The end of Persia

The Persian gate

Every pass can be turned and we can be certain that Alexander's scoutssearched for a mountain path to get into their enemy's rear. The Greeksources tell a charming story about a shepherd with a grudge against thePersians, who showed them the best way to by-pass the enemy. It may betrue, but one suspects that the Greek authors could -before the final punishmentof the Persians for the crimes they had committed duringXerxes'campaign- not resist the temptation to invent a traitor. The shepherd mayhave been introduced as a kind of answer to Ephialtes, who had once showedthe Persians the road to the Greek heartland.

Persepolis

Almost at the same time, nearbyPasargadae(P�thrag�da) was captured, Persia's religious capital,where the kings were inaugurated.

Actually, our Greek sources do not mention this explicitly, but it isclear from other evidence. One clue is thatArrianof Nicomedia writes that Alexander intended to visit the tomb ofCyrusthe Great after his conquest of Persia (text).This is a way of saying that he wanted to be crowned as king, because thisceremony took place near the tomb. Unfortunately, he could not be enthroned,as long as was still alive.

Not having obtained support from the Persian aristocrats, it was waragain: the army had to march toEcbatana(modern Hamadan), the northern capital of the Achaemenid empire, whereDarius was. This was the nightmare of the Macedonian high command: to searchfor an enemy that would certainly move to the eastern part of the Achaemenidempire. Unless Darius stood his ground at Ecbatana, the Macedonian armywould be forced to follow him to unknown countries, fighting a war of anunknown type. Eventually, Darius was killed, but Alexander was indeed luredinto a disastrous eastern campaign.

The sack of Persepolis

A more romantic account can be found inPlutarchof Chaeronea, andDiodorusof Sicily; these sources are derived fromCleitarchus,who wrote a quarter of a century after the events. He tells  thata courtesan named Thais was present at a drinking party and convinced thedrunken king that it would be his greatest achievement in Asia to set fireto the palace. At first, this seems to be a cautionary tale for alcoholicswithout any value as historical source; and we may be inclined to believePtolemy's sober statement that the destruction was a premeditated act.However, it can be proven that Ptolemy is not telling the whole truth:Thais was his lover (and the mother of three of his children). It may wellbe true that she did indeed play a role.

The pursuit of Darius

Even worse, Darius' supporters were wavering. There were divisions withinthe royal family: a prince named Bisthanes, the son of the former kingArtaxerxesIII Ochus, surrendered Ecbatana to the Macedonians, the last of Persia'sroyal capitals to be captured. Alexander continued his policy to lure Persiannoblemen away from his opponent: a Persian namedAtropateswas received an important courtier and later appointed as satrap of Media.

The death of Darius

To Bessus and Barsaentes, the satrap ofArachosiaandDrangiana,the situation was clear: if they remained loyal to their king, the Macedonianswould invade the eastern satrapies. On the other hand, if they arrestedDarius and delivered him to the invaders, there would be no war, becauseit was unlikely that the Macedonians were interested in unknown countries,where they would be forced to fight a war of an unknown type. But theywere wrong too.

Alexander and the cavalry followed Darius as fast as they could. Afterten or twelve days, the Macedonians were at Rhagae, where they brieflypaused; two days later, they crossed theCaspianGate and reached Parthia, where they met two servants of Darius -oneBagistanes and Artiboles (the son of the satrap of Babylonia,Mazaeus)-who told him that their master had been arrested. The Macedonian king whowanted to be recognized as king of Persia, was now faced with the followingchoice:

• if he accepted that Bessus delivered Darius to him, he was obliged to acceptthe independence of the eastern half of the empire, and he would have tomake a decision about Darius' fate:
• if he killed the man, he would never be accepted by the Persians; the territorieshe had conquered would never be secure, especially since there were independentIranians in the east, who could assist rebels;
• if he spared Darius, he would obtain the loyalty of the Persians, but thisloyalty could always be switched back to the former king;
• if he did not accept Bessus' offer, the satrap of Bactria would kill Dariusand become king himself; in that case Alexander could win the loyalty ofthe Persians by launching a crusade against the regicide.

Darius received a state funeral at Persepolis. Perhaps the "Unfinishedtomb" was prepared for him, but this was never completed, and it ismore likely that his last resting place was the . This is interesting, because it proves thatAlexander already regretted the destruction of the palace and wanted todo what was expected from a Persian king: restore it.