Xerxes I

Persian king (r. 486-465 b.c.e.)

• Born: c. 519 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Unknown
• Died: 465 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Persepolis (now in Iran)

Xerxes mobilized the largest army ever assembled in ancient times and marched against Greece; he crossed Thessaly and annexed Attica to the Persian Empire. Posterity remembers him for capturing Athens and burning the Acropolis and for building the magnificent Palace of Xerxes at Persepolis.

Early Life

Among Darius the Great’s seven sons, Xerxes (ZURK-zees) was the youngest of two claimants to the throne of Persia. He was the eldest among the four children born to Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, whom Darius had married on accession to the throne. The other claimant, Artabazanes, was Darius’s eldest son by the daughter of Gobryas, born when Darius was still a private individual. Of the two, Xerxes had a stronger claim for succession, not only because he had been born into the royal house and his line continued that of Cyrus the Great but also because he was an able individual. In his mid-twenties, he was assigned the governorship of Babylonia in preference to Artabazanes. By the time the question of succession arose, he had already governed this kingdom for twelve years.

A bas-relief in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran depicts Xerxes as the heir apparent: He stands behind his father’s throne. The father and son occupy the pinnacle of a symbolic pyramid; below them are the nobles, priests, generals, and dignitaries. The bas-relief, two versions of which are in existence, is part of a larger picture in which the king gives audience to his subject nations on the occasion of the Now Ruz (Persian new year). The participation of Xerxes in the ceremony signifies Darius’s attempt to create a mutual bond between the prince and the representatives of many nations bringing gifts to the court at Persepolis.

Xerxes was about thirty-seven years old when he became king on Darius’s death in 486. His assumption of power did not represent an easy transition: His own brother, Aryamen the satrap of Bactria, rose against him and had to be brought within the fold. Following that revolt, Xerxes marched on Egypt, where a usurper had been ruling since 484—two years prior to the death of Darius. The Persian army defeated the pretender and devastated the Nile Delta. After destroying all Egyptian fortifications, Xerxes appointed one of his brothers, Achaemenes, satrap and then left Egypt. As a result of this revolt, Egypt lost its autonomy within the empire; Egyptian citizens, however, continued to enjoy their previous rights and privileges.

While still in Egypt, Xerxes was informed of a revolt in Babylonia; by then the revolt of a first leader had given way to that of a second, Shamash-eriba. Xerxes marched on Babylonia, defeated Shamash-eriba, and then treated the kingdom in the same way as he had Egypt. He went so far as to break with Achaemenian tradition—he removed the statue of Marduk, the god who had welcomed Cyrus to Babylon, and took it to Persia. Removal of the much-adored golden statue was tantamount to the demotion of Babylonia to the rank of a satrapy. Under Xerxes, therefore, both Egypt and Babylonia lost their status as autonomous kingdoms in the empire. After his return from Babylon, Xerxes no longer called himself “Lord of Nations.” He was now “King of the Persians and the Medes.”

Life’s Work

After his conquests in Egypt and Babylonia, Xerxes intended to live a tranquil life and attend to matters of state. Exiled Greeks and other ambitious individuals holding prominent positions in Persia, Lydia, and Athens recognized a Persian victory in Europe as the avenue to their own success. Their efforts, therefore, were expended on convincing the king that Persia, ruled by a divine king, was superior and could easily defeat Greece. After giving the matter thought and keeping in mind his father’s defeat at Marathon in 490 b.c.e., Xerxes assembled the notables of the empire and announced his intention to invade Greece. He proposed to build a bridge of boats across the Hellespont for the army to cross and further announced that he intended to set fire to the city of Athens in retaliation for the burning of the temple and sacred woods of Sardis by the Ionians.

The nobles, except for the king’s uncle, Artabanus, agreed with the king and praised his foresight and might. Artabanus, speaking from experience, reminded the assembly of Darius’s fruitless pursuit of the European Scythians in the steppes beyond the Danube. He reminded Xerxes of the enormous loss of life that had resulted from that futile endeavor. He further disagreed with those who claimed that the Persians could defeat the Athenians at sea. His advice to the king was to adjourn the meeting and continue with his plans to unify the empire.

Artabanus’s words angered Xerxes. He shouted at the aged warrior that no Persian should sit idle while foreigners infringed on his domain and set fire to his cities. He recounted the great deeds of his ancestors and pledged to surpass them. The assembly agreed with the king’s views that war with Greece was inevitable and compromise impossible. Either Persia had to rule Greece or Greece would rule Persia. Over the next few days, Xerxes won Artabanus’s agreement and began preparations for a major invasion of Europe. The king’s next four years were devoted to military preparations and to diplomatic negotiations before the invasion. These preparations included marshaling forces, digging a major canal at Athos to prevent the kind of disaster experienced by Darius, and dispatching envoys to certain Greek cities to demand “water and soil,” that is, recognition of Persian suzerainty without recourse to war. Drawing on the satrap system, a system of government initially installed by Cyrus and later expanded by Darius, Xerxes assembled an army the likes of which, according to Herodotus, no one had seen or remembered. This army gathered at Sardis in the spring of 480 b.c.e. and from there, led by the king himself, set out for Europe.

