Xerxes is the Persian king. Military History: Xerxes – Persian Invading Army Persia Xerxes

Persian king Xerxes I (born around 519 BC - death in 465 BC) King of the Achaemenid state (486 BC). He led the Persian campaign in Greece (480–479 BC), which ended in defeat and marked the end of the first stage.

After the death of Darius I Hystaspes, his son, Xerxes I, ascended the Achaemenid throne. The new king of kings immediately faced military problems. The huge state was restless. Some of the provinces went out of control. 484 BC e. The Persian king Xerxes was forced to go to pacify rebellious Egypt. Then news came of the uprising in Babylon. The Persian army invaded Mesopotamia, destroyed fortifications, plundered temples and destroyed the main shrine of the Babylonians - the statue of the god Marduk.

The successful pacification of the rebellious may have turned Xerxes's head, and he began to think about seizing new territories. Xerxes fully inherited his father's hatred of the Greeks. But, remembering Darius’s failures and being very cautious, he did not rush. The King of Kings thought for a long time, and his entourage was perplexed: they were convinced that small Hellas, on whose territory there were many city-states, would not be able to withstand the power of the huge Persian army.

In the end, the king called those close to him for advice. He outlined to them his plans for the construction of a huge pontoon bridge across the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles). The Persian king Xerxes intended not only to fulfill his father’s behest and conquer Greece. He intended to turn all states into one, that is, to achieve world domination. The military leaders could not help but support Xerxes’ idea. In the eastern despotism, which was the Achaemenid state, it was not customary to contradict the ruler. Those who had their own opinion could easily say goodbye not only to their position, but also to their heads.

Preparations for the campaign continued for four years. Finally, the titanic work of constructing the bridge was completed. Persian troops were already ready to cross into Europe. However, a terrible storm destroyed the gigantic structure. Then the king ordered to cut off the heads of the builders, among whom the overwhelming majority were Phoenicians and Egyptians subject to the Persians. In addition, by order of the formidable ruler, the strait was cut out with a whip, and shackles were thrown into the sea. At that distant time, people still animated natural objects, and the king sincerely believed that the rebellious strait, after punishment, would feel the full force of the wrath of the great Xerxes.

The bridge was rebuilt. In addition to the fact that ships could now safely bypass the dangerous place in the strait, a canal was dug. To do this, they dug up a whole mountain. The Persian king Xerxes had plenty of human resources: 20 satrapies-provinces regularly supplied labor.

480 BC e., August - the troops safely crossed to Europe. For 7 days and nights, the troops marched across the bridge without stopping. Persians, Assyrians, Parthians, Khorezmians, Sogdians, Bactrians, Indians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Thracians, Libyans, Phrygians, Cappadocians, inhabitants of the Caucasus - this is an incomplete list of peoples who were part of Xerxes' army.

According to Herodotus, in the army of Xerxes there were 1 million 700 thousand infantry, 80 thousand horsemen and 20 thousand camels, auxiliary troops. The total number of warriors, in his opinion, reached more than five million people. In reality, according to scientists, the number of troops did not exceed 100 thousand, but even this figure at that time could be considered huge. In addition, the ground forces were supported by a fleet of 700–800 ships.

Xerxes had no doubt about victory. Well, what could the Greeks oppose to his military might? Smiling smugly, he declared: “In my army, everyone is under the control of one person. The whip will drive them into battle, the fear of me will make them brave. If I command, everyone will do the impossible. Are the Greeks, who talk about freedom, capable of this? However, it was precisely this desire for freedom that helped the Hellenes survive the brutal struggle with the most powerful empire of that time.

Having entered the land of Hellas, the king first of all tried to ensure that news of his progress reached the Greek cities as quickly as possible. For this purpose, the first Greek spies who were caught were not executed, but were released, showing the army and fleet. Ambassadors were sent to the policies demanding “land and water.” But the Persian king did not send anyone to the hated Athens and Sparta, making it clear to their inhabitants that there would be no mercy for them. But Xerxes’ expectations were not justified: only Thessaly and Boeotia agreed to recognize his power. The rest began to prepare to fight back.

