Biography of Xerxes

Born in c. 519 BC, of the p arnts powerfulness Darius and his married woman Atossa came Xerxes. He was elevated in the lavish opulence of an east court and became the designated heir to his brings skunk in which he was to direct ever soywhere the superior empire of his condemnation for 21 years. The Iranian Empire. He was non the oldest of Darius countersigns but hush became the heir all over his oldest associate Artabazanes. on that point were two of import reasons for this, His mother Atossa was the daughter of the great Cyrus reservation Xerxes his grandson. t totallyy to Herodotus Atossa would look at used her ferment to get her son on the thr whizz. Herodotus halt 7 section-3. Xerxes stated superior seize to the throne for the same reasons. S opusan queer Demaratus who was exiled from Sparta and in the Persian court at the time, suggested that they use the Spartan custom to elect a queer. That is that the son who is born head start while the king sits on the throne will be the heir no matter how legion(predicate) sons in that respect were earlier the king became king Herodotus nurse 7 section-3.This made Xerxes the rightful heir how ever he describes his accession himself on limestone knowledge ableness block at Persepolis My yield was Darius Darius father was Hystaspes by name Hystaspes father was Arsames by name saith Xerxes the King Other sons of Darius there were, (but)- thus unto Ahura-Mazda was the desire- Darius my father made me the greatest after himself. When my father Darius went a expression from the throne, by will of Ahura-Mazda I became king on my fathers throne. So to help legitimise his train to the throne, Xerxes uses Ahura-Mazda.In a nonher inscription he livelihoods himself by saying I am Xerxes, the great king, king of king, king of lands containing humannessy men, king in this great dry land far and wide, son of Darius the king, an Achaemid, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, of Aryan seed. Here he emphasises that he an Achaemenid to agree weight on his claim to the throne. According to A. T. Olmstead, Xerxes gained administrative welcome by living in the imperial Babylonian palace and cosmosness able to rule Babylon. though there is non enough try out to support this. nearly historians say that Darius and Xerxes shared co-regency, but there is not enough evidence to support this either. The evidence we do have on his background and early life sooner he became king is that his father was a retriever in the god Ahura Mazda and wherefore a follower of Zoastrianism. We know that Xerxes carried this on. As far as we know the that real number education consort to Herodotus that Persian boys were taught was to Ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth Herodotus deem 1 pg. 137.The most important and hearty things in Xerxes life that contributed to his as direct was being the grandson of the greatest king Persia had seen and his mother being that kings da ughter and able to use her influence. Xerxes became the king of the Persian Empire in 485BC. In his 25 years of overshadow he achieved some things. He was certainly not a lazy ruler and her turn out this in the early years of his reign with the swift crushing of the Babylonian and Egyptian revolts. Even as a rude(a) king he portrayed traits of a strong and strict monarch. He sent an army against the Egyptian rebels and decisively rugged them. Herodotus book 7 section-7.The most celebrated expedition Xerxes was conducted as his attempt to engage Greece. This is seen to most mass as a failure as the Greeks defeated him. Though it can also be looked upon as an achievement because although he failed to encompass the replete(p) country into his empire he still managed to destroy Athens, which was one of his main priorities in the first place. I will not rest until I have taken Athens and burnt it to the ground, in punish for the injury in which the Athenians without provocati on did to me and my Father Herodotus book 7 section-8-b.So his expiry of Athens can be looked upon as an achievement. Xerxes was by no means a poor military conductor as he memorializes good management and organisational skills in the way he amasses and upholds his army. He had tricky and careful planning when it came to invading and according to Cameron and Lawless, Xerxes ext finish his empire into Thrace and Macedonia as healthful as adding territory from distant east provinces page 99. His achievements dont just center on on warlike activities.His building programs at Persepolis and some closer to home show that his ambitions did not just consist of victorious land. He thought expanding his empire was important but so to was internal development. King Darius my father construct and order to be built much(prenominal) good construction. By the favour of Ahura mazda I added to that construction and built further (buildings). Cameron and Lawless, pg 181. Xerxes began bu ilding almost rightful(a) after he ascended the throne, but the volume of his constructions were done in the last iii years of his reign.Some of the buildings consist of the Apadana, which was an reference hall in the Persian august palace. It was started by Darius and finished by Xerxes. serail was Xerxes palace that he built for himself The telephone exchange Building was another construction ordered by Xerxes Throne Hall or other wise known as The Hall of 100 Columns, was believed to have been started by Xerxes and finished by Artaxerxes Palace H was another incomplete building believed to have been stared by Xerxes and incomplete inscriptions suggest that it whitethorn have been finished by Artaxerxes.These are just a few examples of the achievements this man completed in his life. It is clear that he was a serious ruler who had many ambitions in his life. The love life of Xerxes is a complicated subject to find evidence on. Herodotus mentions him having only one wife nam ed Amestris and the data on her is extremely little. Her father was in all probability Otanes who was a Persian nobleman and one of the seven conspirators who helped Darius become King. Further look into uncovers the stage of Esther and pouffe Vashti.There is much information on the story of Esther and poof Vashti then there is on Amestris. The story of Esther and Vashti is also more probable to be mythology then real history, as a lot of the information doesnt add up. Herodotus neither mentions Esther or Vashti in his histories and he is our main source to this period in time. The story of Esther is a book in the bible and is where the Judaic celebration of Purim comes from. According to the story of Esther, King Xerxes was banqueting with all his friend and he was boasting approximately how he had the finest of everything.Then he called for his wife, Queen Vashti, and told her to walk around in apparent movement of his guests wearing nothing but her summit meeting becau se he believed she was the most beautiful cleaning woman and he wanted to show everyone. Vashti was greatly insulted and refused so she was deposed. A beauty skirmish was held for Xerxes to select a new wife and he chose a young young lady called Esther who he apparently fell straight in love with. Esthers real name was Hadassah but she changed it to hide her Jewish identity.Then with the help of her influence on Xerxes and her cousin Mordecai she was ale to save the Jewish people from slaughter. This story his been questioned by many scholars and historians and is believed to be mythical. Though there isnt much mentioned on Amestris, from the main story she takes part in we are able to mankind together kinda a get wind of her. Amestris wove a wonderful shawl as a present for her husband Xerxes. He gave it to his brothers daughter Artaynte with whom he had had an fight with.When Amestris discovered this betrayal she was furious and at present blamed Artayntes mother and had her viciously mutilated. Xerxes brother then beside himself plotted a rebellion against Xerxes and Xerxes had him killed. From this story we can already gather that Amestris was a jealous and not so nice woman who held quite a bit of power over Xerxes, As she wasnt punished for what she did. There is another story of Amestris that leads us to believe she wasnt that good a woman. A custom of Persia was burying people animatedAmestris in her old age did it to fourteen Persian boys of distinguished families, by way of a present which she hoped the god of the low world would except instead of herself Herodotus book 7 section-114. In 465BC Xerxes was found murder in his bedchambers. According to Cameron and Lawless, specific exposit on the death of Xerxes are unknown. It suggests that Artabanus, the air force officer of the palace guards murdered him with the help of Aspamitres, a court eunuch pg. 100. Therefore Xerxes ended his reign of the Persian Empire as a victim of palace fede ration and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes.