Xerxes I

Xerxes I was Achaemenid king of Persia from 486 to 465 BCE. He led a major invasion of Greece and expanded the royal complex at Persepolis.

Second Persian invasion of Greece: The Achaemenid campaign against Greece in 480–479 BCE, led by Xerxes I. This campaign became the defining military episode of Xerxes’ reign.
Hellespont: The narrow strait, now called the Dardanelles, connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Xerxes’ army crossed it into Europe on a bridge of boats.
Darius I: Achaemenid king of Persia from 522 to 486 BCE who reorganized the empire and expanded its territory. Xerxes succeeded his father and continued his unfinished campaign against Greece.
Herodotus: A Greek historian of the fifth century BCE whose Histories recount the Persian Wars. His narrative is the fullest surviving account of Xerxes’ invasion, though written from a Greek perspective.
Battle of Plataea: A 479 BCE battle in which a Greek alliance defeated the Persian army in Greece. The defeat ended Xerxes’ invasion and forced the remaining Persian army to retreat.
Battle of Thermopylae: A 480 BCE battle in which Persian forces defeated a Greek force defending a narrow pass. The battle marked the Persian army’s advance into central Greece.
Persian pontoon bridges over the Hellespont: Two bridges of boats built across the Hellespont for Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. They enabled the land army’s crossing and became a famous episode in Greek accounts.
Achaemenid dynasty: The Persian ruling house founded by Cyrus the Great that governed the Achaemenid Empire. Xerxes’ kingship rested on his position within this dynasty.
Aeschylus: An Athenian tragedian whose surviving play The Persians depicts the aftermath of Xerxes’ defeat. His drama offers a near-contemporary Greek portrayal of the king and his campaign.
Delian League: An alliance led by Athens, founded in 478 BCE to oppose Persia and later used to build Athenian power. The Persian threat after Xerxes’ invasion helped spur the league’s formation.

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