Xerxes short biography. Myrtle Reading Room. Battle of Thermopylae

In all likelihood, there were several uprisings. Initially, the Babylonians rebelled under the leadership of Bel-shimanni. It is possible that this uprising began under Darius, under the influence of the defeat of the Persians at Marathon. The rebels captured, in addition to Babylon, the cities of Borsippa and Dilbat. In two cuneiform documents found in Borsippa, dated "the beginning of the reign of Bel-shimanni, king of Babylon and the Countries." The witnesses who signed this contract are the same as those found on documents from the second half of the reign of Darius and the first year of Xerxes. Obviously, Bel-shimanni rebelled against Darius and took the daring title of "king of the Countries", which had not yet been encroached upon by the False Buchadnezzers. But two weeks later in July 484 BC. e. this uprising was put down.

Crossing the Hellespont

Warriors of the army of Xerxes. Reconstruction according to the description of Herodotus, archaeological finds and drawings on Greek vases. From left to right: Persian standard-bearer, Armenian and Cappadocian warriors.

Warriors of the army of Xerxes.
From left to right: Chaldean foot soldiers formed the first rank of the Persian phalanx of archers; Babylonian archer; Assyrian infantry. The warriors are wearing quilted jackets stuffed with horsehair - a typical type of oriental armor of that time.

Warriors of the army of Xerxes from Asia Minor. On the left is a hoplite from Ionia, whose weapons are very reminiscent of the Greek, but he is wearing a soft quilted shell, widespread among Asian peoples (in this case, Greek cut); on the right - a Lydian hoplite in a bronze cuirass and a kind of frame helmet.

Warriors of the army of Xerxes. Reconstruction according to the description of Herodotus and archaeological finds. From left to right: an Ethiopian warrior armed with a powerful bow, half of his body painted white; an infantryman from Khorezm, a Bactrian infantryman; Arian cavalryman.

Battle of Thermopylae

Fleet actions

Devastation of Attica

The Persians were now free to move into Attica. Boeotia submitted to the Persians, and in the future Thebes provided them with active support. The land army of the Greeks stood on the Isthmus Isthmus, and Sparta insisted on creating a fortified defensive line here to protect the Peloponnese. The Athenian politician, creator of the Athenian fleet Themistocles believed that it was necessary to give the Persians a sea battle off the coast of Attica. Defending Attica at that moment, of course, was not possible.

The situation in the State

These failures in the Greco-Persian wars intensified the process of disintegration of the Achaemenid state. Already under Xerxes, symptoms dangerous for the existence of the state appeared - the rebellions of the satraps. So, his own brother Masista fled from Susa to his satrapy of Bactria in order to raise an uprising there, but on the way, warriors loyal to the king caught up with Macista and killed him along with all the sons accompanying him (c. 478 BC). Under Xerxes, intensive construction was carried out in Persepolis, Susa, Tushpa, on Mount Elvend near Ecbatana and in other places. To strengthen state centralization, he carried out a religious reform, which boiled down to the prohibition of the veneration of local tribal gods and the strengthening of the cult of the pan-Iranian god Ahuramazda. Under Xerxes, the Persians stopped supporting local temples (in Egypt, Babylonia, etc.) and seized many temple treasures.

Assassination of Xerxes as a result of a conspiracy

According to Ctesias, by the end of his life, Xerxes was under the strong influence of the head of the royal guard Artaban and the eunuch Aspamitra. Probably, the position of Xerxes at this time was not very strong. In any case, we know from Persepolis documents that in 467 BC. e. , that is, 2 years before the assassination of Xerxes, famine reigned in Persia, the royal barns were empty and grain prices increased seven times compared to usual. In order to somehow calm the dissatisfied, Xerxes removed about a hundred government officials during the year, starting with the most senior ones. In August 465 B.C. e. Artaban and Aspamitra, apparently not without the intrigues of Artaxerxes, the youngest son of Xerxes, killed the king at night in his bedroom. The exact date of this conspiracy is recorded in an astronomical text from Babylonia. Another text from Egypt says that he was killed along with his eldest son Darius.

Xerxes was in power for 20 years and 8 months and was killed at the age of 55. About 20 cuneiform inscriptions in ancient Persian, Elamite and Babylonian have survived from the reign of Xerxes.

