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UNTIMELY DEATHS BY ASSASSINATION

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Chapter One

Xerxes was born about 520 B.C. and was the eldest son of Darius I and Queen Atossa. Darius I was the grandson of Cyrus the Great the great ruler of the Persian Empire which was one of the most important empires in the southwest of Asia at that time.

In 486 he faced rebellions in Babylonia and Egypt which he ruthlessly suppressed before he invaded Greece.

The Persians had built a bridge of boats across the Hellespont, the present day Dardanelles, and dug a canal across the Mount Athos peninsula to avoid a repetition of the disaster to the fleet of Darius in 492 before their invasion of Greece.

After the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. and his naval defeat at the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes sought revenge and regrouped his army during the winter months and returned to Greece in the spring of 479 B.C. and was thoroughly defeated by the Greek hoplite soldiers at Plataea. This outstanding defeat at Plataea was the beginning of the final collapse of the Persian Empire.

Alexander the Great, the son of Philip II of Macedonia, defeated the Persian emperor, Darius III, in the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C. and this was the coup de grace of the Persian Empire.

In 465 B.C., Xerxes was assassinated in a palace intrigue and his son, Artaxerxes took over the reins of government.

It has been said that the Battle of Plataea was one of the most important events in world history, in that, if Xerxes prevailed in that battle, Greece would have been dominated under Persian rule, and Persian, rather than Greek literature, influence, and art, would have prevailed over Western philosophy and education.

Chapter Two

When reading about the kings of Macedonia, it is most extraordinary to learn that all three kings were assassinated—Alexander, Perdikkas, and Philip who were all brothers.

Of all three, Philip II emerged as the greatest warrior king who became fascinated with Greek culture and tried to put his country on a same par with it.

At the age of fifteen, Philip was taken to Thebes by his captors as a hostage because they feared his brother; King Alexander had leanings toward the takeover of Thebes.

While Philip was there, he was highly impressed with Greek knowledge and their culture. Therefore, he engaged himself with their philosophy, literature, and military tactics.

While he was stationed there, his brother, King Alexander was assassinated and he was succeeded to the throne by Perdikkas who was also assassinated. These incidents turned out to be a struggle as to whom would succeed in becoming the next ruler of Macedonia.

At age forty-six, Philip had seven wives. His favorite wife was Olympias who was the mother of that famous general, Alexander the Great.

However, Eurydice, his seventh wife, had supplanted Olympias as his favorite. Eurydice later gave birth to a son which Olympias felt would jeopardize her son's chances of becoming the next king.

Worried about her life, Olympias decided to flee from the court.

Philip, being a staunch warrior, had plans to invade Asia and attack his rival, Persia. To do this, he needed extra men for the task. He, then, set out to conquer Thebes and several other Greek cities but, he left Athens untouched. The reason given—he wished to incorporate Athens large fleet which he needed for the invasion.

While he planned the invasion of Persia, he took a trip to Aegae, the ancient capital of Macedonia. Rumors had it that Philip was planning another marriage and possibly another heir. This talk naturally alienated his wife Olympias still further, and also, his son, Alexander. To prevent further rumors, he reconciled his differences with Alexander and assured him that he did not intend to jeopardize his succession to the throne.

At the wedding of Philip's daughter, the tragedy took place. Philip, displaying his bravery and lack of fear of his people, proceeded in front of his bodyguards.

It was at this point in time that a noble named Pausanias leaped forward and plunged a dagger beneath his ribs.

As the assassin tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was wrestled to the ground. He was then shackled with clamps to his arms, legs, and neck, and dragged to the arena. Here, he was left to starve to death.

There have been several accounts given for the assassination.

One such reason was that Pausanias had a caustic grievance against the queen's uncle, Attalus, and also against Philip because he failed to provide justice.

Another reason written by Aristotle, the Greek tutor of Alexander, implied that Pausanias had a homosexual relationship with Philip and that they were lovers.

Aristotle, in his book, Politics, defended Alexander and his mother for their involvement in the killing of Philip by stating that the king was killed for personal reasons rather than for his rule of the kingdom.

However, this view of Aristotle has been taken lightly by contemporaries because of his close association with Alexander while he was tutoring him.

Last, but not least, was the involvement of Olympias and her son Alexander in the plot to get rid of Philip in order to place Alexander on the throne while Eurydice's son was still an infant.

Philip II has gone down in history as a great, proud, warrior king who had great ambitions as exemplified by his conquest of Greek cities, the making of his capital, Pella, a great cultural center, his improvement of the strength of the nation's military, and his uniting of the Greek people. He was also a patron of the arts. In 1977, a collection of golden objects were found in his grave to verify this.

