Xerxes
1000 Classical Characters: Son and successor of Darius on the throne of Persia. He entered Greece with an immense army, which was checked at Thermopylae by the valor of three hundred Spartans under King Leonidas , who for three successive days successfully opposed the enormous forces of Xerxes, and were at last slaughtered. From this period the fortunes of Xerxes waned. His fleet being defeated at Salamis , and mortified with ill-success, he hastened to Persia, where he gave himself up to debauchery, and was murdered in the twenty-first year of his reign, about 464 years before the Christian era. 2026 Editor's Note: Xerxes was assassinated in 465 BC by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard, along with his heir Darius. He was succeeded by his third son, Artaxerxes I. (Ed: BR 2026-06-26)
Aiton's Encyclopedia: 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
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