36 Facts About Xerxes I

Xerxes I was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great.

Xerxes I consolidated his power by crushing revolts in Egypt and Babylon, and renewed his father's campaign to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and its allies for their interference in the Ionian Revolt.

In 480 BC, Xerxes I personally led a large army and crossed the Hellespont into Europe.

Xerxes I achieved victories at Thermopylae and Artemisium before capturing and razing Athens.

Xerxes I's forces gained control of mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until their defeat at the Battle of Salamis.

Xerxes I oversaw the completion of the Gate of All Nations, the Apadana and the Tachara at Persepolis, and continued the construction of the Palace of Darius at Susa.

Xerxes I maintained the Royal Road built by his father.

In 465 BC, Xerxes I was assassinated along with his heir Darius by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard.

Xerxes I is the Greek and Latin transliteration of the Old Iranian Xsaya-rsa, which can be seen by the first part xsaya, meaning "ruling", and the second rsa, meaning "hero, man".

Xerxes I would become a popular name among the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I' father was Darius the Great, the incumbent monarch of the Achaemenid Empire, albeit himself not a member of the family of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire.

Darius and Atossa married in 522 BC, and Xerxes I was born around 518 BC.

Stoneman suggests that Xerxes I' upbringing and education was possibly not much different from that of the later Iranian kings, such as Abbas the Great, king of the Safavid Empire in the 17th-century AD.

Artobazan claimed that he should take the crown as the eldest of all Darius' children, while Xerxes I argued for his own claim on the grounds that that he was the son of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, and that Cyrus had won the Persians their freedom.

Xerxes I' claim was supported by a Spartan king in exile who was present in Persia at the time, the Eurypontid king Demaratus, who argued that the eldest son did not universally have the best claim to the crown, citing Spartan law, which stated that the first son born while the father is king was the heir to the kingship.

Artobazan was born to "Darius the subject," while Xerxes I was the eldest son "born in the purple" after Darius' rise to the throne.

Furthermore, while Artobazan's mother was a commoner, Xerxes I' mother was the daughter of the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

The transition of power to Xerxes I was smooth, due again in part to the great authority of Atossa and his accession to royal power was not challenged by any person at court or in the Achaemenian family, or by any subject nation.

Xerxes I, therefore, had to raise another army for his expedition into Greece, which took another four years.

The Esagila was allegedly subject to great damage, and Xerxes I allegedly carried the statue of Marduk away from the city, possibly bringing it to Iran and melting it down.

In retaliation, Xerxes I ordered the Hellespont whipped three hundred times, and had fetters thrown into the water.

The Carthaginian invasion of Sicily deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum; ancient sources assume Xerxes I was responsible, modern scholarship is skeptical.

Xerxes I ordered the Destruction of Athens and burnt the city, leaving an archaeologically attested destruction layer, known as the Perserschutt.

Xerxes I was induced, by the message of Themistocles, to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies.

The Battle of Salamis was won by the Greek fleet, after which Xerxes I set up a winter camp in Thessaly.

Xerxes I left behind a contingent in Greece to finish the campaign under Mardonius, who according to Herodotus had suggested the retreat in the first place.

Xerxes I oversaw the building of the Gate of All Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis, which are the largest and most imposing structures of the palace.

Xerxes I oversaw the completion of the Apadana, the Tachara and the Treasury, all started by Darius, as well as having his own palace built which was twice the size of his father's.

Xerxes I had colorful enameled brick laid on the exterior face of the Apadana.

Xerxes I maintained the Royal Road built by his father and completed the Susa Gate and built a palace in Susa.

Xerxes I put his seven sons in key positions and had a plan to dethrone the Achaemenids.

On his treatment of other religions, Xerxes I followed the same policy as his predecessors; he appealed to local religious scholars, made sacrifices to local deities, and destroyed temples in cities and countries that caused disorder.

Xerxes I was played by David Farrar in the film The 300 Spartans, where he is portrayed as a cruel, power-crazed despot and an inept commander.

Xerxes I is the leader of the Persian Empire in the video game Civilization II and III, although Civilization IV replaces him with Cyrus the Great and Darius I In the Age of Empires, Xerxes featured as a short swordsman.

Xerxes I is portrayed by Richard Egan in the 1960 film Esther and the King and by Joel Smallbone in the 2013 film, The Book of Esther.

Xerxes I plays an important background role in two short works of alternate history taking place generations after his complete victory over Greece.