“Darius the third- Noble Enemy or Cowardly Incompetent?”
Issus: Action 1
Prior to the Battle of Issus, King Darius III of Persia had been putting together a huge force “to counter the Macedonian invasion, by which he fully outsmarted Alexander,” he took an alternative route and followed Alexander’s rear, also killing the Macedonians which were left behind due to being unfit or illness. Arrian refers to Darius capturing the Macedonians which had been left behind before the Battle of Issus. “Having reached Issus, he captured as many of the Macedonians as had been left behind there on account to illness” this was considered a smart move from Darius. Following Alexander meant Darius knew most of his moves for that period of time. Darius had for once cut off “Alexander’s lines of supply’s and had disrupted the Macedonian logistic system.”
Issus: Action 2
During the Battle of Issus, King Darius fought Alexander on a narrow coastal plain. This meant he “denied himself to take full advantage of his stunning superiority in numbers,” because Darius would not have been able to spread his huge cavalry properly. Based on a strong perspective of Curtius, it is said King Darius “was forced to move camp to terrain that favoured Alexander.” So Darius was basically forced to shift his massive army to a narrow battlefield, which was an extremely high advantage for “Alexander’s smaller force.”
Issus: Action 3
During the Battle of Issus, King Darius lined heavy cavalry next to the coast of the gulf of Issus, the Cardaces next to and on the foothills, placing himself in the centre with his finest cavalry- the Greek Mercenaries and his Royal Cavalry Guard. Alexander managed to break-up the Persian line, where the Cardaces were which lead to the victory of the Macedonians. It is said by Curtius that Darius’ army could have possibly been outnumbered compared to Alexander’s “the Greeks apart, was only his home and household troops, i.e. the Persian proper, and it is quite possible that, as Curtius says, he was actually outnumbered.” King Darius’ attempt to have a big army worked but having young untrained men “the Cardaces” in his army was a disadvantage because they did not have much experience and made it an easy target for Alexander. Issus: Action 4
During the Battle of Issus, King Darius saw how his untrained infantry and the archer protecting them panicked and “in the ensuing chaos his left flank collapsed.” As Alexander went for Darius where King Darius was behind the Greek Mercenaries line, Darius got frightened and fled the field leaving his army behind, as stated by Arrian “Darius was terrified and routed by Alexander, and the Persian king perceived that this part of his army was severed from the rest, without any further delay he began to flee in his chariot" which was considered as King Darius being afraid. “The Persians saw their Great King gone, the battle being lost, and all abandoned their positions in full route.”

Issus: Action 5
After the Battle of Issus, King Darius sent a letter to Alexander, “where he offered a huge ransom,” but according to Arrian Darius did not offer any ransom, Darius was just asking for his family back and “was prepared to make a treaty of friendship with Alexander and to be his ally.” This shows that Darius was willing to make peace with Alexander, as he also offered to surrender half of his empire but instead his proposal got rejected. Gaugamela: Action 1 King Darius’s peace offerings had been rejected by Alexander who made King Darius lose all sense of hope, and go into desperation. Before the Battle of Gaugamela took place, it is said by Curtius that King Darius cried out to Alexander what crime he had done, that Alexander was doing this to him “Alexander, what is the great crime that I have committed against you? Which of your relations did I kill that my cruelty should merit such punishment?” This shows how desperate King Darius had become and how he was losing all hope of getting his family back.

Gaugamela: Action 2
Before the Battle of Gaugamela, Darius was building his army back up again. King Darius knew he had to build up a new army again, which he did extremely fast , once again being larger then Alexander’s army again. Curtius suggests that Darius had made a force in Ecbatan of “30000 infantry, including 4000 Greek Mercenaries, and 3300 cavalry under Bessus.” Curtius’s numbers are said to be quite accurate compared to other ancient sources. Due to King Darius’s large army once again, he had a higher possibility of winning as he could have caved Alexander’s army in, by forming a circle around them entirely.

Gaugamela: Action 3
Before the Battle of Gaugamela, King Darius chose the area where they would fight. This time King Darius chose a place where it was an advantage to his massive army and somewhere where he could deploy his army effectively. “Darius also picked a flat plain for a battlefield so Alexander would have no advantages in terrain, and allowing Darius use his vast horde more effectively.” All vegetation and bushes had been pulled out from the battlefield so Darius chariots could move properly . Choosing the battlefield and having vegetation removed meant, Darius had more time to prepare his strategies, meaning he had a huge advantage at the Battle of Gaugamela which could have lead to a Persian Victory.

