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, which was the year 484 BC. Egypt had revolted from the Persians in 487 BC.

In our local library, I found the interesting 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. It was the destruction of the three hundred Spartans.

Also in August 480 BC, the naval Battle of Artemisium was fought for three days and won by the Persians. Indecisive actions between the Persian and Greek fleets near Artemisium, located on the north coast of Euboea, came to an end when the Greek vessels withdrew southward after having received the news of the Greek defeat at Thermopylae.

Here is the map location of Artemisium, Euboea

Map of the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC

Later that year, on September 21, Xerxes sacked Athens. However, the huge size of Xerxes' army had its weak point: 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.

Xerxes left Mardonius in charge of fighting the Greeks and returned to Asia.

Back home in Persia, Xerxes launched a huge construction program.

Meanwhile in 479 BC, Mardonius and his Persian troops lost the Battle of Plataea, and Mardonius got killed. The Greeks won once more at the Battle of Mycale.

The Greeks were on the roll and the Persians lose all their conquests in Europe, and many on the coast of Asia.

Here is more about the Greco-Persian Wars.

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. Darius prepared right away for a vengeance expedition against Greece but died before he could carry it out.

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.