Athenian strategist Themistocles, elected in 482 BC. e., in a short time was able to create a powerful fleet. He, as Plutarch wrote, “put an end to the internecine wars in Hellas and reconciled the individual states among themselves, convincing them to put aside hostility in view of the war with Persia.”

According to the Allied plan, they decided to give battle to the enemy on land and at sea. 300 triremes were sent to Cape Artemisia on the coast of Euboea, and the army led by them moved to Thessaly. Here, in the Thermopylae gorge, the Greeks expected a formidable enemy.

Xerxes waited 4 days for news of the naval battle. When it became known that half of his fleet had been scattered by a storm, and the rest had suffered heavy losses and could not break through to the coast, the king sent scouts to find out what the Greeks were doing. He hoped that they, seeing the superiority of the enemy, would retreat. However, the Greeks stubbornly remained in place. Then Xerxes moved his army. Sitting in a chair, he watched the progress from the top of the mountain. The Greeks continued to stand. The “immortals” were thrown into battle, but they too could not achieve success.

It became clear that the position of the Greeks was extremely advantageous, and their courage had no limits. Perhaps the Persian king Xerxes would have had to look for another way, but among the local residents there was a traitor who, for a reward, showed the Persians a bypass path. The defenders of the gorge noticed that they were surrounded. The Greek commander, King Leonidas, released the allies. 300 Spartans, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians remained with him. After a fierce battle, they all died. The enraged Xerxes ordered the body of Leonidas to be found. He was beheaded and his head was impaled on a spear.

The Persian army advanced to Athens. Themistocles convinced his fellow citizens to leave the city. He was sure that the Athenians would take revenge not on land, but on the sea. But not all allies agreed with the opinion of their commander. Endless bickering began. Then the strategist sent his slave to Xerxes, who again waited, hoping for disagreements in the enemy camp. The slave told Xerxes that the Hellenes were going to retreat at night, and Themistocles wanted to go over to the side of the Persians and advised them to launch an offensive right away at night.

Xerxes showed unforgivable gullibility. Apparently, he was so confident in his own strength that he did not even think about a possible trap. The Persian king ordered the fleet to close all exits from the Strait of Salamis so that not a single enemy ship could escape from it. Themistocles wanted to achieve this: now the ships of the Spartans and Corinthians could not leave the Athenians. It was decided to give battle.

(480 BC) 1000 Persian ships and 180 Greek ships took part. On the shore, under a gilded canopy, the Persian king Xerxes sat on a throne, watching the progress of the battle. Nearby were courtiers and scribes who were supposed to describe the great victory of the Persians. But the clumsy Persian ships, forced to operate in a narrow strait, were greatly inferior to the fast Greek triremes. The latter went to ram and easily dodged the enemy.

As a result, most of Xerxes' fleet was sunk. The bulk of the Persians who could not swim drowned. Those who reached the shore were destroyed by Greek infantry. Eventually the Persians fled. The surviving ships were destroyed by the inhabitants of Aegina, who ambushed them.

The remnants of the Persian army moved to the bridge over the Hellespont. Themistocles wanted to destroy it, but heeded the advice of the former strategist of Athens, Aristides. He believed that the trapped Persian soldiers would fight desperately and many Greeks would die.

They say that the king of kings returned home on a ship that was extremely crowded. During a strong storm, the helmsman turned to him: “Sir! We need to lighten the ship!” - and the king gave the order to his subjects to leave the ship. They themselves began to throw themselves overboard, where inevitable death awaited them, not knowing how to swim. Having safely reached the shore, Xerxes presented the helmsman with a gold ring for saving his life and immediately... ordered the savior’s head to be cut off for having killed so many Persians.

But not the entire Persian army left Hellas. By order of Xerxes, troops were left in Thessaly to spend the winter and continue the war in the spring. 479 BC e. - A major battle took place near the city of Plataea in Boeotia. The famous Persian commander Mardonius fell there, with whose death the Persians were finally broken and left the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The first stage of the Greco-Persian wars was finally completed.