Among the obstacles that barred access to Europe, the most awesome was the formidable Hellespont. Ten years before, in his invasion of Europe, Darius had bypassed the Hellespont and built a bridge on the Bosporus. Xerxes, however, had decided to cross the Hellespont on a bridge made of warships. The first array of boats was easily washed away by stormy seas. For the lost ships and the wasted time, Xerxes had the two engineers responsible beheaded. He also ordered the sea to be whipped three hundred lashes to calm it. The second bridge, built with reinforced materials and heavy ropes, held for the seven days that it took the Persian army (estimated as anywhere from 360,000 to two million) to cross. The bridge was not disassembled so that, in the event of a Persian defeat, the king could return to Asia and not be stranded in Europe.

From Thrace, Xerxes circled the Aegean Sea. He crossed Macedonia and Thessaly, where he stayed while the army deforested the land and built roads. He then headed for Attica, accompanied by his fleet, which remained a short distance offshore.

The Greek states, knowing of the enormity of the invading land army, set their internal squabbles aside so that they could present a united front against the Persians. The alliance, led by Sparta, chose the narrow pass at Thermopylae for the initial meeting with Xerxes. The Greek navy at nearby Artemisium was in constant contact with the land force.

Initially, the battle at Thermopylae did not go well for the Persians. Xerxes sent in a contingent of Medes for the first day and fielded his ten thousand Immortals the second day. Both failed to turn the tide. Worse yet, a significant part of the Persian fleet was destroyed in a storm. Undaunted, however, Xerxes continued to fight. After the third day, a large contingent of Persians, guided through a hidden path the previous night by a Greek defector, appeared on the mountain overlooking the pass. Its defenders found themselves trapped. Leonidas, the Spartan king in charge of the Greek contingent, marshaled the troops of Sparta, Thespiae, and Thebes to continue the defense of the pass. He sent the rest of his men to reinforce the allied army that would fight Xerxes beyond Thermopylae. Leonidas and his three hundred men fought bravely and died to the last man, allowing their compatriots time to withdraw to the narrow strait of Salamis. Attica, and consequently Athens, was left defenseless.

The Persian army, having lost four of Darius’s sons at Thermopylae, entered Athens. Most of the inhabitants had already been evacuated. Those who remained took refuge in the Acropolis, the home of Athena, the patron goddess of the city. Xerxes, as he had vowed, burned the city and celebrated his conquest. He was now the only Persian ruler, indeed the only Asian ruler up until that time, to have set foot in Athens as a victor. He dispatched a messenger to Susa to apprise Artabanus, his vice-regent, of the victory.

Xerxes’ celebration, however, was premature. He had won the battle at Thermopylae, but the war raged on. Artabanus had been right. The devastated Persian fleet was no match for the Athenian navy, especially when the latter was led by Themistocles, a general who had fought Darius at Marathon and who had spent his life building a formidable navy to match Persia’s land army.

At Salamis, what had remained of the Persian fleet was dragged into narrow straits, outmaneuvered, and rammed by stout Greek ships. Witnessing the destruction of their fleet, the Persians fled the scene. Xerxes feared that he might become stranded in Europe. He immediately withdrew to Thessaly and from there to Asia. His hasty departure left the outcome of the war uncertain, especially when Mardonius, whom Xerxes had left in charge of the European campaign, was killed at Platae.

Henceforth, Xerxes became absolutely uninterested in the war and its outcome. Approaching forty, he returned to his palaces at Susa and Persepolis and watched from the sidelines as his appointees fought the war. The hostilities continued for another thirteen years.

At Persepolis, Xerxes devoted his time to the completion of Darius’s Apadana and to the construction of his own palace, a magnificent complex erected southeast of Darius’s palace. He also became involved in domestic politics and in the affairs of the court. A partial history of these involvements, especially in relation to the Jews of Persia, is found in the Book of Esther. Xerxes also became involved in harem intrigue. This latter involvement resulted in his death: Xerxes was murdered by his courtiers, among them Artabanus, his minister, in 465. He was fifty-four years old.

Significance

Xerxes stayed in the wings for twelve years, administering the affairs of the kingdom of Babylonia. He watched his father’s rise in power and prestige and his fall at Marathon. As king, he found himself on the horns of a dilemma. He had to choose between witnessing the demise of a disunited empire and attempting to rejuvenate it through war. In addition, he needed to show his people that he was the son of Darius and that he could surpass the deeds of kings of the past. Having already decided on a course of action, he revealed his plans and spent much time and energy preparing to bring them to fruition.

