Bessos

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Bessos ( Greek  Βήσσος ; † 329 BC in Ekbatana ) was a relative of the Persian great king Dareios III. and since about 336 BC BC Satrap of the province of Bactria (around present day Afghanistan ). He was a leader in the assassination of Darius III, unsuccessful against Alexander the Great . involved, then proclaimed himself Artaxerxes to be his successor, but eventually fell into Alexander's hands and was executed.

Career up to Darius's assassination

Bessos belonged to the Achaemenid dynasty ruling over the Persian Empire . Nothing is known about his early life. He owed his position as satrap of Bactria to Darius III.

Soon after Darius III. had lost the battle of Issus against Alexander the great (November 333 BC), he allegedly already distrusted Bessus and therefore called him from his satrapy to Babylon , where he assembled new forces to continue the war. In the battle of Gaugamela (October 1, 331 BC), Bessos was the commander of the left Persian wing and commanded Bactrian horsemen, Sogdian formations and armored saks. He was standing face to face with the Macedonian king, but the ancient sources provide no information about his personal contribution to the fight.

After the recent defeat against Alexander Darius III. escaped with parts of his army east to Ekbatana. In addition to Greek mercenaries and other troops, Bessos and his cavalry were among the escorts of the great Persian king. When the victorious Macedonian conqueror in the middle of 330 BC BC advanced rapidly against the Median metropolis, there was apparently controversy among Darius' followers. Some of these, like the Greek mercenary leader Patron, pleaded for a renewed military confrontation with Alexander. Others, however, like the high-ranking Persians Bessos and Nabarzanes , wanted to flee further to the east and withdrew with the Bactrian associations in this direction. Then Darius III followed them. with his rest of the troops.

In the course of the further retreat, Bessos, Nabarzanes and Barsaentes , the satrap of Arachosia and Drangiane , were no longer ready to take over the supremacy of the unsuccessful Darius III. to be accepted even longer. They imprisoned him after he was abandoned by his loyal supporters and took him handcuffed to a cart. The conspirators initially intended to extradite Alexander from Darius III. to oblige to thank. However, they soon had concerns about the success of their project, and so they had the captured Great King killed when Macedonian troops marched in (July 330 BC). Bessus was most likely to claim his successor, as he belonged to the royal house of the Achaemenids and administered an extremely important satrapy with Bactria. Due to the rapid approach of Alexander, the regicide first sought their salvation in flight, with Bessus moving to Bactria.

Bessus as King Artaxerxes

While Alexander was pursuing the murderers of Darius III. soon ceased for the time being, Bessos took up in late summer or autumn 330 BC. In Baktra , the capital of Bactria, the title of king and called himself Artaxerxes (V.) . He wore royal insignia such as the tiara and briefly ruled over the as yet unconquered areas of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. Were among his followers next Nabarzanes and Barsaentes including Satibarzanes , the governor of lying in the northeastern Persia satrapy Areia , Oxyartes , one in Sogdia beheimateter nobleman and Spitamenes , a prominent Bactrians or Sogdians. With the help of some allies, Bessos drew together new troops to defend his sphere of influence, of which the Bactrian cavalry in particular had great combat strength. Some modern historians consider Bessos to be an insurgent or usurper, but follow the view of the Macedonian conqueror, who is the rightful successor of the murdered Darius III. looked at.

When Alexander meanwhile reached the area of ​​Areia near present-day Mashhad , Satibarzanes surrendered to him and was confirmed as satrap, but fell off again when Alexander marched further east against Bessus. Thus, the Macedonian king turned instead first to the south and conquered the neighborhood next to the present-day Herat located Artakoana , the capital Areias while Satibarzanes fled to Bactria. As he advanced further, Alexander occupied the adjoining satrapies of Drangiane and Arachosia to the south-east and finally arrived on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush ( Paropamisos ), moving north-east .

In the spring of 329 BC Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush east of the central area of ​​Bactria and descended on the north side of the high mountains near the upper reaches of the Oxus (today Amu-Darja ). In the meantime, Bessos had devastated the country north of the Hindu Kush in order to prevent the Macedonian king from moving through this area and had taken up a military confrontation further west. He rejected the advice of a Mede named Bagodaras or Gobares to submit to Alexander. Rather, he was angry with this Mede, who then fled to Alexander. However, Bessos did not wait for the enemy troops to approach, but left them to his satrapy of Bactria without a fight and retreated over the Oxus himself. He set fire to the local river boats to make it difficult for Alexander to pursue him, and went to Nautaka in Sogdia.