Xerxes had to give up his dreams of world domination forever. His destiny was to exalt the capital of Persepolis. The construction of the palace, begun under Darius, was completed, and a new one was built, and the construction of the throne room of one hundred columns began.

Meanwhile, at court there was a tireless struggle for influence. The courtiers and even members of Xerxes' family never ceased to weave intrigues. Xerxes became increasingly suspicious. One day, when the queen reported that his brother was preparing an assassination attempt, the king ordered his entire family to be destroyed.

The courtiers especially could not count on the king’s pity. Apparently, because in the summer of 465 BC. e. Xerxes and his eldest son were killed by conspirators led by the minister Artabanus. Another son of the king, Artaxerxes I, ascended the throne, but the golden age of the Achaemenid dynasty passed into the past along with the warlike Persian king Xerxes I, who firmly entered history.

Participation in wars: Invasion of Greece. Internecine wars. Wars with the Sakas.
Participation in battles: Thermopylae. Salamis.

(Xerxes I of Persia) Persian king from the Achaemenid dynasty, son of Darius I

Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter Cyrus the Great, the first king of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I, who had six more sons, eventually chose Xerxes, perhaps on the grounds that he was born first when Darius himself became king (522). In 486 BC. Darius I, preparing a new campaign against Greece and intending to suppress the uprising in Egypt, died at the age of sixty-four. Xerxes ascended the throne in November

During the first years of his reign Xerxes was forced to strengthen his power and, above all, declared his loyalty to the moral and ethical principles previously formulated by his great father. In 484 BC. the king mercilessly suppressed the uprising in Egypt and subsequently treated this country as a conquered province. The next uprising (summer 484) occurred in Babylon; it was suppressed only by March 481 BC. e. After the city was taken by storm, the fortifications and city walls of Babylon were torn down, the main sanctuaries of the city were damaged, most of the priests were beheaded, and most importantly, the golden statue of the supreme god Marduk was taken to Persepolis and, probably, melted down into coins. It brought down Babylon In the position of one of the lower satrapies, the capital of the Babylonian kingdom, which was formally considered separate and part of the Persian Empire, lost its political significance.

In 483 BC. Xerxes officially ordered to begin all the necessary preparations for the campaign against the Greeks. So that the fleet does not fall victim to a storm, as happened in 492 BC. near Cape Athos, it was decided to dig a canal through a sandy isthmus in the eastern part of the Chalkidiki peninsula. On the Hellespont, near Abydos, two pontoon bridges about 1300 meters long were built. All this work took about three years. In addition, provisions were prepared and warehouses were established along the coast of Thrace and Macedonia. The company began in 481 BC, when a grandiose Persian army, led personally by the great king, left Cappadocia and, crossing the Halys, arrived through Lydia and Phrygia to the Hellespont. However, another storm destroyed both bridges, and the enraged Xerxes ordered to scourge the rebellious sea, and then plunge shackles into its waters. In the spring of 480 BC. The Persian army, having crossed the strait without encountering any resistance, moved through Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly. At Thermopylae August 11, 480 BC The Greeks and Persians met for the first time on land, while several battles had already taken place at sea (at Cape Artemisium). These battles showed Xerxes that conquering the Greeks would not be easy. Next battles - near Salamis, Micale And Platay forced the Persians to abandon their plans to conquer Greece. Xerxes himself, after the Battle of Salamis, was forced to hastily go east, because a new uprising broke out in Babylon.

Reign period Xerxes after the Greek company it is known much worse. The Greeks, who did not abandon their ideas for the liberation of Asia Minor, continued to expand the zone of military operations, but conflicts began again between the main participants Sparta and Athens, so the Persians received a respite. Recent Persian Conquerors - Athenian Themistocles and Spartan Pausanias- found themselves in disgrace and began to actively cooperate with the satraps Xerxes. Themistocles managed to escape to the Persians, and Pausanias, accused of treason, was sentenced to death and died of hunger in one of the sanctuaries. Military operations in the west of the Persian Empire were carried out with varying success, but in the east Xerxes pursued an enterprising aggressive policy: thus, for the first time, the Saka tribe of Dakhs, who lived east of the Caspian Sea, was conquered. Under Xerxes, large-scale construction took place in Susa, Persepolis, Van and other places. Despite external successes, the position of the Persian king was not strong in 465 BC. Xerxes, not without the machinations of his youngest son Artaxerxes, was stabbed to death by the eunuch Aspamitra and the commander of the royal guard Artabanus. Soon the remaining sons of Xerxes were killed, and the new great king became Artaxerxes I.

