ARSES

died June 336 BC Achaemenid king of Persia (reigned November 338June 336 BC); he was the youngest son of Artaxerxes III Ochus and Atossa. Arses had been placed on the throne by the eunuch Bagoas, who had murdered Arses' father and all his brothers. Little is known of Arses' short reign; the major external event was the invasion of Asia Minor by Philip II of Macedon, ostensibly because Arses refused to make reparation to Philip for Artaxerxes' aid to the city of Perinthus against Philip. The young Arses objected to the tyrannical control by Bagoas and attempted to poison him. Instead, Arses and all his children were killed, and Bagoas gave the throne to a collateral heir, Darius III.