Wives and children

Queen Amestrid

• Darius
• hystaspes, satrap of Bactria

Unknown wives

• Aratry satrap of Babylon.
• Ratashap

Persian king Xerxes I (born around 519 BC - death in 465 BC) King of the Achaemenid state (486 BC). He led the Persian campaign in Greece (480-479 BC), which ended in defeat and marked the end of the first stage.

After the death of Darius I Hystaspes, his son, Xerxes I, ascended the Achaemenid throne. The new king of kings immediately ran into military problems. The vast state was restless. Some of the provinces were falling out of obedience. 484 BC e. Persian king Xerxes was forced to go to pacify the rebellious Egypt. Then came the news of the uprising in Babylon. The Persian army invaded Mesopotamia, destroyed the fortifications, plundered the temples and destroyed the main shrine of the Babylonians - the statue of the god Marduk.

The successful pacification of the rebellious may have turned Xerxes' head, and he began to think about capturing new territories. Xerxes fully inherited his father's hatred of the Greeks. But, remembering the failures of Darius and being very circumspect, he did not rush. The king of kings thought for a long time, and his associates were perplexed: they were convinced that little Hellas, on the territory of which there were many city-states, would not be able to withstand the power of the huge Persian army.

In the end, the king called those close to him for advice. He outlined to them his plans for the construction of a huge pontoon bridge across the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles). The Persian king Xerxes intended not only to fulfill his father's covenant and seize Greece. He intended to turn all states into one, that is, to come to world domination. The military leaders could not but support the idea of ​​Xerxes. In the eastern despotism, which was the state of the Achaemenids, it was not customary to contradict the ruler. Those who had their own opinion could easily say goodbye not only to the position, but also to the head.

For four years, preparations for the campaign continued. Finally, the titanic work of building the bridge was completed. Persian troops were already ready to cross over to Europe. However, a terrible storm destroyed the gigantic structure. Then the king ordered to cut off the heads of the builders, among whom the vast majority were Phoenicians and Egyptians subject to the Persians. In addition, by order of the formidable ruler, the strait was carved with a whip, and shackles were thrown into the sea. At that distant time, people still animated natural objects, and the king sincerely believed that the recalcitrant strait after punishment would feel the full force of the wrath of the great Xerxes.

The bridge was rebuilt. In addition to the fact that ships could now safely bypass a dangerous place in the strait, a channel was dug. To do this, they dug up a whole mountain. The Persian king Xerxes had as many human resources as he wanted: 20 satrapies-provinces regularly supplied labor.

480 BC e., August - the troops safely crossed to Europe. For 7 days and nights, troops marched along the bridge without stopping. Persians, Assyrians, Parthians, Khorezmians, Sogdians, Bactrians, Indians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Thracians, Libyans, Phrygians, Cappadocians, inhabitants of the Caucasus - this is an incomplete list of the peoples who were part of the army of Xerxes.

According to Herodotus, in the army of Xerxes there were 1,700,000 infantrymen, 80,000 horsemen and 20,000 camel auxiliaries. The total number of warriors, in his opinion, reached more than five million people. In fact, according to scientists, the number of troops did not exceed 100,000, but even this figure at that time can be considered huge. In addition, the ground forces were supported by a fleet of 700–800 ships.

Xerxes did not doubt victory. Well, what could the Greeks oppose to his military power? Smiling smugly, he declared: “In my army, everyone is subject to one person. The whip will drive them into battle, the fear of me will make them brave. If I order, everyone will do the impossible. Are the Greeks capable of this, talking about freedom? However, it was precisely this desire for freedom that helped the Hellenes to survive in a fierce struggle with the most powerful empire of that time.

Entering the land of Hellas, the king first of all tried to inform about his advance as quickly as possible reached the Greek cities. For this, the first captured Greek scouts were not executed, but released, showing the army and fleet. Ambassadors were sent to the policies demanding "land and water". But the Persian king did not send anyone to the hated Athens and Sparta, making it clear to their inhabitants that there would be no mercy for them. But Xerxes' expectations were not justified: only Thessaly and Boeotia agreed to recognize his authority. The rest began to prepare to fight back.

Athenian strategist Themistocles, elected in 482 BC. e., in a short time he was able to create a powerful fleet. He, as Plutarch wrote, "put an end to the internecine wars in Hellas and reconciled the individual states among themselves, persuading them to postpone enmity due to the war with Persia."

According to the plan of the allies, they decided to give battle to the enemy on land and at sea. 300 trireme ships were sent to Cape Artemisia on the coast of Euboea, and the army headed to Thessaly. Here in the gorge of Thermopylae, the Greeks expected a formidable enemy.

