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Xerxes I was a Persian king who ruled from 486 to 465 BC and invaded Greece in 480 BC. Learn about his life, family, achievements, and death from this comprehensive article.
www.britannica.com · biography · Xerxes-IXerxes I | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts | Britannica
- Overview
- Accession to the throne
- War against the Greeks
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Upon his accession to the Persian throne in 486 BCE, Xerxes I had to first remove a usurper satrap from Egypt. He handily crushed these insurgents. Worse, however, was the Babylonian revolt, which Xerxes sent his son-in-law to quell. He punished Babylon without mercy and toppled the statue of Marduk, their chief god.
Why did Xerxes I go to war with the Greeks?
Xerxes I was likely persuaded by his cousin Mardonius to invade Greece in 480 BCE in order to avenge the late king Darius I. Darius, Xerxes’ father, had abandoned his own invasion after an embarrassing defeat at Marathon in 490. Mardonius may have desired war so that he could become satrap of Greece.
How successful was Xerxes I in the first part of his war with the Greeks?
Modern scholars estimate that Xerxes I crossed the Hellespont with approximately 360,000 soldiers and a navy of 700 to 800 ships, reaching Greece in 480 BCE. He defeated the Spartans at Thermopylae, conquered Attica, and sacked Athens. However, rising Greek nationalist sentiments conspired to unite the opposition and rob him of his successes.
What was the turning point for Xerxes I in his invasion of Greece?
Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus; he was the first son born to Darius after his accession to the throne. Xerxes was designated heir apparent by his father in preference to his elder brother Artabazanes. A bas-relief on the southern portico of a courtyard in the treasury of Persepolis, as well as the bas-reliefs on the east door of the tripylon (an ornamental stairway) depict him as the heir apparent, standing behind his father, who is seated on the throne. When his father died, in 486 bce, Xerxes was about 35 years old and had already governed Babylonia for a dozen years.
One of his first concerns upon his accession was to pacify Egypt, where a usurper had been governing for two years. But he was forced to use much stronger methods than had Darius: in 484 bce he ravaged the Delta and chastised the Egyptians. Xerxes then learned of the revolt of Babylon, where two nationalist pretenders had appeared in swift succession. The second, Shamash-eriba, was conquered by Xerxes’ son-in-law, and violent repression ensued: Babylon’s fortresses were torn down, its temples pillaged, and the statue of Marduk destroyed. This latter act had great political significance: Xerxes was no longer able to “take the hand of” (receive the patronage of) the Babylonian god. Whereas Darius had treated Egypt and Babylonia as kingdoms personally united to the Achaemenian Empire (though administered as satrapies), Xerxes acted with a new intransigence. Having rejected the fiction of personal union, he then abandoned the titles of king of Babylonia and king of Egypt, making himself simply “king of the Persians and the Medes.”
It was probably the revolt of Babylon, although some authors say it was troubles in Bactria, to which Xerxes alluded in an inscription that proclaimed:
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Kings and Emperors (Part III) Quiz
And among these countries (in rebellion) there was one where, previously, daevas had been worshipped. Afterward, through Ahura Mazdā’s favour, I destroyed this sanctuary of daevas and proclaimed, “Let daevas not be worshipped!” There, where daevas had been worshipped before, I worshipped Ahura Mazdā.
With the tranquillity of the empire reestablished, Xerxes would willingly have devoted himself to peaceful activities. But many of those around him were pressing for the renewal of hostilities. His cousin and brother-in-law Mardonius, supported by a strong party of exiled Greeks, incited him to take revenge for the affront that Darius had suffered at the hands of the Greeks at Marathon (490 bce). The impressionable Xerxes gave way to pressure from his entourage and threw himself into patient diplomatic and military preparations for war, which required three years to complete (484–481 bce). Herodotus notes that never before had such an effort been undertaken. Troops were levied in all the satrapies, and a navy, intended to be the army’s supply line, was gathered. The care lavished on this enterprise shows that the king did not regard it as a minor operation.
There has been much later speculation on the real causes for the expedition. They could not have been economic, because Greece was not important then. Perhaps it was only the manifestation of a royal absolutism: Xerxes, whose character was later distorted in Greek legend, was neither foolish nor overly optimistic; although sensible and intelligent, he was nevertheless, according to G. Glotz,
a sovereign by divine right, to whom opposition was as annoying as sacrilege…nervous in temperament, fallen from youthful fire into indolence, incited to make a war he didn’t like.
At the head of his armies, he left Sardis for the Hellespont and had two boat bridges placed across the strait. A storm destroyed them, and Xerxes had the sea whipped as punishment. With the bridges remade, for seven days he oversaw the crossing of the army—5,000,000 men according to Herodotus and 360,000 by modern estimate, supported by 700 to 800 ships. Their passage was facilitated by a massive engineering works: a channel was dug across the Isthmus of Actium so that the peaks of Mount Athos might be avoided. Nevertheless, the army’s size was of no help, partly because of misinformation about the enemy terrain and partly because of the appearance of a national feeling in Greece. After a few successes (e.g., Thermopylae, mid-August 480 bce), Xerxes occupied Attica and pillaged Athens on September 21, but on September 29, at Salamis, a naval battle that he had initiated turned into a defeat. Without a fleet to take supplies to the army, he had to retreat; he crossed over into Asia, leaving Mardonius in Thessaly. During an indecisive battle near Plataea on August 27, 479 bce, Mardonius was killed, and his death obliged the army of occupation to withdraw. Hostilities continued for 13 years, but thenceforth Xerxes involved himself only slightly.
Learn about Xerxes I, the Persian king who invaded Greece in 480 bce and faced the Spartan army at Thermopylae. Explore his reign, his religious reforms, and his role in the decline of the Achaemenian Empire.
- Jean-Louis Huot
Mar 14, 2018 · Xerxes I (l. 519-465, r. 486-465 BCE), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. His official title was Shahanshah which, though usually translated as `emperor', actually means `king of kings'.
- Joshua J. Mark
- King Xerxes Had A Controversial Accession. Prior to his death in 486 BC, Darius the Great named his son Xerxes as his successor. However, Xerxes was not the eldest son of the family.
- Xerxes Tried To Finish Darius’ Greek Campaigns. Xerxes I occupies an infamous place in the annals of Greek history due to his massive invasion in 480 BC.
- Xerxes I Was Infamous For Harsh Punishments And Womanizing. To build his army for the Greek invasion, King Xerxes enforced conscription throughout his empire.
- Xerxes Had To Deal A Greek Resurgence. After the defeats at Plataea and Mycale, Persian power in the Aegean was crippled. The Greeks, initially led by Pausanias of Sparta, began a counter-attack aimed at liberating Greek colonies in Asia Minor.
Dec 29, 2019 · Commonly called Xerxes the Great, Xerxes I was titled the Persian king of kings. He was famous for tasting a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Greeks.
May 8, 2019 · Learn about Xerxes I, the son of Darius the Great, who ruled Persia from 486 to 465 B.C. and launched a massive expedition against Greece in 480 B.C. Discover his achievements, failures, and legacy in this comprehensive biography.
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Learn about Xerxes I, the Persian king who tried to conquer Greece in the 5th century BC. Find out his achievements, failures, and causes of death from Britannica.com.
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