The goal of his European campaign was the capture of Athens and the destruction of that city in retaliation for the burning of Sardis. This goal, however, was in conflict with a larger goal nurtured by Greece—the replacement of the absolutism of the East with the free institutions of the West. Thus the victory in Athens had a bittersweet taste for Xerxes, who was compelled by circumstances to fight at Salamis against his wishes. His defeat at Salamis demoralized him to the point that he no longer recognized the potential of his enormous land army and the possibility of an eventual victory.

Against this background, it is doubtful whether Xerxes, on his own, could have prepared the army so that it could capture and burn Athens. Behind Xerxes was the formidable war machine of Darius, a machine created for the single purpose of reducing Europe to a Persian colony. Xerxes merely guided this instrument to its destined end and then into the ground.

Furthermore, Xerxes greatly underestimated the seriousness of the fragmentation that had occurred during the final year of Darius’s reign. The defeat at Marathon was closely related to the unhappiness of the peoples of such well-established kingdoms as Egypt and Babylonia. Yet Xerxes took it on himself to further belittle these nations by reducing them to the rank of satrapies.

Rather than trying his hand at world conquest, Xerxes could have drawn on his forte, administration. Instead, he made the same mistake that his father had made: He took on Greece in Europe. Under Xerxes, therefore, the empire continued to disintegrate. Lack of leadership and squabbles among the future claimants further weakened the empire and caused its eventual demise.

Xerxes’ view of himself was different. Like Darius, he attributed his success as king to Ahura Mazda, his god. He could do no wrong. Although he exercised great restraint in judgment, he allowed himself to be influenced and used by others. His inflexibility and self-confidence, both deriving from the incredible numbers he commanded rather than from the strength of his policies or that of his allies, played a major role in his demoralization and downfall. After Salamis, the man who had considered himself a good warrior, excelling in horsemanship, archery, and javelin throwing, became a womanizer and a manipulator of lowly lives at his own court.

Bibliography

Burn, A. R. Persia and the Greeks: The Defense of the West, 546-478 B.C. New York: Minerva Press, 1968. This book contains detailed discussions of the various aspects of Xerxes’ rule and an especially informative section on his campaign in Europe. Includes maps, charts illustrating battle formations, and genealogies for the major figures.

Cook, J. M. “The Rise of the Achaemenids and Establishment of Their Empire.” The Median and Achaemenian Period. Vol. 2 in The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1985. This article examines the principal sources on ancient Iran and the extent and composition of the empire. Toward the end, Cook assesses the leadership that enabled the Persians to form a great empire.

Frye, Richard N. The Heritage of Persia. 1962. Reprint. New York: New American Library, 1966. Frye’s account of ancient Iran is unique. It focuses on the eastern provinces of the ancient kingdom, but, unlike similar accounts, it is based on cultural, religious, and literary sources. The book is illustrated; it includes an index, maps, genealogies, and an informative bibliography.

Ghirshman, Roman. Iran: From the Earliest Times to the Islamic Conquest. 1954. Reprint. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965. In this account of Iran’s prehistory to Islamic times, Ghirshman juxtaposes textual information and archaeological data to place ancient Iran in its proper perspective. The book is illustrated with text figures as well as with plates. It includes an index and a selected bibliography.

Green, Peter. The Greco-Persian Wars. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. Originally published as Xerxes at Salamis (1970), this is a unique, though somewhat biased, account of the logistics of Xerxes’ campaigns in Europe; it focuses on the leadership of Themistocles and on the divergent ideologies of the belligerents. The book has an index and a bibliography; it is sparsely illustrated.

Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. 1954. 6th ed. New York: Penguin, 1996. This sixth edition of a standard translation is revised with introductory matter and notes by John Marincola. In this comprehensive classical account, Herodotus discusses Xerxes’ planned invasion of Europe, his long march in Asia and Europe, his capture and burning of Athens, and his retreat to Asia. This book should be read alongside other authoritative sources. It includes poor maps but has a good index.

Hignett, Charles. Xerxes’ Invasion of Greece. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963. This work deals exclusively with Xerxes and his campaigns against Greece. It critically examines previous research on Xerxes and discusses Xerxes’ fleet, the number of infantry the king commanded, and the topography of Thermopylae and Salamis. The book includes a bibliography, a good index, and eight maps.

Olmstead, Arthur T. History of the Persian Empire. 1948. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960. This detailed history of the Achaemenid period remains the chief secondary source for the study of ancient Iran. The book includes a topographical index, maps, and many carefully selected illustrations.

Szemler, G. J., W. J. Cherf, and J. C. Kraft. Thermopylai: Myth and Reality in 480 B.C. Chicago, Ill.: Ares Publishers, 1996. A close look at the devastating Battle of Thermopylae.