Xerxes waited 4 days for news of the naval battle. When it became known that half of his fleet was swept away by a storm, and the rest suffered heavy losses and could not break through to the coast, the king sent scouts to find out what the Greeks were doing. He hoped that those, seeing the superiority of the enemy, would retreat. However, the Greeks stubbornly remained in place. Then Xerxes moved the army. Sitting in a chair, he watched the progress from the top of the mountain. The Greeks continued to stand. The "immortals" were thrown into the battle, but they could not achieve success either.

It became clear that the position of the Greeks is extremely advantageous, and their courage has no limits. Perhaps the king of the Persians, Xerxes, would have had to look for another way, but among the locals there was a traitor who, for a reward, showed the Persians a bypass path. The defenders of the gorge noticed that they were surrounded. The commander of the Greeks, King Leonid released the allies. 300 Spartans, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians remained with him. After a fierce fight, they all died. Enraged, Xerxes ordered to find the body of Leonidas. He was beheaded and his head was put on a spear.

The Persian army advanced towards Athens. Themistocles persuaded the citizens to leave the city. He was sure that the Athenians would take revenge not on land, but at sea. But not all allies agreed with the opinion of their commander. Endless bickering began. Then the strategist sent his slave to Xerxes, who again waited, hoping for disagreements in the enemy camp. The slave told Xerxes that the Hellenes were going to retreat at night, and Themistocles wants to go over to the side of the Persians and advises to start the offensive at once at night.

Xerxes showed unforgivable gullibility. Apparently, he was so confident in his own strength that he did not even think about a possible trap. The Persian king ordered the fleet to close all exits from the Salamis Strait so that not a single enemy ship could escape him. Themistocles wanted to achieve this: now the ships of the Spartans and Corinthians could not leave the Athenians. It was decided to give battle.

(480 BC) 1000 Persian ships and 180 Greek ships took part. On the shore, under a gilded canopy, the Persian king Xerxes sat on a throne, watching the battle. Nearby were courtiers and scribes who were supposed to describe the great victory of the Persians. But the clumsy Persian ships, forced to operate in a narrow strait, were much inferior to the fast Greek triremes. The latter went to ram and easily dodged the enemy.

As a result, most of Xerxes' fleet was sunk. The bulk of the Persians, who could not swim, drowned. Those who reached the coast were exterminated by the Greek infantry. In the end, the Persians turned to flight. The surviving ships were destroyed by the inhabitants of Aegina, who set up an ambush.

The remnants of the Persian army moved to the bridge over the Hellespont. Themistocles wanted to destroy it, but heeded the advice of the former strategist of Athens, Aristides. He believed that the trapped Persian warriors would fight desperately and many Greeks would die.

They say that the king of kings returned home on a ship that was utterly overcrowded. During a strong storm, the helmsman turned to him: “Sir! We need to lighten the ship!” - and the king ordered his subjects to leave the ship. Those themselves began to rush overboard, where they, who could not swim, were waiting for inevitable death. Safely reaching the shore, Xerxes granted the helmsman a golden ring for saving his life and immediately ... ordered to cut off the head of the savior because he had killed so many Persians.

But not the entire Persian army left Hellas. By order of Xerxes, troops were left in Thessaly, which were supposed to spend the winter and continue the war in the spring. 479 BC e. - a major battle took place near the city of Plataea in Boeotia. The famous Persian commander Mardonius fell in it, with whose death the Persians were finally broken and left the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The first stage of the Greco-Persian wars was finally completed.

With dreams of world domination, Xerxes had to part forever. His destiny was the exaltation of the capital of Persepolis. The construction of the palace, begun under Darius, was completed, and a new one was built, the construction of the throne room of one hundred columns began.

In the meantime, there was a relentless struggle for influence at court. The courtiers and even members of the Xerxes family intrigued incessantly. Xerxes became more and more suspicious. Once, when the queen reported that his brother was preparing an assassination attempt, the king ordered the destruction of his entire family.

The courtiers, all the more, could not count on the pity of the king. As you can see, because in the summer of 465 BC. e. Xerxes and his eldest son were killed by conspirators led by the minister Artabanus. Another son of the king, Artaxerxes I, ascended the throne, but the golden age of the Achaemenid dynasty passed into the past along with the warlike Persian king Xerxes I, firmly established in history.

Ruled from 486 to 465 BC.

