Xerxes I (c. 519–465 BC)

Achaemenid king of Persia 486–465 BC, the son and successor of Darius (I) the Great. He suppressed Babylonian revolts in 484 and 482, then in 480, at the head of a great army supported by a fleet, he crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) on bridges of boats and marched through Thrace into Greece. He occupied Athens, but the Persian fleet was defeated at Salamis and Xerxes was forced to retreat. His general Mardonius remained behind, but was defeated by the Greeks at Plataea in 479 BC.

As the Persian survivors evacuated Greece after their defeat at Plataea, the Greek allies followed up their success, defeating Persian forces in Ionia at Mykale, and liberating Thrace and Ionia. About 466 a new Persian fleet was defeated by the Greeks at Eurymedon. Xerxes had brought disaster to Persia, and was murdered soon afterwards in a court intrigue.