General Notes

Individual:  Born/Died 519-465 BCE Known as Ahasueras in the Bible Xerxes I, king of Persia (486-465 BCE), the son of Darius I. After  ascending the throne, he subdued a rebellion in Egypt and then prepared a  great army to attack the Greeks. In 480 BC he marched with his forces  through Thrace, Thessaly (Thessalia), and Locris and then burned Athens.  At the Battle of Salamís later that year, however, his fleet was defeated  by a smaller contingent of Greek warships commanded by Athenian general  Themistocles. Xerxes retired to Asia Minor. He was murdered at Persepolis by Artabanus, captain of the palace guard.

Xerxes I (Persian Khshayarsha) (circa 519-465 BC), king of Persia
(486-465 BC), the son of Darius I and Atossa (flourished 6th century BC),
daughter of Cyrus the Great.
Ascending the throne upon the death of his father, he subdued a rebellion
in Egypt, and then spent
three years preparing a great fleet and army to punish the Greeks for
aiding the Ionian cities in 498 BC and for their victory over the
Persians at Marathon in 490 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus gives as
the combined strength of Xerxes' land and naval forces the incredible
total of 2,641,610 warriors, but it was probably between 200,000 and
300,000. Xerxes is said to have crossed the Hellespont by a bridge of
boats more than a kilometer in length and to have cut a canal through the
isthmus of Mount Áthos.
During the spring of 480 BC he marched with his forces through Thrace,
Thessaly, and Locris. At Thermopylae 300 Spartans, under their king,
Leonidas I, and 1100 other Greeks made a courageous but futile stand,
delaying the Persians for ten days. Xerxes then advanced into Attica and
burned Athens, which had been abandoned by the Greeks.
At the Battle of Salamís later in 480 BC, however, his fleet was defeated
by a contingent of Greek warships commanded by the Athenian Themistocles.
Xerxes thereupon retired to Asia Minor, leaving his army in Greece under
the command of his brother-in-law, Mardonius, who was slain at Plataea
the following year.
Xerxes was murdered at Persepolis by Artabanus, captain of the palace
guard; he was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes I (reigned 465-425 BC).
Xerxes is generally identified as the Ahasuerus of the Book
of Esther.
Source: "Xerxes I," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c)
1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


This page is just a start. Not all information has bee varified.