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[6] He bade them tell Dareius that, if he desired the supremacy, he should do battle with him to see which of them would have sole and universal rule. If, on the other hand, he despised glory and chose profit and luxury with a life of ease, then let him obey Alexander, but be king over all other rulers,1 since this privilege was granted him by Alexander's generosity.

1 This is a concept in keeping with the feudal organization of the Persian empire. The king was, quite literally, "king of kings"; if he accepted Alexander's overlordship, he might still be king of all the other kings of "Iran and non-Iran."

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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