However, his one big dream was to conquer Persia but, he was assassinated before he was able to accomplish this great feat.

Nevertheless, his son, Alexander took up the task and achieved this dream by subduing the Persians when he crossed the Hellespont into Asia.

Chapter Three

Darius III was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. Codomannus was his real name but, later, took the regna name Darius III. Darius was a distant relative of the royal house who made a name for himself in a war against the Cadusii. At the time of this battle, he was courier serving the royal family.

Darius' father was Arsames and his mother Sisygambis. He believed in the religion of Zoroastrianism.

How he came to power is most extraordinary. A vizier, named Bagoas who was a eunuch, had previously poisoned Darius' two predecessors, Artaxerxes III and his son Arses, and when he realized that Darius would not cave in to his whims, he decided to poison him also. However, Darius discovered from several informants about the plot to end his life, and forced Bagoas to drink the poison.

Darius' reign was riddled with all sorts of problems, mostly with his provinces. The unreliable satraps were rebellious and caused a great deal of hardships. One such troublemaker was the satrap of Egypt, Khabash. Egypt had proclaimed its independence following the death of Artaxerxes III. However, the real problem was with Philip II of Macedonia. He was authorized by the League of Corinth to take action against Persia because they burned and looted the Athenian temples during the Second Persian War.

The Persians had been invading the Ionian cities along the coast of Asia Minor for quite some time, and eventually, took command of them.

In order to oust them, Philip II sent a force of hoplites into Asia Minor under two outstanding generals, Attalus and Parmenion. Philip was, unexpectedly, assassinated during this campaign when he was celebrating his daughter's wedding in Macedonia. While entering a theater, Pausanias, a guard, stabbed him under his ribs.

Philip's son, Alexander (called the Great because of his outstanding victories), became the ruler of Macedonia and the Greek city-states and, invaded Asia Minor. He immediately defeated the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus. During the foray, Darius III decided to stay at home in Persepolis and let his satraps do battle having confidence in their ability to stop the onslaught.

Later, in the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C., in which Darius took part, despite the enormity of his forces, he lost the battle and was forced to flee in his chariot.

Alexander captured Darius' headquarters and also captured his family.

Darius wrote letters to Alexander pleading with him to release his family. However, he was unable to convince the adamant Alexander to release them.

Alexander's bargain consisted of Darius' acknowledgment of Alexander as the Emperor of Persia, and if so, he would release them.

It was during this period of warfare that Darius' wife, Statira, died during childbirth.

The last battle, which he engaged in, was at Gaugamela in 331 B.C. where he had assembled a large army including the armies of several of his satraps. Despite its size, the army took a huge beating and Darius, just as he did at Issus, was forced to flee in a chariot leaving behind his property and soldiers to be taken by Alexander.

It has been estimated that the Persians lost between 40,000 and 90,000 men in the battle.

Darius then fled to Ecbatana where he tried to raise a third army. In the meantime, Alexander captured Susa, Babylon, and Persepolis, the Persian capital.

Darius was unable to raise an army in eastern Iran because his authority had diminished; also, Alexander's liberal policy of submission was very tempting in contrast to the alternative of Persian domination.

Because of all this adverse publicity, his popularity took a tumble and he soon realized that his empire was quickly being swept away.

It was after the great battle at Gaugamela that a loyal friend, Bessus, the satrap of Bactria (modern Afghanistan), betrayed him. At nighttime, the Bactrians surrounded a tent which housed the emperor, chained him and carried him off to Bactria.

As Alexander closed in after his pursuit of Darius, Bessus stabbed Darius to death and left his body in a wagon which was later found by one of the Macedonian soldiers.

Alexander, as a kind gesture, sent Darius' body back to Persepolis for burial.

Alexander, later married Darius' daughter Statira II at Opis in 324 B.C.

Bessus, who had killed Darius III, took the name Artaxerxes V and called himself the King of Persia. Alexander captured him and, after he was tortured, had him executed.

Darius has gone done in history as being a coward and an incapable despot who was selfish and didn't care for the welfare of his citizens. His cowardness was shown several times when he fled from the scene of battle at Issus and Gaugemela in a chariot leaving behind his soldiers and his property.

Chapter Four

Caesar was the son of a patrician family who extended the frontiers of the Roman Empire further than any other Roman emperor had ever done before. Caesar has been regarded as a quintessential Roman emperor, even though Rome was still a republic when he was young and that office of emperor wasn't created until after his death. Having entered the Roman army, he served in Asia and earned the Civic Crown which was the highest medal of valor at that time. He entered politics after his stint in Asia and took the office of state treasurer. Later, he became chief preistat and moved up in status to a consulship when he was only forty-three years of age.

