Darius III/Bio & Battles

"Your ancestors came to Macedonia and the rest of Hellas and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed leader of the Greeks, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you."

- Alexander the Great to Darius III Darius III was the last emperor of the Persian Empire, known for his rivalry against Alexander the Great and his conflicts, like many other Persian Emperors, with the Greeks. However, unlike his grandfather, he took to defending the mainland of Persia itself, rather than fighting for control of formerly Greek Territory. While initially in conflict with Philip II of Macedon, a similar campaign to liberate the greeks from Persian control and take over the empire itself, dubbed the Wars of Alexander the Great, would be his final nail in the coffin as an emperor.

While he generally avoided a direct confrontation with the young commander, so much so as to abandon the capital of Persia alongside his family and attempt to end the conflict through letters, Darius was still willing to fight Alexander in several notable battles, such as the Battle of Issus and the Battle of Gaugamela. Ultimately, however, Darius failed to stand up against Alexander's conquest, although he was not killed in battle. Far outside of the battlefront against his foe, Darius III was assassinated as the last emperor of the Persian Empire proper, with his great enemy taking pity upon his body when viewing it.