Xerxes

Xerxes (about 519-465 bc), Emperor of Persia.

Xerxes was the son of Darius the Great.

Darius was defeated by the people of Athens in the Battle of Marathon in 490 bc and planned to invade Greece again. He died before he could do so but Xerxes carried on with his plans.

In 480 bc he reached Athens with an army of more than 40,000 men and a fleet of 500 ships. He found the city empty. Men, women and children had all gone.

The warriors of Athens were waiting for the Persians aboard a fleet of ships. A sea battle took place in a narrow strait between Athens and the isle of Salamis. Xerxes watched it from the island, sitting on an ivory throne. Beside him stood a slave holding a golden umbrella over the Emperor's head.

In the battle, the Persians were defeated and Xerxes went back to present-day Turkey. The following year his army was again defeated and he gave up the idea of conquering Greece.

See History of Xerxes the Great: Makers of History ~ Jacob Abbott