Bessus

Bessus was the Achaemenid satrap of Bactria who murdered Darius III after the Battle of Gaugamela and proclaimed himself the new king of Persia under the name Artaxerxes V. He organized resistance against Alexander in the eastern satrapies of Bactria and Sogdiana, but his support eroded and he was betrayed by his own followers to Alexander's general Ptolemy. Alexander had Bessus mutilated — ears and nose cut off — and then sent him to Ecbatana, where he was tried by a Persian assembly and executed in 329 BCE.

• Nationality: persian
• Roles: ruler, general