In the history of warfare, not many militants come close to his achievements.

In 58 B.C., he entered Cisalpine Gaul as a proconsul to defend Rome's borders in the north. This protection was necessary as Gaul's soldiers had sacked Rome in 390 B.C.

Caesar, however, had other grandiose ideas. He contemplated an expansion of the Roman Empire's borders through Gaul and on to the North Sea.

Between 58 and 55 B.C., Caesar conquered Gaul (France), Belgica (Belgium), and Helvetii (Switzerland). Later, he fought the Germanic tribes across the Rhine River. He, also, crossed the English Channel and invaded Britain claiming most of its territory.

In conquering Gaul, Caesar had two factors in his favor: Gallic division, as the Gauls were divided into a whole host of quarreling tribes; Germanic aggression, as they were constantly invading Gaul and taking supplies and territory.

Therefore, Caesar used the excuse that he had to stop the invasion of the Helvetti, (a German tribe) into Gaul. Caesar was successful in that he prevented any more incursions into Gallic territory. He, also, added some Gallic territory to Rome's domain.

In 57 B.C., Caesar was engaged in another battle. This time, the enemy was the belligerent Nervii tribe located in present day Belgium.

As stated previously, being not satisfied with these conquests, he decided to cross the English Channel and invade Britain.

The Gauls because of Caesar's invasions finally united under a new and capable leader, Vercingetorix, chief of the Arverni tribe.

The Gauls were then able to finally stop the incursion of Caesar troops at the stronghold of the city of Gergovia. After losing a battle on an open plain, the tribe retreated to Alexia where they were surrounded by an estimated 50,000 Roman soldiers.

Realizing that the situation was hopeless, Vercingetorix surrendered in 52 B.C. which finally brought the Gallic Wars to a close.

After all these escapades, Caesar returned to Rome a national hero but ran into a political conflict with his advisory, Pompey, the Roman general who had taken Jerusalem.

At this time, Pompey held the position of Chief Consul. Caesar, envious of Pompey's position, demanded that he should be given the consulship. Instead, it had been given to Pompey which caused a great deal of enmity between the two.

In 50 B.C., Caesar flaunted the law that required generals not to bring their armies into Rome but they were required to keep them north of the Rubicon River.

He brazenly crossed the Rubicon and entered Rome and formed a coup to depose Pompey. He, also, dissolved the republic and made himself dictator.

After this arrangement, he marched into Greece and made it a part of the Roman Empire. Not happy or content with this victory, he entered in Egypt and Syria and captured these two countries.

In 46 B.C., he returned to Rome and became dictator for life.

On March 15, 44 B.C., the Senate recognizing Caesar's position as being too powerful, had Caesar's loyal friends, Cassius and Brutus, assassinate him in the Senate.

Caesar is noted for overthrowing the republic and creating the office of emperor. His nephew, Caesar Augustus, made the republic official after his uncle's death fourteen years later.

Caesar has gone down in history, not only as a great emperor, but also, as a great general, who expanded Rome's empire in Europe and the Middle East.

He is also known as a great writer, because he gives us a clear picture of his military campaigns in seven books called De Bello Gallico, (The Gallic Wars). His histories of these and the civil wars have also been called Commentaries.

Chapter Five

Cicero was born in 106 B.C. in Arpinum, south of Rome. Cicero's father was a wealthy equestrian who had good relations with the elite in Rome. Because of his disability (a semi-invalid), he didn't participate in public life. However, he compensated for his disability by engaging in various studies.

Cicero's mother was Helvia and not much is known about her private life except her interest and control of their house which was the responsibility of Roman wives at that time. She was regarded as a thrifty housewife according to her son, Quintus.

The speaking of Latin and Greek in Rome during this period was considered culturally favorable by the upper classes. Cicero fell into this category, as he was educated in the teachings of the ancient Greek poets, historians and philosophers. The Greeks in ancient time excelled in oratory. Cicero, being knowledgeable in the Greek language, was thus able to translate the works of Greek philosophers which garnered large audiences and ignited his reputation.

According to Plutarch, the Greek biographer, Cicero's education and learning proved fruitful as he gained the opportunity to study Roman law under Quintus Mucius Scaevola.

While studying law, Cicero gained many friends. One, in particular, was a famous lawyer, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, and another, Titus Pomponius. The latter became Cicero's adviser and longtime friend. Later, Pomponius was given the cognomen "Atticus."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from UNTIMELY DEATHS BY ASSASSINATION by WALTER J. WHITTEMORE JR. Copyright © 2012 by Walter J. Whittemore Jr.. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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