Xerxes retained the traditional title of the Achaemenid rulers - "king of countries, king of kings". From the very beginning of his reign, he was engaged in the suppression of uprisings. In Egypt, the uprising lasted two years, from 486 to 484. BC. After his suppression, Xerxes changed the manner of communicating with the conquered peoples, characteristic of his predecessors, and began to treat Egypt as a conquered territory. At many temples, he ordered the confiscation of property. Many years after these events, the Egyptian priests called Xerxes none other than "this villain."

In 484 BC and again in 482 BC. the Babylonians rebelled. The siege of Babylon lasted several months and ended in severe reprisals. The city walls and other fortifications were torn down, the main temple was destroyed, some of the priests were executed, a golden statue of Marduk weighing 20 kg was taken to Persepolis. Xerxes liquidated the Babylonian kingdom and turned it into an ordinary satrapy, and Babylon ceased to exist as a holy city.

In 483 BC Xerxes began to prepare for a campaign against Greece and concluded an agreement with Carthage, agreeing on a simultaneous performance. After careful preparation, the king in the spring of 480 BC. resumed the war with the Greeks and went on a campaign at the head of a huge army. All the satrapies sent their contingents. 29 senior Persian commanders took part in the campaign, including 8 brothers of Xerxes himself. Herodotus, Ctesias and other ancient authors give absurd figures for the size of Xerxes' army (Herodotus has over 2 million). Modern historians speak of 50-75 thousand. The first military clash took place at Thermopylae. Here, defending the passage, 300 Spartans, led by King Leonid, died. Xerxes in this battle lost two of his brothers and many noble Persians.

Having penetrated into central Greece, the Persians, having captured Attica, plundered and burned Athens, abandoned by the inhabitants. On September 28, 480, a naval battle took place in the Gulf of Salamis. It was attended by 400 Greek ships and 650 Persian. For the Persian fleet, this was the first major defeat. Xerxes accompanied the army and saw from the throne built on the mainland the defeat of his fleet at Salamis, after which he hastily began to withdraw the army to northern Greece and Thrace, from where he crossed to Asia and returned to Susa. He executed the Phoenician captains, accusing them of cowardice during the Battle of Salamis. In 479 BC The Persians were defeated at Plataea and Mycale. Mardonius, commander of Xerxes, died.

More Xerxes, busy suppressing uprisings within the country, did not attempt to conquer Greece. Under Xerxes, the revolts of the satraps begin. His own brother Macista circa 478 BC from Susa he fled to his satrapy Bactria in order to raise an uprising, but was killed on the way. By the end of his reign, unrest occurred throughout the country, famine reigned in Persia, and the price of bread rose sharply. Xerxes resorted to the usual means of calming the masses: he removed from their posts about 100 high-ranking officials.

In 465 BC he was killed at night in his bedroom by conspirators led by Artabanus, the head of his bodyguards. Most likely, his youngest son Artaxerxes, the future king of Persia, participated in the conspiracy. In Babylon, the murder of Xerxes was considered a punishment of the god Marduk for the destruction of his temple, and in Egypt - a divine punishment for the confiscation of temple lands. Xerxes was engaged in intensive construction in his capitals, Persepolis and Susa. He carried out a religious reform, which boiled down to the destruction of the cults of local deities. The ancient tradition depicts him as a cruel and extravagant ruler, capable of ordering "carve out the sea", while in Persian documents, on the contrary, he appears as a wise statesman and an experienced warrior.

historical sources:

Aeschylus. Persians;

Herodotus. Story. VII-IX;

Diodor. Historical library. XI.

Illustrations:

1. Bas-relief depicting Xerxes I from the royal palace in Persepolis. 5th century BC.;

2. The alleged tomb of Xerxes I in the rocks of Nakshe-Rustam;

3. Cuneiform inscription of Xerxes on the southern slope of the Van rock. Now the territory of eastern Turkey;

4. Darius I and his son and heir Xerxes. Detail of the relief of the Treasury from Persepolis. 5th century BC. Archaeological Museum. Tehran.

The life of the ruler consisted of many military victories, but the defeats of Xerxes played a much greater role in history.