Extradition and execution

After the unresisted occupation of Bactia, the Macedonian king and his army set out on a difficult desert march to the Oxus and crossed the broad river in five days on leather tent skins and self-made rafts. Now Bessus, who in the eyes of his followers as a general was similar to Darius III. failed, captured by Spitamenes and Dataphernes , and offered Alexander for extradition. The latter instructed his comrade in arms Ptolemy to go out with some contingents of troops and to receive Bessus. Arrian has excerpts of his own account of Ptolemy, the later King of Egypt and Alexander historian, about this company . Accordingly, he set out with three hipparchies of the Hetairenreidererei, the Agrianen and other army detachments on the way to the handover location, but learned on the way that Spitamenes and Dataphernes wavered again in their decision to surrender and therefore rode ahead of his infantry with the cavalry. He besieged the place where Bessos was staying and was able to take it prisoner. In contrast, Aristobulus reported that Bessos had been personally handed over to Ptolemy by Spitamenes and Dataphernes.

Ptolemy had Bessus, naked and tied in a wooden collar, set down on the right edge of the street on which Alexander was approaching with his army. When he passed the prisoner, he asked him about his motive for the murder of Darius III. Bessos tried to talk himself out of the fact that he had made this decision not alone, but together with his co-conspirators. However, Alexander ordered his flogging and subsequent transfer to Bactra. There Bessos was tortured by cutting off his ears and nose and then handed over to Oxyathres , a brother of Darius III. He had Bessos taken to Ekbatana and executed in an extremely brutal way. The sources indicate the exact type of execution differently; according to Plutarch , Bessos was dismembered, according to Quintus Curtius Rufus, however, crucified.

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Remarks

  1. ↑ Arrian , Anabasis 3, 21, 5; 3, 30, 4.
  2. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 8, 3; Curtius Rufus 4, 6, 2; Diodorus 17, 73, 2.
  3. ↑ Diodorus 17, 74, 1.
  4. ^ Curtius Rufus 4, 6, 2.
  5. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 8, 3; Curtius Rufus 4, 12, 6.
  6. ^ Curtius Rufus 5, 8, 4; see. Arrian, Anabasis 3, 16, 1.
  7. ^ Curtius Rufus 5, 8, 6--5, 9, 17.
  8. ^ Lauffer, Alexander the Great , p. 108f.
  9. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 21, 4f .; 3, 21, 10; Curtius Rufus 5, 10, 5f .; 5, 13, 16ff .; Diodorus 17, 73, 2; 17, 74, 1; on this Lauffer, Alexander the Great , p. 112f.
  10. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 25, 3; Curtius Rufus 6, 6, 13; Diodorus 17, 74, 2; 17, 83, 3.
  11. ^ Lauffer, Alexander the Great , pp. 114 and 121.
  12. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 25, 1-7; Curtius Rufus 6, 6, 21-34; Diodorus 17, 78, 1-3.
  13. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 28, 4-9; Curtius Rufus 7, 3, 19ff .; Diodorus 17, 83, 1.
  14. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 28, 8.
  15. ↑ Curtius Rufus 7, 4, 8-19; Diodorus 17, 83, 7f.
  16. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 28, 9; Curtius Rufus 7, 4, 21.
  17. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 29, 2ff .; Curtius Rufus 7, 5, 1-18.
  18. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 29, 6-3, 30, 5; see. Curtius Rufus 7, 5, 19-26; Diodorus 17, 83, 8; Justin 12, 5, 10.
  19. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 30, 3f .; Curtius Rufus 7, 5, 36-39.
  20. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 4, 7, 3f .; Curtius Rufus 7, 5, 40-43; Diodorus 17, 83, 9; Plutarch, Alexander 43, 6; Justin 12, 5, 11.
predecessor Office successor
Dareios III. King of the Persian Empire
330–329 BC Chr. 		-
personal data
SURNAME Bessos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Βήσσος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Relative of the Persian great king Darius III. Codomannus and Satrap in Bactria
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 329 BC Chr.
Place of death Ekbatana