Xerxes the Great: The God King of Persia

This episode is brought to you by Curiosity Stream, a subscription streaming service that offers over 2,000 documentaries and non-fiction titles. You can get unlimited access starting at just $2.99 a month, and enjoy 30 days for free if you sign up through the link below and use the code “biographics.” More on them in a bit.

[Music]

Of all the Persian kings, Xerxes is probably the one best remembered today, thanks to his battle with 300 brave Spartans. In a broader sense, he is known for his invasion of mainland Greece, which went much further than the military campaign of his father, Darius. He saw it as a duty to fulfill his father’s mission of punishing the Athenians for their involvement in the Ionian Revolt. In that regard, he can be considered successful, as he conquered and pillaged Athens. However, Xerxes was ultimately unable to retain control over Greece and had to retreat back to Persia defeated. His reign also marks the last period of dominance for the Achaemenid Empire; afterwards, the empire’s power slowly started to fade, and most of its efforts were focused on maintaining the lands it already had until it eventually collapsed under the might of Alexander the Great.

[Music]

Xerxes, or Khashayar, as he is known in Persian, was born circa 518 BC as the first son of Darius the Great and his wife, Atossa, who was also the daughter of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian kingdom. By the way, we’ve already done biographics on both Darius and Cyrus; if you haven’t seen them, please check them out to get a better understanding of the Persian Empire, especially since Xerxes’ reign picks up where Darius left off in his fight with the Greeks.

To give you a quick recap, ever since the time of Cyrus, the Achaemenid Empire included Greek city-states located not in Greece proper but on the coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Often, these cities were not actually part of the empire but were ruled by tyrants who were appointed by and completely subservient to the Persian king. In 499 BC, however, these cities revolted against Darius with the help of a few mainland Greek city-states, most notably Athens. Eventually, Darius managed to quell the rebellions, but he also swore vengeance on the Greek city-states that provided aid, which is how the first Persian invasion of Greece started.

In 492 BC, the invasion ended in defeat, despite Darius having the early advantage. The Persian expedition failed following a decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. This did not deter Darius, who started planning a second invasion immediately, intending to lead his troops personally this time, something he was unable to do the first time due to his failing health. However, his plans were put on hold due to another revolt, this time in Egypt. He intended to deal with both problems, but he died in 486 BC before resolving either one.

Xerxes then became the new king of the Achaemenid Empire, but he did have some competition. Strictly speaking, Xerxes was not Darius’s oldest son; he was the oldest son since Darius took power and was the son of Atossa, who had the blood of Cyrus the Great in her veins. Darius had three other sons by a different wife before he became king. The oldest was Artabazanes, who argued that as the eldest child of Darius, he deserved to be king. Darius himself was uncertain about what to do and took counsel from a Greek, a former Spartan king named Demaratus, who had received asylum in Persia. The Spartan advised Darius to take the side of Xerxes, arguing that Artabazanes would not have the royal prerogative because when he was born, both he and his father were still commoners. Darius agreed and named Xerxes as his successor.

All of this information comes to us courtesy of Herodotus, who opined that even without Demaratus’s intervention, Darius was likely to put Xerxes on the throne due to the power and influence of Atossa. So, sometime in late 486 BC, Xerxes became the new king, and his ascension went smoothly without any challenges. He then wrote down the facts in a famous inscription to set the record straight.

Now that Xerxes ruled over the Achaemenid Empire, he had important matters to attend to. The Greeks would have to wait, as first, he needed to address the Egyptian revolt. This did not prove overly difficult; Xerxes already had an army at the ready, as his father had mustered it in anticipation of going to war against Athens. We do not have too many details about this military campaign, but the Persian king was able to put down the rebellion in a single expedition in 485 BC. He was much harsher with his conquered foes than his predecessors, imposing ruthless punishments on the Egyptians and leaving his brother, Achaemenes, behind to govern the province.

The following year, there was another rebellion, this time in Babylon, led by a man named Bel-Shamanni. Again, Xerxes marched his army and put down this uprising in just a matter of weeks. Two years later, in 482 BC, Babylon rebelled once more under Shamash-Ariba, who declared himself the new king. Although this revolt was also defeated, it proved more durable than the first one and required a month-long siege of the city. Ancient sources tell us that Xerxes was severe in his punishment of Babylon and ended the special relationship this once-great empire had with the Persians. Up until that point, ever since it had been conquered by Cyrus, Babylon was regarded as one of the Achaemenid Empire’s greatest possessions. The ruler always used the title “King of Babylon” in inscriptions and participated in Babylonian religious rites every New Year by traveling to the city to take the hands of the statue of Marduk, the Babylonian god, placed inside the city’s main temple, the Esagila. This all ended under Xerxes; he had the temples pillaged and allegedly even removed the statue of Marduk and brought it to Persia to be melted down. Since then, he also no longer used the title “King of Babylon” in inscriptions, instead referring to himself as “King of the Persians and the Medes.”

Now that all the internal strife was dealt with, it was finally time to take on the Greeks—or was it? Classical sources like Herodotus portray Xerxes as very undecided regarding the path he should take. We cannot say how accurate this portrayal was, but it indicated that the king alternated at least three times between war and peace. At first, Xerxes wanted war, mainly persuaded by Mardonius, his cousin and one of his closest allies. His arguments were that the Greeks had to be punished for what they did to the Persians and that the Greek mainland had rich and beautiful lands worthy of no mortal master.

The king held an assembly with all his nobles and told them of his plans. He expressed his intent to bridge the Hellespont and take his army through Europe to Hellas, to punish the Athenians for what they had done to his father. Mardonius again spoke up to applaud the king’s decision. The other noblemen were quiet, except for an uncle of Xerxes named Artabanus, who advised him to reconsider. Years prior, Artabanus had told Darius the same thing when he wanted to go to war against the Scythians, and now Xerxes wanted to do the same against a much more powerful foe—an army made up of the most formidable warriors by sea and land. The king was greatly angered by Artabanus, saying that it was only because he was his father’s brother that he escaped punishment for his insolence.

It seemed that Xerxes had made his decision, but that night he had a vision that caused him to change his mind. The next day, he claimed that he would not march against Greece and instead would abide in peace. However, the following night, he had another vision that offered a prophecy, saying that if he did not lead his armies, the things that made him great and mighty would disappear. This vision frightened the Persian king so much that he went to his uncle Artabanus to tell him about it and then asked him to wear the royal robes and sleep in the royal bed. The advisor did so, and the same prophetic dream came to him, warning again of terrible things that would befall Xerxes if he did not go to war. Finally, Artabanus himself changed his mind, and from then on, the Persian king became intent on invading and conquering Greece.

And look, if you’re enjoying today’s video, let me tell you about today’s sponsor, Curiosity Stream, which I think you will also enjoy. Curiosity Stream is a subscription streaming service that offers over 2,000 documentaries and non-fiction titles from some of the world’s best filmmakers, including exclusive originals. If you’re enjoying this video, you’re going to like that as well. Just go over to their platform, search for “empire” or “empires,” and you’ll find plenty of options. Curiosity Stream is available on many platforms, including web app, Roku, Android, Xbox One, smart TVs, iOS, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, Amazon Kindle, and Apple TV, and it’s available worldwide. You can get unlimited access starting at just $2.99, and for you guys, the first 30 days are completely free. Just sign up through the link below and use the promo code “biographics,” and you’ll be good to go. It’s a great way to support the show, keeps me making more videos, and I couldn’t think of a better fit for sponsorship than Curiosity Stream for this channel.

Now, let’s get back to it. Even though Xerxes had finally made up his mind, he did not charge headfirst into battle; instead, he spent years in preparation. The initial challenge was simply getting to Greece in one piece. First, the army had to cross from Asia into Thrace by traversing the Dardanelles Strait, known back then as the Hellespont. According to Herodotus, Xerxes had the Egyptians and Phoenicians build two bridges that connected Sardis, the former capital of Lydia, to another city named Abydos on the other side of the strait. However, those bridges were broken and swept away by a furious storm. So great was the anger of the king when he found out that he not only had the builders executed but also ordered his men to give 300 whiplashes to the Hellespont itself and drop a pair of manacles into the water to symbolize that even the sea itself must obey the will of Xerxes.

Afterwards, he had two pontoon bridges built, which proved to be sturdier and more reliable. In 480 BC, the Persians crossed the strait into Europe. In this race, the army went two ways: part by land and part by sea. However, Xerxes was careful to avoid a lethal mistake made by one of his father’s generals during the first invasion of Greece. Athos was not a large peninsula, but the waters around it were treacherous. So when the fleet went around it, it was caught in a storm and destroyed. To avoid having the same thing happen to him, Xerxes ordered his men to build a canal through the isthmus that connected the peninsula to the mainland.

Over the course of millennia, the Xerxes Canal was completely buried in sediment, but it was actually found recently using aerial photography. It remains one of the few traces of the Persian invasion of European soil, but it also serves as a nice reminder that Herodotus occasionally knew what he was talking about. Speaking of Herodotus, the historian claimed that the army assembled by Xerxes was the largest in existence, unlike anything the world had seen before. It contained soldiers from all over Asia of 30 different ethnicities, and that did not take into account the numerous Thracian tribes that Xerxes encountered on his way to Greece, which were added to his numbers either willingly or by force. However, we cannot provide you with inaccurate estimates, as the size of the army is still hotly debated, with estimates ranging from a few hundred thousand soldiers proposed by modern scholars to a few million based on ancient sources. Either way, this was an army that no Greek city-state hoped to take on alone.

The Greeks, however, had not been dawdling this whole time. Ever since they repelled the first Persian invasion under Darius, they knew it was only a matter of time before a new one would come. The Athenians, in particular, who were Xerxes’ main target, had been busy building up their fleet for an unrelated war with another city-state named Aegina. However, in 481 BC, when they heard that the Persian army was on the move, dozens of Greek city-states held a council in Corinth and decided to put aside all their feuds to deal with this major threat. Many other city-states wanted no part of it and instead paid tribute to Xerxes when he sent forth ambassadors asking for “earth and water,” hoping that his issues with Greece would not involve them. Only two city-states were never given this option because Xerxes omitted them from the start: those states were Athens and Sparta.

Halfway through 480 BC, Xerxes had his first major encounter, the famous Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas staged a daring last stand, fighting bravely to guard the coastal pass of Thermopylae, also called the Hot Gates. In the end, the vastly superior numbers of the Persian army proved too much to overcome, and all the Spartans fell in battle. If you’re familiar with this event, it’s probably because of the movie “300” or the comic book series it was based on. However, those two helped create a few prevalent myths about the Battle of Thermopylae, and we’re not just talking about showing Xerxes as a seven-foot giant with a penchant for gold piercings.

Undoubtedly, the biggest myth is that the 300 Spartans were there alone. In fact, they weren’t—not even close. The Spartans might have been in charge of the defense, but they were joined by about a dozen other Greek groups, including Thespians, Thebans, Arcadians, and Phocians. In total, there were around six thousand to seven thousand Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae. As for the Persians, we don’t know much more than that. Certainly, as Herodotus claims, their casualties numbered twenty thousand men. A crucial role in the battle was played by Ephialtes, the Spartan who betrayed his people and told Xerxes of a secret trail that allowed his soldiers to flank the enemy. He was actually real, but he was not a deformed Spartan who resented his compatriots because he could not fight alongside them; he wasn’t a Spartan at all. In fact, he was part of a Greek group called the Malian, who lived in the city-state of Trachis.

Lastly, while this is not a myth, it is an important aspect that is often forgotten: while the land battle of Thermopylae was going on, the Greeks and the Persians were simultaneously engaged in an important naval conflict known as the Battle of Artemisium. The bulk of the Greek forces was provided by Athens, as they had the strongest fleet, aided by Corinth, Megara, Aegina, Chalcis, Sparta, and others. The battle was not a crushing defeat for the Greeks like Thermopylae, but they were still able to stop the advance of the Persians.

Following these two encounters, Xerxes had gained control over the regions of Euboea, Boeotia, and Phocis, and most importantly, he had a clear route to Attica, where Athens was located. In September 480 BC, Xerxes entered Athens. The city had been mostly abandoned, with Athenians fleeing to Aegina and Salamis. Just a few remained to try and protect the Acropolis, but they were easily defeated. Xerxes was finally able to fulfill the vow first made by his father to punish the Athenians for their interference in the Ionian Revolt almost two decades prior. He had the city burned and pillaged; Athenian symbols like the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena were razed to the ground, although these would be rebuilt a few decades later by Pericles, bigger and better than ever.

So far, everything seemed to go in Xerxes’ favor. All the remaining Greek forces had gathered on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in the south of Greece, which could only be accessed on foot by crossing the narrow Isthmus of Corinth. However, the Greeks took steps to ensure this would not happen, as they destroyed the only road and directed a wall in its place. If Xerxes were to continue his conquest of Greece, he would have to do it by water. Strategically, it would have been wiser to wait out the Greeks by creating a blockade to surround their navy concentrated around Salamis and allow each group of people to slowly disband and return to their own cities. In fact, one of the Persian king’s allies, Queen Artemisia of Caria, advised him to do just this. However, his other generals and indeed Xerxes himself were sure of victory with one giant show of force at sea.

The Battle of Salamis took place sometime in late September 480 BC, and it was a shocking and brutal defeat for the Persians that completely turned the tide of the campaign in favor of the Greeks. Unfortunately, none of the classical sources gave a detailed account of the battle, so we don’t know what bold and brilliant military strategies the Greeks employed to secure the unlikely victory. Herodotus mainly credits his countrymen for being orderly and determined, while the Persian army was much more chaotic and disorganized, which he sees as the reason for their downfall.

To illustrate his point, he tells the story of the aforementioned Artemisia, who, while being chased by an Athenian trireme, rammed and destroyed a friendly ship to convince her pursuers that she was on their side. The vessel she sank had onboard the king of Calyndos, who died in the water. Another early casualty at the start of the battle was Ariabignes, a brother of Xerxes and the admiral leading the Phoenician fleet, whose death caused a lot of panic and loss of morale among the Persian navy. Diodorus gives a lot of credit to the Athenians for the role they played in the victory, which is not surprising considering they accounted for over half of the entire Greek fleet.

Also noteworthy were the Megarians and the Aeginetans, who were considered the best seamen after the Athenians and alone formed the right wing of the Greek forces. The location of the battle also played an important role; the passage inside the Strait of Salamis was too narrow for the advancing Persian line, which had to withdraw ships and reorganize mid-battle, leading to the general chaos and confusion that ended in their downfall.

This shocking upset forced Xerxes to completely reconsider his next move