Xerxes I was the son of Darius I and his second wife Atossa. The date of his birth fluctuates between 519 and 521 BC. e. He took his throne in 486 BC. e. with the help of his mother, who had great influence at court and did not allow the accession of the eldest son Darius from Artobazan's first marriage. After the death of his father, Xerxes inherited a huge Persian empire, the territory of which stretched from the Indus River in the east to the Aegean Sea in the west, and from the first threshold of the Nile in the south to Transcaucasia in the North. Such a vast kingdom was difficult to maintain: anti-Persian uprisings constantly flared up in different parts of the empire. Suppressing them, the new ruler tried to further strengthen his power in the field, to make it unitary. So, having dealt with the rebellion in the Babylonian kingdom in 481 BC. e., Xerxes ordered to take to Persepolis (the capital of the Achaemenid Empire) a golden statue of the supreme deity and patron of Babylon Marduk. By doing this, he deprived the Babylonians of the opportunity to crown their kings in the presence of their gods and thereby liquidated the Babylonian kingdom, turning it from a vassal state into a grassroots satrapy.

For the ruler of Persia, it was important not only to keep the subject lands in check, but also to constantly expand his expansion. Like his father, Xerxes looked at Europe, but the Greeks stood in his way, the history of confrontation with which began under Darius. The origins of the confrontation lay in the uprising of the Ionites in 499 BC. e., when the city-states of Athens and Eretria helped the rebels and incurred the wrath of the Persians. He set out to take revenge on the Greeks and moved to conquer Athens, but his troops were defeated at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. e. A few years after his accession to the throne, Xerxes decided to continue the work of his father and conquer the Greek city-states. As Herodotus writes in his History, before preparing for the campaign, the king declared to his nobles: “And the sun will not shine on any other country adjacent to ours, but with your help I will turn all these countries into a single power and go through the whole Europe ... There is no longer a single city and people in the world that would dare to rebel against us.

The first difficulty on this path was the crossing of the troops of Xerxes through the Hellespont (the current Dardanelles). For this, pontoon bridges were built near the city of Sista, each more than one kilometer long. When the work was completed, a storm arose at sea and destroyed the structures. The enraged king, according to Herodotus, "ordered to give the Hellespont as punishment three hundred blows with a whip, and to lower a pair of fetters into the open sea." At the same time, the heads of the people who supervised the construction of the bridges were cut off. Then the bridges were rebuilt and fastened more securely. On the day of the passage through the Hellespont, Xerxes asked the sun god not to interfere with his conquest of Europe and threw precious objects into the water (a sacrificial cup, a golden goblet and a Persian sword) to appease the sea. This time the Hellespont was calm and the crossing was successful.

The Persian invasion began in 480 BC. e. from the Battle of Thermopylae. Athens, Sparta and other Greek cities rallied in the face of the "Persian threat". In order to have a real opportunity to resist the superior forces of the enemy, it was decided to meet the enemy at the Thermopylae Gorge, whose narrow passage made it possible to delay the Persians on their way to Hellas. According to various sources, the army of Xerxes consisted of 200 or 250 thousand soldiers. At the beginning of the battle, the Greeks had 5 - 7 thousand fighters. The alliance of Greek forces was led by the Spartan king Leonidas. For two days he managed to hold back the onslaught of the army of Xerxes, but on the third day, the Persians surrounded the army of Leonidas thanks to the betrayal of a local resident named Ephialtes, who showed them a bypass mountain route. Leonidas, along with 300 Spartans, as well as the Thespians (about 700 people) and Thebans (about 400 people, which are usually not mentioned in the legends of three hundred Spartans), remained to fight Xerxes until his last breath. As a result, he and his army died, but forever went down in history thanks to their valor. Together with the “300 Spartans”, Xerxes also entered history as the main negative hero of this plot.

Xerxes himself wanted to associate his name with the conquest of free Greece. He moved on to Athens. The city abandoned by the inhabitants was captured and plundered. The Acropolis was badly damaged - the statues of the gods were defiled and broken. After that, it seemed to Xerxes that Greece was in his hands. However, later the Greeks won important victories at Salamis (480 BC) and at Plataea (479 BC). The Persian king, who suffered a crushing defeat both at sea and on land, had to return to Asia - the destroyer of Athens, but not the winner of the Greeks.

Returning to his empire, Xerxes decided to dissolve the bitterness of failure with carnal passions. As Herodotus writes, at first he “burned with passion” for the wife of his brother Maciste, but he could not persuade her to treason. Then he decided to marry his son Darius to the daughter of Masista and thereby get closer to the woman he desired. When the son brought his young wife Artainta into the house, he lost interest in her mother and began to indulge in amorous pleasures with his daughter-in-law. Xerxes' wife Amestrid believed that the king's infidelity was set up by Maciste's wife and decided to destroy her. She arranged so that the bodyguards of Xerxes mutilated the unfortunate woman beyond recognition. In response, Matista decided to raise an uprising, but was overtaken by Xerxes and killed.