Ruled from 486 to 465. BC.

Xerxes retained the traditional title of the Achaemenid rulers - “king of countries, king of kings.” From the very beginning of his reign, he was engaged in suppressing uprisings. In Egypt, the revolt lasted two years, from 486 to 484. BC. After its suppression, Xerxes changed the manner of dealing with conquered peoples characteristic of his predecessors, and began to treat Egypt as a conquered territory. He ordered the confiscation of property from many churches. Many years after these events, the Egyptian priests called Xerxes nothing more than “that villain.”

In 484 BC. and again in 482 BC. The Babylonians rebelled. The siege of Babylon lasted several months and ended with severe reprisals. The city walls and other fortifications were torn down, the main temple was destroyed, some of the priests were executed, and a golden statue of Marduk weighing 20 kg was taken to Persepolis. Xerxes liquidated the Babylonian kingdom and turned it into an ordinary satrapy, and Babylon ceased to exist as a holy city.

In 483 BC. Xerxes began preparing for a campaign against Greece and entered into an agreement with Carthage, agreeing on a simultaneous attack. After careful preparation, the king in the spring of 480 BC. resumed the war with the Greeks and set out on a campaign at the head of a huge army. All satrapies sent their contingents. 29 senior Persian military leaders took part in the campaign, including 8 brothers of Xerxes himself. Herodotus, Ctesias and other ancient authors give absurd figures for the size of Xerxes' army (for Herodotus - more than 2 million). Modern historians talk about 50-75 thousand. The first military clash took place at Thermopylae. Here, defending the passage, 300 Spartans, led by King Leonidas, died. Xerxes lost two of his brothers and many noble Persians in this battle.

Having penetrated central Greece, the Persians, having captured Attica, plundered and burned Athens, abandoned by its inhabitants. On September 28, 480, a naval battle took place in the Gulf of Salamis. 400 Greek ships and 650 Persian ships took part in it. This was the first major defeat for the Persian fleet. Xerxes accompanied the army and saw from the throne built on the mainland the defeat of his fleet at Salamis, after which he hastily began to withdraw the army to northern Greece and Thrace, from where he crossed to Asia and returned to Susa. He executed Phoenician captains, accusing them of cowardice during the Battle of Salamis. In 479 BC. the Persians were defeated at Plataea and Mycale. Mardonius, the general of Xerxes, died.

Xerxes, busy suppressing uprisings within the country, made no further attempts to conquer Greece. Under Xerxes, satrap rebellions begin. His own brother Macista around 478 BC. from Susa he fled to his satrapy Bactria to raise an uprising, but was killed on the way. By the end of his reign, unrest occurred throughout the country, famine reigned in Persia, and bread prices rose sharply. Xerxes resorted to the usual means of calming the masses: he removed about 100 high-ranking officials from their posts.

In 465 BC. he was killed at night in his bedroom by conspirators led by Artabanus, the chief of his bodyguards. His youngest son Artaxerxes, the future king of Persia, most likely participated in the conspiracy. In Babylon, the murder of Xerxes was considered a punishment of the god Marduk for the destruction of his temple, and in Egypt - divine punishment for the confiscation of temple lands. Xerxes was engaged in intensive construction in his capitals, Persepolis and Susa. He carried out a religious reform that boiled down to the destruction of the cults of local deities. Ancient tradition portrays him as a cruel and extravagant ruler, capable of ordering to “carve out the sea,” but in Persian documents, on the contrary, he appears as a wise statesman and an experienced warrior.

