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Xerxes I
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Bas-relief detail of Xerxes I wearing a robe and crown, holding a flower, from the north courtyard of the treasury at Persepolis, now in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran. Stone ruins of Xerxes Palace in Persepolis, Iran, featuring tall doorways and columns with carved details under a clear blue sky. Persian cuneiform from the Xerxes inscription at Persepolis Gustave Doré: illustration of Esther and Ahasuerus
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Bas-relief detail of Xerxes I wearing a robe and crown, holding a flower, from the north courtyard of the treasury at Persepolis, now in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran.
Xerxes I summary
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Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)
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Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Bas-relief detail of Xerxes I wearing a robe and crown, holding a flower, from the north courtyard of the treasury at Persepolis, now in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran.
Xerxes I, detail of a bas-relief of the north courtyard in the Treasury of Persepolis, late 6th–early 5th century bce; in the Archaeological Museum, Tehran

Xerxes I

king of Persia
Also known as: Ahasuerus, Khshayarsha, Xerxes the Great
Written by
Jean-Louis Huot
Professor of Oriental Archaeology, University of Paris I. Author of Iran.
Jean-Louis Huot
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Xerxes I (born c. 519 bce—died 465, Persepolis, Iran) was a Persian king (486–465 bce), the son and successor of Darius I. He is best known for his massive invasion of Greece from across the Hellespont (480 bce), a campaign marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. His ultimate defeat spelled the beginning of the decline of the Achaemenid Empire. Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus; he...

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