Editing Darius III (section)

==Flight, imprisonment, and death==
[[File:Murder of Darius and Alexander at the side of the dying king.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Murder of Darius and Alexander at the side of the dying king depicted in a 15th-century manuscript]]
Darius did attempt to restore his once-great army after his defeat at the hands of Alexander, but he failed to raise a force comparable to that which had [[Battle of Gaugamela|fought at Gaugamela]], partly because the defeat had undermined his authority, and also because Alexander's liberal policy, for instance in [[Babylonia]] and [[Persis]], offered an acceptable alternative to Persian policies.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

When at Ecbatana, Darius learned of Alexander's approaching army, he decided to retreat to [[Bactria]] where he could better use his cavalry and mercenary forces on the more even ground of the plains of Asia. He led his army through the [[Gates of Alexander|Caspian Gates]], the main road through the mountains that would work to slow the following army.<ref>Prevas 55</ref> Persian forces became increasingly demoralized with the constant threat of a surprise attack from Alexander, leading to many desertions and eventually a coup led by [[Bessus]], a satrap, and [[Nabarzanes]], who managed all audiences with the King and was in charge of the palace guard.<ref>Prevas 60</ref> The two men suggested to Darius that the army regroup under Bessus and that power would be transferred back to the King once Alexander was defeated. Darius did not accept this plan and his conspirators became more anxious to remove him for his successive failures against Alexander and his forces. Patron, a Greek mercenary, encouraged Darius to accept a bodyguard of Greek mercenaries rather than his usual Persian guard to protect him from Bessus and Nabarzanes, but the King could not accept for political reasons and grew accustomed to his fate.<ref>Prevas 64–65</ref> Bessus and Nabarzanes eventually bound Darius and threw him in an ox-cart while they ordered the Persian forces to continue. According to [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius']] ''History of Alexander'', at this point Alexander and a small, mobile force arrived and threw the Persians into a panic, leading Bessus and two other conspirators, [[Satibarzanes]] and [[Barsaentes]], to wound the king with their javelins and leave him to die.<ref>Prevas 69</ref>

[[File:The Family of Darius before Alexander by Paolo Veronese 1570.jpg|thumb|''The Family of Darius before Alexander'', by [[Paolo Veronese]], 1570.]]
A Macedonian soldier found Darius either dead or dying in the wagon shortly thereafter—a disappointment to Alexander, who wanted to capture Darius alive. Alexander saw Darius’ dead body in the wagon and took the signet ring off the dead king's finger. Afterwards, he sent Darius's body back to [[Persepolis]], gave him a magnificent funeral and ordered that he be buried, like all his royal predecessors, in the royal tombs.<ref>Prevas 71</ref> Darius's tomb has not yet been discovered.<ref>Siegfried Lauffer, ''Alexander der Große''. third edition, Dtv, Munich 1993, {{ISBN|3-423-04298-2}}, p. 114</ref> Alexander eventually married Darius' daughter [[Stateira II|Stateira]] at [[Susa]] in 324&nbsp;BC.

With the old king defeated and given a proper burial, Alexander's rulership of Persia became official. This led to Darius being regarded by some historians as cowardly and inefficient,<ref>W.W. Tarn, ''Alexander the Great''.</ref> as under his rulership, the entirety of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] fell to a foreign invader. After killing Darius, [[Bessus]] took the regal name Artaxerxes V and began calling himself the King of Asia.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> He was subsequently captured by Alexander, tortured, and executed. Another of Darius' generals ingratiated himself to Alexander by giving the conqueror Darius' favored [[Catamite|companion]], [[Bagoas (courtier)|Bagoas]].<ref>This was a different Bagoas than the [[Bagoas|unfaithful minister]] mentioned above. Crompton, Louis.  ''Homosexuality & Civilization'' (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003), p. 76.</ref>