Xerxes I
Xerxes I was a Persian ruler who reigned as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great.
In Western history, Xerxes is best known for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, which ended in Persian defeat. Xerxes was made successor by Darius over his elder brother Artobazan and inherited a large, multi-ethnic empire upon his father's death. He consolidated 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 led a large army and crossed the Hellespont into Europe. He achieved victories at Thermopylae and Artemisium before capturing and razing Athens. His forces gained control of mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until their defeat at the Battle of Salamis. Fearing that the Greeks might trap him in Europe, Xerxes retreated with the greater part of his army back to Asia, leaving behind Mardonius to continue his campaign. Mardonius was defeated at Plataea the following year, ending the Persian invasion.
After returning to Persia, Xerxes dedicated himself to big construction projects, many of which had been left unfinished by his father. He 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. He also maintained the Royal Road built by his father. In 465 BC, Xerxes and his heir Darius were assassinated by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard. He was succeeded by his third son, who took the throne as Artaxerxes I.
Etymology
Xérxēs is the Greek and Latin transliteration of the Old Iranian Xšaya-ṛšā, which can be seen by the first part xšaya, meaning "ruling", and the second ṛšā, meaning "hero, man". The name of Xerxes was known in Akkadian as Ḫi-ši-ʾ-ar-šá and in Aramaic as ḥšyʾrš. Xerxes would become a popular name among the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire.Early life
Parentage and birth
Xerxes' father was Darius the Great, the monarch of the Achaemenid Empire, albeit not a member of the family of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire. Xerxes' mother was Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus. Darius and Atossa married in 522 BC, and Xerxes was born around 518 BC.Upbringing and education
According to the Greek dialogue First Alcibiades, which describes typical upbringing and education of Persian princes, they were raised by eunuchs. Starting at the age of seven, they learned how to ride and hunt; after reaching the age of fourteen, they were each taught by four teachers from aristocratic backgrounds, who taught them how to be "wise, just, prudent, and brave." Persian princes also learned the basics of the Zoroastrian religion, and were taught to be truthful, to be courageous, and to have self-restraint. The dialogue further added that "fear, for a Persian, is the equivalent of slavery." At the age of 16 or 17, they began their mandatory 10 years of national service, which included practicing archery and javelin, competing for prizes, and hunting. Afterwards, they served in the military for around 25 years, after which they were elevated to the status of elders and advisers to the king. Families in this time, including Xerxes', would intermarry.This account of education among the Persian elite is supported by Xenophon's description of the 5th-century BC Achaemenid prince Cyrus the Younger, with whom he was well-acquainted. Stoneman suggests that this was the type of upbringing and education that Xerxes experienced. It is unknown if Xerxes ever learned to read or write, with the Persians favoring oral history over written literature. Stoneman suggests that Xerxes' 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. Starting from 498 BC, Xerxes resided in the royal palace of Babylon.
Accession to the throne
While Darius was preparing for another war against Greece, a revolt began in Egypt in 486 BC over taxation and the deportation of craftsmen to build the royal palaces at Susa and Persepolis. The king was required by Persian law to choose a successor before setting out on dangerous expeditions; when Darius decided to leave for Egypt, he prepared his tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam and appointed Xerxes, his eldest son by Atossa, as his successor. Darius could not lead the campaign due to his failing health; he died in October 486 BC at the age of 64.Artobazan claimed that he should take the crown as the eldest of all Darius's children, while Xerxes argued for his own claim on the grounds that he was the son of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, and that Cyrus had won the Persians their freedom. Xerxes' claim was supported by a Spartan king in exile who was present in Persia at the time, the Eurypontid king Demaratus, who also 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. Some modern scholars also view the unusual decision of Darius to give the throne to Xerxes as a result of his consideration of the particular prestige that Cyrus the Great and his daughter Atossa enjoyed. Artobazan was born to "Darius the subject", while Xerxes was the eldest son "born in the purple" after Darius' rise to the throne. While Artobazan's mother was a commoner, Xerxes' mother was the daughter of the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.
