# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/bessus
# Generated: 2026-08-12T17:12:00.185Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/bessus"
name: "Bessus"
slug: "bessus"
description: "A Persian satrap who murdered his own king, declared himself emperor, and lasted about a year before his allies gave him up to Alexander the Great."
tagline: "Achaemenid satrap and pretender to throne (died 329 BC)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/The_punishment_of_Bessus_by_Andre_Castaigne_(1898-1899).jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "-400"
deathDate: "-329"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.93
  momentum:             1.133760879523591
  historical:           22.349992
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Ancient History"
    slug: "ancient-history"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessus"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q296434"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Bessus"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bess"
    title: "Bess"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D1%81"
    title: "Бес"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessos_de_Bactriana"
    title: "Bessos de Bactriana"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9ssos"
    title: "Béssos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessos"
    title: "Bessos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%92%CE%AE%CF%83%CF%83%CE%BF%CF%82"
    title: "Βήσσος"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besos"
    title: "Besos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beso_de_Bactria"
    title: "Beso de Bactria"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessos"
    title: "Bessos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B1_%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%85"
    title: "اردشیر پنجم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessus"
    title: "Bessus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaxerx%C3%A8s_V"
    title: "Artaxerxès V"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaxerxes_V"
    title: "Artaxerxes V"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%91%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A1"
    title: "בסוס"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bes_(satrap)"
    title: "Bes (satrap)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._Artakhsaszj%C3%A1_perzsa_kir%C3%A1ly"
    title: "V. Artakhsaszjá perzsa király"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B2%D5%A5%D5%BD%D5%BD"
    title: "Բեսս"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besos"
    title: "Besos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besso_(satrapo)"
    title: "Besso (satrapo)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%83%83%E3%82%BD%E3%82%B9"
    title: "ベッソス"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%95%84%EB%A5%B4%ED%83%80%ED%81%AC%EC%84%B8%EB%A5%B4%ED%81%AC%EC%84%B8%EC%8A%A4_5%EC%84%B8_%EB%B2%A0%EC%86%8C%EC%8A%A4"
    title: "아르타크세르크세스 5세 베소스"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessus"
    title: "Bessus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "بيسوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "بيسوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Bessus governed Bactria under the Achaemenid Empire when Darius III still held the throne. In 330 BC he killed Darius and proclaimed himself Artaxerxes V, King of Kings, attempting to rally the eastern provinces against Alexander's advance. The empire he claimed began dissolving almost immediately — even Bactria, his power base, slipped away. He fled north into Sogdia, where his own men arrested him and turned him over to the Macedonian king. Alexander had him executed at Ecbatana in the summer of 329 BC. A thousand years later the Persian epic Shahnameh remembered him under the name Janusipar.