Xerxes was going to perpetuate his name in history not only with military victories. His return from a failed campaign against Greece was also marked by increased attention to architectural projects in Susa and Persepolis. He began to finish building Apadana Darius - a large and richly decorated audience hall. Its roof was supported by 72 columns with skillful capitals in the form of lion or bull heads. The hall was decorated with reliefs in which delegates from 23 provinces of the Achaemenid Empire brought their gifts to Darius. Having completed the construction of Apadana, Xerxes built for himself a palace in Persepolis, much larger than the palace complex of his father. It was also richly and skillfully decorated with sculptures and reliefs.

The fruits of Xerxes' labors were not as durable as he expected. In 330 B.C. e., almost a hundred years after his death, Alexander the Great, during his Persian campaign, captured and destroyed Persepolis, turning the palace of Xerxes and the famous Apadana into ruins. The legendary commander did exactly the same as the once Persian king in Athens.

The last years of Xerxes' life were marked by the deterioration of the economic situation in his state. The reason, perhaps, lay in the ambitious plans of the king to build new temple and palace complexes in Persepolis, which took huge amounts of money. Persepolis sources dating back to 467 BC. e. (two years before the death of Xerxes), they say that famine reigned in the city, the royal barns were empty, and grain prices jumped seven times. At the same time, uprisings broke out again in the Persian satrapies, and high-profile victories remained far in the past. Obviously, the position of Xerxes was becoming more and more precarious. This decided to take advantage of the head of the royal guard Artaban. In August 465 B.C. e. he persuaded the eunuch-butler Aspamitra to lead him to the king's bedroom. Sleeping Xerxes was stabbed to death in his own bed. Then Artabanus persuaded the youngest son of Xerxes Artaxerxes to kill the heir to the throne, his brother Darius. Having done this, Artaxerxes ascended the throne, and soon removed Artaban from his path. who had his own plans for the Persian throne. The new ruler of the Achaemenid state also had a middle brother Hystaspes. During the palace coup, he was the governor of Bactria. Later, he tried to raise a rebellion, but was defeated in two battles and killed in 464 BC. e.

The reign of Xerxes lasted a little over 20 years. He managed to maintain and slightly expand his empire, but the super-task set by him remained unfulfilled. Greco-Persian wars were fought even before 449 BC. e. until Artaxerxes signed the Peace of Callia with the Athenian League. Hellas did not succumb to the Achaemenids, and Xerxes, instead of the horror of the peoples, experienced the contempt of his subordinates, who took his life. The preservation of independence as a result of the Greco-Persian wars contributed to the flourishing of ancient Greek culture. True, the cohesion of the policies of the times of Xerxes turned out to be far in the past. Torn apart by internal conflicts, Hellas eventually came under the rule of the Macedonian king. And already from Europe, which Xerxes never conquered, Alexander the Great set off with a campaign against Persia to end the existence of the Achaemenid empire.

Plan
Introduction
1 The beginning of the reign. Conquest of the rebellious peoples
1.1 Revolt in Egypt
1.2 Babylonian rebellions

2 Trip to Greece
2.1 Preparing for the hike
2.2 Greeks prepare to fight back
2.3 Crossing the Hellespont
2.4 Battle of Thermopylae
2.5 Fleet actions
2.6 Sack of Attica
2.7 Naval battle off the island of Salamis
2.8 Greeks prepare for a decisive battle
2.9 Battle of Plataea

3 Continued hostilities in Persian territory
3.1 Battle of Mycale
3.2 Siege of Sest
3.3 Greeks form the Delian Maritime League
3.4 Battle of the Eurymedon

4 The situation in the State
5 Assassination of Xerxes as a result of a conspiracy
6 Wives and children
Bibliography

Introduction

Xerxes I (other Persian. Khshayarshan, which means "King of Heroes" or "A Hero Among Kings") - Persian king, ruled in 486 - 465 BC. e., from the Achaemenid dynasty.

The son of Darius I and Atossa came to the throne in November 486 BC. e. at the age of about 36 years. He was lethargic, narrow-minded, spineless, easily submitted to someone else's influence, but he was distinguished by self-confidence and vanity.

