When was ahasuerus king of persia

After the defeat, Xerxes took the majority of his remaining forces back to Persia. He believed that burning Athens had been victory enough, and left his general and brother-in-law Mardonius to continue the subjugation of Greece.

Around the same time, a third naval battle at Mycale destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet. In order to launch his invasion of Greece, King Xerxes planned to cross the Hellespont. Known in modern times as the Dardanelles Strait, this pivotal channel guards the gap between mainland Asia and the Gallipoli Peninsula. Xerxes commissioned a series of flax and papyrus pontoons to be built across the Hellespont, which would allow his vast army to cross.

However, the water proved a fickle beast, and a storm destroyed the pontoons. Convinced that the water had conspired against him, Xerxes decreed that the Hellespont should be punished for its defiance.

He ordered the sea to receive three hundred lashes and also dropped a pair of shackles into the water. According to Herodotus , Xerxes then had the first engineering crew beheaded.

The next team had more success, and the Persian army finally crossed the Hellespont. Herodotus claimed that Xerxes transferred five million men across the bridges, a task spanning seven days. However, modern historians believe this was wildly exaggerated for theatrics.

The modern estimate is that Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with around , troops. To build his army for the Greek invasion, King Xerxes enforced conscription throughout his empire. Among those conscripted were the five sons of Pythias, a Lydian governor. Pythias requested that his eldest son be allowed to remain as his heir. Xerxes took offense, believing that Pythias doubted the success of the invasion.

Xerxes I was also reported to be a womanizer. He pursued the wife of his brother, Masistes, but failed to woo her. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially Thessaly ,Thebes and Argos.

A large fleet and a numerous army some have claimed that there were over 2,, were gathered. In the spring of Xerxes set out from Sardis. At first Xerxes was victorious everywhere. The Greek fleet was beaten at Artemisium ,Thermopylae stormed, Athens conquered, the Greeks driven back to their last line of defence at the Isthmus of Corinth and in the Bay of Salamis. But Xerxes was induced by the astute message of Themistocles against the advice of Artemisia of Halicarnassus to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, instead of sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armament.

The Battle of Salamis September 28 , decided the war. Having lost his communication by sea with Asia , Xerxes was forced to retire to Sardis; the army which he left in Greece under Mardonius was in beaten at Plataea. The defeat of the Persians at Mycale roused the Greek cities of Asia. Of the later years of Xerxes little is known. He sent out Satapes to attempt the circumnavigation of Africa , but the victory of the Greeks threw the empire into a state of slow apathy, from which it could not rise again.

The king himself became involved in intrigues of the harem and was much dependent upon courtiers and eunuchs. The Persians retreated, and Xerxes took a ship for Asia Minor, leaving his general and cousin Mardonius in charge.

The early years of his life, which had seemed to bear so much promise, now saw the full weakness of his character expressed in a fierce temper and in lack of self-control in his relations with women. Xerxes was roused from his lethargy and sent out an expedition to deal with the threat, but the Greeks were too strong, and the Persians abandoned their ships at Eurymedon.

The land battle that followed ended with the Greeks taking the Persian camp. Hij is geboren rond in of, Babylon. Hij werd gedoopt in to throne. Alternatief: Hij werd gedoopt in to throne. Hij is overleden rond in Babylon.

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