Xerxes

zerks'eez (519-465 B. C.), a king of Persia. He was the son of Darius. He ascended the throne in 485. He is the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. In 480 B. C. he invaded Greece with the greatest army of antiquity. The historians of the day declare that it contained 1,000,000 men. He crossed the Hellespont in 480 B. C. by means of a bridge of boats, forced the pass of Thermopylae, and burned Athens. He lost the battle of Salamis and fled back to Persia, lest his retreat should be cut off by the destruction of his bridge. See Thermopylae; Salamis; Hellespont