Xerxes was crowned and succeeded his father in October–December 486 BC when he was about 32 years old. The transition of power to Xerxes was smooth, due again in part to the great authority of Atossa and his accession to royal power was not challenged by anyone at court or in the Achaemenian family or by a subject nation.
Consolidation of power
At the time of Xerxes' accession, trouble was brewing in some of his domains. A revolt occurred in Egypt, which seemed dangerous enough for Xerxes to personally lead the army to restore order. Xerxes suppressed the revolt in January 484 BC and appointed his full-brother Achaemenes as satrap of Egypt, replacing the previous satrap Pherendates, who was reportedly killed during the revolt. The suppression of the Egyptian revolt expended the army, which had been mobilized by Darius over the previous three years. Xerxes, therefore, had to raise another army for his expedition into Greece, which took another four years. There was also unrest in Babylon, which revolted at least twice against Xerxes during his reign. The first revolt broke out in June or July of 484 BC and was led by a rebel of the name Bel-shimanni. Bel-shimmani's revolt was short-lived; Babylonian documents written during his reign only account for a period of two weeks.Two years later, Babylon produced another rebel leader, Shamash-eriba. Beginning in the summer of 482 BC, Shamash-eriba seized Babylon itself and other nearby cities, such as Borsippa and Dilbat, and was only defeated in March 481 BC after a lengthy siege of Babylon. The precise cause of the unrest in Babylon is uncertain. It may have been due to tax increases. Prior to these revolts, Babylon had occupied a special position within the Achaemenid Empire; the Achaemenid kings had held the titles of "King of Babylon" and "King of the Lands," implying that they perceived Babylonia as a somewhat separate entity within their empire, united with their own kingdom in a personal union. After the revolts, however, Xerxes dropped "King of Babylon" from his titulature and divided the previously large Babylonian satrapy into smaller sub-units.
Based on texts written by classical authors, it is often assumed that Xerxes enacted a brutal vengeance on Babylon following the two revolts. According to ancient writers, Xerxes destroyed Babylon's fortifications and damaged the temples in the city. The Esagila was allegedly subject to great damage, and Xerxes allegedly carried the statue of Marduk away from the city, possibly bringing it to Iran and melting it down. Modern historian Amélie Kuhrt considers it unlikely that Xerxes destroyed the temples, but believes that the story of him doing so may derive from an anti-Persian sentiment among the Babylonians. It is doubtful if the statue was removed from Babylon at all and some have even suggested that Xerxes did remove a statue from the city, but that this was the golden statue of a man rather than the statue of the god Marduk. Though mentions of it are lacking considerably compared to earlier periods, contemporary documents suggest that the Babylonian New Year's Festival continued in some form during the Achaemenid period. Because the change in rulership from the Babylonians themselves to the Persians and due to the replacement of the city's elite families by Xerxes following its revolt, it is possible that the festival's traditional rituals and events had changed considerably.
Campaigns
Invasion of the Greek mainland
Darius died while in the process of preparing a second army to invade the Greek mainland, leaving to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt, the burning of Sardis, and their victory over the Persians at Marathon. Xerxes initially wanted to avoid a major war with Greece, but was convinced otherwise by his father's generals headed by his cousin Mardonius, who accused him of timidity. From 483 BC, Xerxes prepared his expedition: The Xerxes Canal was dug through the isthmus of the peninsula of Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through Thrace, and two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were built across the Hellespont. Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Xerxes from all over his multi-ethnic massive sized empire and beyond, including the Medes, Saka, Elamites, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Arabs Macedonians, Thracians, Paeonians, Achaean Greeks, Ionian Greeks, Aegean Greeks, Aeolian Greeks, Greeks from Pontus, Colchians, Sindhis and many more.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes's first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus cables of the bridges. In retaliation, Xerxes ordered the Hellespont whipped three hundred times, and had fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes's second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. The Carthaginian invasion of Sicily deprived Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of Syracuse and Agrigentum; ancient sources assume Xerxes was responsible, modern scholarship is skeptical. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly, Thebes and Argos. Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles.
Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BC from Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus estimated was roughly one million strong along with 10,000 elite warriors named the Immortals. More recent estimates place the Persian force at around 60,000 combatants.