Historical sources:

Aeschylus. Persians;

Herodotus. Story. VII-IX;

Diodorus. Historical library. XI.

Illustrations:

1. Bas-relief depicting Xerxes I from the royal palace in Persepolis. V century BC.;

2. The alleged tomb of Xerxes I in the rocks of Naqshe-Rustam;

3. Cuneiform inscription of Xerxes on the southern slope of the Van rock. Now the territory of eastern Turkey;

4. Darius I and his son and heir Xerxes. Relief detail of a treasury from Persepolis. V century BC. Archaeological Museum. Tehran.

Plan
Introduction
1 Beginning of the reign. Conquest of the rebel peoples
1.1 Revolt in Egypt
1.2 Babylonian revolts

2 Trek to Greece
2.1 Preparing for the trip
2.2 The Greeks are preparing to fight back
2.3 Crossing the Hellespont
2.4 Battle of Thermopylae
2.5 Fleet actions
2.6 Sack of Attica
2.7 Sea battle off the island of Salamis
2.8 The Greeks prepare for the decisive battle
2.9 Battle of Plataea

3 Continuation of military operations on Persian territory
3.1 Battle of Mycale
3.2 Siege of Sesta
3.3 Greeks form the Delian Maritime League
3.4 Battle of Eurymedon

4 The situation in the State
5 Murder of Xerxes as a result of conspiracy
6 Wives and children
Bibliography

Introduction

Xerxes I (Old Persian) Khshayarshan, which means "King of Heroes" or "A Hero Among Kings") - Persian king, reigned in 486 - 465 BC. e., from the Achaemenid dynasty.

The son of Darius I and Atossa ascended the throne in November 486 BC. e. aged about 36 years. He was lethargic, narrow-minded, spineless, easily subject to the influence of others, but was distinguished by self-confidence and vanity.

1. Beginning of the reign. Conquest of the rebel peoples

1.1. Revolt in Egypt

In January 484 BC. e. Xerxes managed to suppress the uprising in Egypt, which began during his father’s lifetime. Egypt was subjected to merciless reprisals, the property of many temples was confiscated. In place of Ferendat, who apparently died during the uprising, Xerxes appointed his brother Achaemen as satrap of Egypt. According to Herodotus, Egypt was subjected to an even greater yoke than before. From now on, the participation of indigenous people in the government of the country is even more limited - they are allowed only to lower positions; and Xerxes and subsequent Persian kings do not deign to pay attention to the Egyptian gods. True, in the Hammamat quarries the name of Xerxes is inscribed in hieroglyphs, but this king mined the material not for Egyptian temples, but for his buildings in Persia, delivering it by sea. Unlike his predecessors, Xerxes and the kings who followed him did not consider it necessary to accept pharaonic titles - only their Persian names written in hieroglyphs in cartouches have reached us.

1.2. Babylonian revolts

Then it was necessary to pacify Babylon, which again decided to revolt. Ctesias reports that this rebellion broke out early in the reign and was caused by the blasphemous discovery of the tomb of a certain Belitanus, and then pacified by Megabyzus, the son-in-law of Xerxes and the father of Zopyrus. Strabo, Arrian, and Diodorus also speak about the sacrileges of Xerxes in the Babylonian temples, and Arrian dates them to the time after Xerxes’ return from Greece.

In all likelihood there were several uprisings. The Babylonians initially rebelled under the leadership of Belshimanni. It is possible that this uprising began under Darius, under the influence of the Persian defeat at Marathon. The rebels captured, in addition to Babylon, the cities of Borsippa and Dilbat. In two cuneiform documents found in Borsippa, dated "the beginning of the reign of Bel-shimanni, king of Babylon and the Lands." The witnesses who signed this contract are the same as those found on documents from the second half of the reign of Darius and the first year of Xerxes. Obviously, Belshimanni rebelled against Darius and took the daring title of “King of the Countries,” which the False Buchadnezzars had not yet encroached upon. But two weeks later in July 484 BC. e. this uprising was suppressed.

