Xerxes I He was not Darius’ oldest son; his oldest son was Artabazanes, but Xerxes was preferred by Darius. The father was Darius I and mother was Darius’ sister Atossa. He reigned 486-465 BCE. He was 35 years old when he assumed the throne, but he had already governed Babylonia for quite some time. He suppressed the revolt in Egypt. Xerxes broke the policy Cyrus and his father lived by, like ruling the outer cities lightly and not being an expansionist. He ruled ruthlessly and ignored Egyptian form of rule, and he imposed his will on Egyptian rebels, Persian style. There was a major revolt in Babylon (482 BCE) which delayed the invasion of Greece even more than it had already been delayed.
His New Message Babylon’s fortresses and temples were pillaged and destroyed as well as the statue of Marduk. Xerxes wanted to send the message that he would never take the hand of the Babylonian god. He abandoned the titles of King of Babylon and of Egypt, and he only kept the titles of King of Persia and of the Medes. It is unclear whether or not her was a Zoroastrian or that he practiced the Achaemenid religion
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Battles
481-480 BCE he lead a sea invasion towards Greece. Persia took northern Greece. Then they marched into Athenes. They lost the Battle of Salamis. Xerxes had to go back to Persia, being away for so long, and left his half-brother Mardonius in charge of the operations. The end of the invasion was the Battle of Plataea, the fall of Thebes. Persians lost naval forces a Mycale 479 BCE. When Mardonius died their leaderless forces became unorganized and a lot less disciplined. When the Delian League and the Athenian imperialism rose up, and Xerxes lost interest and stayed in the city. The intrigues of Harem lead to the assassination of Xerxes I.