persian
Empire to an end and marked the beginning of the Hellenistic period
in the E Mediterranean. Darius III is probably the Darius the Persian
mentioned in the Bible (Neh. 12.22).
