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XERXES I
519 BC - 465 BC
Pic:
Livius.org
All about the movie 300
here.
King Xerxes I the Great was a member of the
Achaemenian Dynasty.
Xerxes' father was Darius I the Great.
Xerxes' grandfather (his mother's father) was
Cyrus II the Great. A lot
of greats ran in the family.
Let's get the family straight:
Cyrus the Great's daughter
was Atossa. Atossa became the wife of Darius I. Atossa and Darius
I's son was Xerxes I.
Apparently, Xerxes co-ruled with his
father Darius from the year 496 BC. Xerxes became sole ruler of the Persian Empire
in
486 BC, the year his father Darius died.
Xerxes re-conquered Egypt in the second year of his reign.
In our local library, I found the great and ancient book
History of Xerxes
the Great by Jacob Abbott. You can read the work
online. In it, Xerxes is described as a tender-hearted,
self-confident, and generous but suggestible king.
More about Jacob Abbott
here.
OTHER NAMES FOR XERXES I
Xerxes is believed to have been
the king Ahasuerus which is mentioned in the bible book Esther.
Xerxes' old Persian name was Khshayarsha.
HOW XERXES I BECAME HEIR TO THE THRONE
Xerxes had an elder brother,
Artabazanes (or Artabanus). Why then didn't Artabazanes become king instead?
Two reasons: First reason:
They had different mothers. Xerxes was the son of Darius I and
Atossa. Artabazanes was the son of Darius and another woman, not
Atossa. Let's remember, Atossa was the princess, Darius I was only a
noble. Xerxes, therefore, was of royal blood. Artabazanes wasn't.
Second reason: Artabazanes was
born before Darius I became king. Xerxes was the first son born
after Darius became king.
Thus, Xerxes became king.
XERXES I AND THE INVASION OF GREECE
Xerxes went to conquer the
Greeks with an army of approx. 360,000 men and 800 ships.
Herodotus
says it was 5,000,000 troops out of 50 nations, but you can't always
take the good man literally.
Fact is, it was a huge army.
The march from what is today Turkey
to Greece was a major operation. A bridge was built over what is today's Dardanelles Strait and an
important victory was won at the
Battle of Thermopylae in
mid-August 480 BC.
Later that year, on September 21, Xerxes sacked Athens.
However, the huge size of his army showed its drawback: logistics. The Greeks had major difficulties supplying their troops and, after a defeat in
the naval Battle off the island of Salamis near Athens on
September 29, Xerxes was eager to get back home
ASAP.
Here is more about the
Greco-Persian Wars.
Back home in Persia, Xerxes launched
a huge construction program. Court intrigues finally found Xerxes
himself a victim. Xerxes was murdered by the chief of his guard, Artabanus. Xerxes's son
Artaxerxes I succeeded him to the throne.
WHY DID XERXES I WANT
TO INVADE GREECE?
Xerxes wasn't the first to think of an invasion of the Greeks. His
father, Darius I, was defeated in the Battle of Marathon in
September 490 BC. Exactly ten years later, in September 480 BC,
Xerxes pillaged Athens. Happy anniversary!
Interesting contemporaries
There was Artemisia I, Queen of Halicarnassus and the island
of Cos, who had the command over at least five warships in Xerxes
expedition to invade Greece. She was apparently a smart one and
Xerxes kept asking for her advice. The ancient Greek city of
Halicarnassus is now Bodrum in Turkey.
Demaratus was king of Sparta. He
had to flee to Persia and warned Xerxes that the Spartan soldiers
were tough fighters. That proved to be true at the
Battle of
Thermopylae. Even though the Persians were triumphant in this
battle, they made big eyes when 300 Spartan soldiers, led by Spartan
king Leonidas, got the better of many Persian warriors
and fought to the last man. Xerxes ordered to bury part of the
fallen Persian soldiers because he was so embarrassed by the great
number the Spartans managed to slay.
Themistocles was a Greek politician and a navy man. In the
Battle
of Salamis, Themistocles sent a messenger to Xerxes, saying he was
ready to change sides. This was a fake message and it worked. Xerxes
was thus lured into ordering an all-out attack which laid
the foundation for the defeat of the Persian fleet.
The Greek diver Scyllias was
captured by Xerxes to retrieve Persian treasures that had been lost
when a storm destroyed several Persian ships. Scyllias later managed
to escape.
XERXES I and his
children
Xerxes I had at least three children: his son Darius, his son
Hystaspes, and his son Artaxerxes I Longimanus, who followed him to
the throne.
XERXES I TRIVIA
Read here how
film crews are rocking Xerxes' house (palace) down in Persepolis.
Info provided by Mehr News Agency in Teheran, Iran. And here is the
article provided by Cultural Heritage News.
Many
fine pictures of Xerxes's palace at Livius.org.
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