1. The beginning of the reign. Conquest of the rebellious peoples

1.1. Revolt in Egypt

In January 484 B.C. e. Xerxes managed to suppress the uprising in Egypt, which began during the life of his father. Egypt was subjected to ruthless reprisals, the property of many temples was confiscated. Instead of Ferendat, who apparently died during the uprising, Xerxes appointed his brother Achaemenes as satrap of Egypt. According to Herodotus, Egypt was subjected to an even greater yoke than before. Since then, the participation of indigenous people in the government of the country has been even more limited - they are allowed only in lower positions; and Xerxes and subsequent Persian kings do not honor the Egyptian gods. True, the name of Xerxes is inscribed in hieroglyphs in the Hammamat quarries, but this king mined the material not for Egyptian temples, but for his buildings in Persia, delivering it by sea. Unlike their predecessors, Xerxes and the kings following him did not consider it necessary to take pharaonic titles - only their Persian names written in hieroglyphs in cartouches have come down to us.

1.2. Babylonian uprisings

Then Babylon had to be pacified, again deciding to revolt. Ctesias reports that this rebellion broke out at the beginning of the reign and was caused by the blasphemous discovery of the tomb of a certain Belitan, and then pacified by Megabyzus, son-in-law of Xerxes and father of Zopyrus. Strabo, Arrian, Diodorus also speak of the sacrileges of Xerxes in the Babylonian temples, and Arrian dates them to the time after the return of Xerxes from Greece.

In all likelihood, there were several uprisings. Initially, the Babylonians rebelled under the leadership of Bel-shimanni. It is possible that this uprising began under Darius, under the influence of the defeat of the Persians at Marathon. The rebels captured, in addition to Babylon, the cities of Borsippa and Dilbat. In two cuneiform documents found in Borsippa, dated "the beginning of the reign of Bel-shimanni, king of Babylon and the Countries." The witnesses who signed this contract are the same as those found on documents from the second half of the reign of Darius and the first year of Xerxes. Obviously, Bel-shimanni rebelled against Darius and took the daring title of "king of the Countries", which had not yet been encroached upon by the False Buchadnezzers. But two weeks later in July 484 BC. e. this uprising was put down.

In August 482 B.C. e. The Babylonians have risen again. Now the rebellion was led by Shamash-eriba. This uprising is evidenced by one Babylonian document - the contract of the Egibi merchant bank, dated 22 Tashrit (October 26), the year Shamash-erib, "the king of Babylon and the Countries" came to reign, and the witnesses of the transaction are the same as those mentioned in documents from the time of Darius; the son of one of them is already mentioned under the 1st year of Xerxes. In any case, the uprising did not last long - this can already be seen from the presence of one document from the "beginning of the reign." The rebels achieved major successes, capturing Babylon, Borsippa, Dilbat and other cities, since most of the military garrisons stationed in Babylon were transferred to Asia Minor to participate in the upcoming campaign against Greece. The suppression of the uprising was entrusted to the son-in-law of Xerxes Megabyzus. The siege of Babylon lasted several months and ended, apparently, in March 481 BC. e. harsh reprisal. City and other fortifications were demolished. Even the course of the river was diverted and the Euphrates, at least for a time, separated the residential part of the city from its sanctuaries. Some of the priests were executed, the main temple of Esagila and the ziggurat of Etemenanki were also badly damaged.

Herodotus does not know anything about him either, but reports, without suspecting it, interesting information that Xerxes took away from the temple of Bel (Esagila) a colossal, weighing 20 talents (about 600 kg), golden statue of the god, killing the guarding priest. Of course, the Greek historian believed that the reason was self-interest. In fact, as we know, it is deeper. The pacification of the rebellion entailed extreme measures: the destruction of the temple and the removal of many items from the treasury of this temple to Persepolis; the golden statue of the god Marduk was also sent there, where it was probably melted down. Thus, Xerxes not only actually, but also formally liquidated the Babylonian kingdom, turning it into an ordinary satrapy. By depriving Babylon of the statue of Marduk, Xerxes made the appearance of kings in it impossible. After all, the applicant had to receive royal power "from the hands" of God. Since then, the title of the king on Babylonian documents has also changed: on those dated “the year of accession”, Xerxes is also called “king of Babylon, king of the Countries”; on those originating from the first four years of his reign - “the king of Persia and Media, the king of Babylon and the Countries”; finally, from the 5th year (480 - 479) the designation "king of the Countries" begins, which remains with all the successors of Xerxes.