Gaugamela: Action 4
During the Battle of Gaugamela, Darius had positioned himself in the centre again (like he did at the Battle of Issus) surrounded by the Carian cavalry, Greek Mercenaries and the Persian horse Guards. The Macedonians had “weakened the Persian centre, taking out Darius’s Royal guard, and the Greek Mercenaries.” Prior to the day of the battle, Darius had kept his army up all night fearing an attack at night, which on the day would not have helped their performance at all. Arrian states that Darius had been frightened for some time and ran away again, “all things together appeared full of terror to Darius who has already long been in state of fear, so that he was the first to turn and flee” Arrian refers to Darius as afraid once again. King Darius escaped once again, this time “making use of the dust clouds that covered the battlefield.” This meant that the Persians lost again under the rule of King Darius and he had failed to get back his empire (of what was left) and king Darius was considered as a coward meaning he would never raise an imperial army again.

Gaugamela: Action 5
After King Darius had run away from the Battle of Gaugamela, a few months later he went to Ecbanta to try Raise a third army because he did not want to see the loss of his empire , only short after he was murdered because his so called loyal friends betrayed him. It is said by Curtius the “Darius was arrested by Bessus, Barsaentes and Nabarzane.” Darius was stabbed by Bessus who left him for dead in a wagon. “Darius met his death at Bessus’s hands, who stabbed him and left his dying body in a wagon to be found by one of the Macedonian soldiers.” Due to King Darius’s death, the final battle between him and Alexander never got to happen, and he never got the chance to make his last stand for his kingdom.

Bibliography websites http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/alexander/a/041208Issus.htm

http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=major-battles#issus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Issus

http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=kVAfURnQxNoC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=cardaces&source=bl&ots=ZBi5D6nqIJ&sig=WOLP1uumIu8M0uQD_ECcGgRh09U&hl=en&ei=N4RqSpbJLYHCsQOt5qSWBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5 http://www.alanfildes.com/alexanderissus.php http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Issus/Issus.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/battle-of-issus

http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander06.html

http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexandert08.html http://www.gaugamela.com http://www.livius.org/io-iz/issus/issus_battle3.html

http://www.gaugamela.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gaugamela http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_III_of_Persia Books
J.R Hamilton Alexander the Great (1913)
Conclusion
King Darius III of Persia had gone through and lost a lot between 333BC- 330BC. He had fought in two major battles which he ended up losing in both, he had built two massive army’s where he was starting to build a third, lost his whole empire and family and finally lost his life in 330BC. All of which he went through to get his empire from Alexander, and to keep his honour.
King Darius had lacked military competence and skills in both battles of Issus and Gaugamela. King Darius had made both smart and bad decisions in both battles, but his mistakes had outweighed his smart moves by far. King Darius showed lack of strategies of a military judgement in his actions at Issus, by moving his large army to a small area, by having untrained troops in his army and by running away and leaving his army. Curtius states that Darius was “forced” by Alexander to move his army to a smaller area –being Issus. This action shows how King Darius lacked military competence he decided to challenge Alexander at Issus. Issus being a “narrow coastal plain” being limited of space makes Darius’s large army pointless, because it would be impossible for his large army to spread out properly. Another mistake of Darius’s action at Issus was having young untrained men (the Cardaces) in his army. This made Darius’s army look big but it did not help it any way, in fact it made it much easier for Alexander, but worse for himself. This action of King Darius’s made an easy target for Alexander to break the Persian line, which he did end up doing. Lastly, Arrian states that Darius makes a fast escape once Alexander had punctured his centre line. This action shows how much Darius was of a coward, because he left his own army to fight alone. Darius’ arrangement of having young untrained troops, the placement of his large army in a narrow coastal plain and running away while his army fought alone played a big role in the Persians defeat.
King Darius’s actions at Gaugamela show he had learned from some of his mistakes at Issus, but he was still lacking in tactical military judgement, by choosing a bigger and better battlefield, by ordering his cavalry to defend so much- creating a gap and running away again. This time King Darius chose flat plain battlefield which would increase the effectiveness of his army and his chariots, where he would be able to put up as good as a fight he could. Arrian states that Darius had been n “frightened” nearly throughout the whole battle at Gaugamela. This action shows that Darius lacked in military judgement, because being afraid meant Darius himself did not have confidence in the way he had deployed his cavalry. Ordering a large portion of his cavalry to go left and the other side to go right weakened his centre line, where Alexander attacked his centre line. Arrian also states that King Darius ran away leaving his troops to fight alone once again. Although choosing the battlefield was a smart move from King Darius his mistakes paid the price. Orders to fight off the Macedonian flanks created a gap and weakened his army and running away did not help to the situation, which once again lead to the Persians defeat.
To conclude, Darius’s military competence and his skill as a general in both the Battle of Issus and Battle of Gaugamela is that, King Darius the Third of Persia definitely lacked military judgement and ran away twice, leaving his troops alone and made bad decisions more than once which means he was a “incompetent coward” who lead the Persian Empire to fall. King Darius didn’t believe in military successes anymore, he just did not want to see a disgraceful end to his empire. Curtius states that Darius said “my rule and my life shall end together,” which in 330BC it did.