- Xerxes I (519-465 BCE), also known as Xerxes the Great of Persia, was King of Persia between 480 BCE until his Assassination in 465 BCE.
- He conducted the Second Persian Invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, which ended in failure.
Biography
- Xerxes belonged to the Achaemenid Dynasty, and was the Fifth King of Kings.
- Preceded by Darius I, and succeeded by Artabanus, Commander of the Royal Bodyguard.
- Xerxes I was mentioned in the Book of Esther in The Bible as Ahasuerus.
Second Persian Invasion of Greece (480 BCE)
- In 480 BCE, determined to defeat the Greeks, King Xerxes I who had succeeded King Darius, returned to invade Greece again, with an even bigger Persian army and navy, outnumbering the Greeks by over 10:1.
- To enter Greece, Xerxes I built a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont consisting of ships cabled together, and marched his army across from Asia Minor. His fleet closely followed the army.
- At first they met with success and occupied Greece.
The Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE)
- The battle of Thermopylae took place in August-September 480 BCE between 100-150,000 Persians against 7,000 Greeks.
- Although the Battle was lost by the Spartans, Thermopylae was one of the most famous Battles in western history because of the heroic Last Stand of a handful of men. This gave time for the Greek army to withdraw and reform to fight another day.
Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)
- Xerxes I’ Navy was defeated at the Battle of Salamis, and again shortly after at the Battle of Plataea, by an alliance of Greek City States.
- Without sea power, Xerxes I was obliged to hurriedly withdraw his army from mainland Greece and Persian hopes of ever occupying Greece were ended.
Salamis