2. Trip to Greece

2.1. Preparing for a hike

By the end of the 80s, the situation in Persia had stabilized, and Xerxes began to energetically prepare for a new campaign against Greece. For several years, work was underway to build a canal (12 stages long, more than 2 km) across the isthmus on Chalkidike in order to avoid bypassing Cape Athos, where the fleet of Mardonius died. A bridge was also built across the Strymon River. Numerous workers from Asia and the adjacent coast were driven to the construction. Food depots were created along the coast of Thrace, two pontoon bridges 7 stades long (about 1300 m) each were thrown across the Hellespont. Diplomatic preparations for the campaign were also carried out; ambassadors and agents of Xerxes were sent to various states of Balkan Greece and even to Carthage, which was supposed to divert the Greeks of Sicily from participating in the war with Persia by military action. To prepare the campaign, Xerxes attracted prominent Greek fugitives who were at his palace. Argos and Thessaly expressed their obedience to Persia. In many Greek cities, not excluding Athens, there were strong pro-Persian groups.

2.2. Greeks prepare to fight back

But a number of Greek states were preparing to fight. In 481 BC. e. a pan-Hellenic alliance was created with a center in Corinth, headed by Sparta. It was decided to meet the Persians on the border of Northern and Central Greece, at Thermopylae. The mountains in this place come close to the seashore, and the narrow passage was easy to defend. Simultaneously with the actions of the land army, a fleet operation was planned near the island of Euboea, so that the Persians could not break through the Strait of Euripus and end up in the rear of the Greeks. Since the position at Thermopylae was defensive, the Greeks decided to send a small part of the united Greek army there, only about 6.5 thousand people, led by the Spartan king Leonidas I.

2.3. Crossing the Hellespont

In the summer of 480 BC. e. the Persian army, numbering, according to the studies of modern historians, from 80 to 200 thousand soldiers (Herodotus gives absolutely fantastic figures of 1 million 700 thousand people) began to cross the Hellespont. A storm that had flown at that time swept away the pontoon bridges, and a number of Persian soldiers drowned in the sea. Enraged, Xerxes ordered the sea to be whipped and chains thrown into it in order to pacify the raging elements, and the overseers of the work - to cut off their heads. The crossing lasted continuously for seven days. The further advance of the Persian army to Thermopylae passed without difficulty and in August 480 BC. e. The Persians approached the Thermopylae Gorge. By sea, the Persian army was accompanied by a strong fleet. In addition to the Persians, all the peoples subject to him took part in the campaign of Xerxes: Medes, Kissians, Hyrcanians, Babylonians, Bactrians, Sagarts, Sakas, Indians, Aryans, Parthians, Horasmians, Sogdians, Gandaria, Dadiks, Caspians, Sarangi, Paktia, Utii, Miki , Paricani, Arabs, Ethiopians from Africa, Eastern Ethiopians (Gedrosii), Libyans, Paphlagonians, Ligii, Matiens, Mariandines, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Armenians, Lydians, Mysians, Bithynians, Pisidians, Cabals, Miles, Moschis, Tibarens, Macrons, Mossiniks , mars, kolkhs, tribes from the islands of the Persian Gulf. In the fleet served: Phoenicians, Syrians, Egyptians, Cypriots, Cilicians, Pamphylians, Lycians, Asiatic Dorians, Carians, Ionians, Aeolians, and inhabitants of the Hellespont.

2.4. Battle of Thermopylae

The position at Thermopylae made it possible for the Greeks to delay the advancing enemy for a long time, but the trouble was that in addition to passing through the gorge, another mountain road led south, known to local residents and, possibly, to Persian intelligence. Leonid, just in case, sent a detachment of 1000 Phocians there. When several Persian attempts to break through the Thermopylae Gorge were repulsed, a select detachment, including the Persian guard, moved around along the mountain road; a traitor from the locals volunteered to be a guide. Taken by surprise, the Phocians, under a hail of arrows, climbed to the top of the mountain and took up defense, the Persians, paying no more attention to them, continued their march and went into the rear of the Greeks. When Leonid found out about what had happened, he released most of his detachment, and he himself, with the Spartans, Thespians and some other Greeks, remained in place to cover their retreat. Leonid and all those who remained with him perished, but, delaying the advance of the Persians, they made it possible to mobilize the Greek forces, pulling them to the Isthmus and evacuating Attica.