Royal pawn &
victim of palace intrigue, whose tumultuous brief reign weakened
the Persian empire beyond restoration. Though as youngest son of
Artaxerxes III,
he had not been groomed to govern, after his father's death he
was put on the imperial throne by a power-hungry grand vizier,
the eunuch Bagoas, who had poisoned his older siblings. While
he claimed his father's throne name, he failed to fill his shoes
& continued to be referred to by his given name, Arses.
Soon after his
accession Egypt & Babylon asserted their independence.
Arses tried to get rid of Bagoas, but Bagoas poisoned him
first (336
BCE)
& replaced him
with Artashata, a
distant cousin, who took the throne name
Darius. This
political infighting so destabilized the throne of the sprawling
Persian empire that it was unable to fend off a massive
onslaught on its western flank by its ancient rival, the league
of Greek city states, under the charismatic leadership of
Philip II of
Macedon & his son,
Alexander.
References: Diodorus Siculus,
Library of History 17.5.
Arrian,
Anabasis
of Alexander 2.14.
Other resources on
line:
Perspective
on the World of Jesus 