In August 482 BC. e. The Babylonians rebelled again. Now the rebellion was led by Shamash-eriba. This uprising is evidenced by one Babylonian document - a contract of the Egibi merchant bank, dated 22 Tashrit (October 26), the year of the accession to the reign of Shamash-erib, “King of Babylon and the Countries”, and the witnesses to the transaction are the same as those mentioned in documents from the time of Darius; the son of one of them is mentioned already under the 1st year of Xerxes. In any case, the uprising did not last long - this is clear from the presence of one document from the “beginning of the reign.” The rebels achieved major successes, capturing Babylon, Borsippa, Dilbat and other cities, since most of the military garrisons stationed in Babylon were transported to Asia Minor to participate in the upcoming campaign against Greece. The suppression of the uprising was entrusted to Xerxes' son-in-law Megabyzus. The siege of Babylon lasted several months and apparently ended in March 481 BC. e. severe punishment. City and other fortifications were razed. Even the course of the river was diverted and the Euphrates, at least for a time, separated the residential part of the city from its sanctuaries. Some of the priests were executed, the main temple of Esagila and the ziggurat of Etemenanki were also badly damaged.

Herodotus also does not know anything about him, but he reports, without suspecting it, the interesting information that Xerxes took away from the temple of Bel (Esagila) a colossal, weighing 20 talents (approx. 600 kg), golden statue of the god, killing the guarding priest. Of course, the Greek historian believed that the reason was greed. In fact, as we know, it is deeper. The pacification of the riot entailed extreme measures: the destruction of the temple and the removal of many items from the treasury of this temple to Persepolis; The golden statue of the god Marduk was also sent there, where it was probably melted down. Thus, Xerxes not only actually, but also formally liquidated the Babylonian kingdom, turning it into an ordinary satrapy. By depriving Babylon of the statue of Marduk, Xerxes made the appearance of kings in it impossible. After all, the applicant had to receive royal power “from the hands” of God. Since then, the title of the king on Babylonian documents has also changed: on those dated “the year of accession” Xerxes is also called “King of Babylon, King of the Countries”; on those originating from the first four years of his reign - “the king of Persia and Media, the king of Babylon and the Countries”; finally, from the 5th year (480 - 479) the designation “king of the countries” begins, which remains with all the successors of Xerxes.

2. Trip to Greece

2.1. Preparing for the hike

By the end of the 80s, the situation in Persia had stabilized, and Xerxes began to energetically prepare for a new campaign against Greece. For several years, work was carried out to build a canal (12 stadia long, more than 2 km) across the isthmus of Chalkidiki in order to avoid bypassing Cape Athos, where Mardonius's fleet was lost. A bridge was also built across the Strymon River. Numerous workers from Asia and the adjacent coast were brought to the construction. Food warehouses were created along the coast of Thrace, and two pontoon bridges, 7 stadia long (about 1300 m) each, were thrown across the Hellespont. Diplomatic preparations for the campaign were also carried out; Ambassadors and agents of Xerxes were sent to various states of Balkan Greece and even to Carthage, which was supposed to use military action to distract the Greeks of Sicily from participating in the war with Persia. Xerxes attracted prominent Greek fugitives who were at his palace to prepare the campaign. Argos and Thessaly submitted to Persia. In many Greek cities, not excluding Athens, there were strong pro-Persian groups.

2.2. The Greeks are preparing to fight back

But a number of Greek states were preparing for the fight. In 481 BC. e. A pan-Hellenic union was created with a center in Corinth, headed by Sparta. It was decided to meet the Persians on the border of Northern and Central Greece, at Thermopylae. The mountains in this place come close to the seashore, and the narrow passage was easy to defend. At the same time as the actions of the ground army, a fleet operation was planned near the island of Euboea, so that the Persians could not break through the Euripus Strait and end up in the rear of the Greeks. Since the position at Thermopylae was defensive, the Greeks decided to send a small part of the united Greek army there, approximately 6.5 thousand people in total, led by the Spartan king Leonidas I.

2.3. Crossing the Hellespont

In the summer of 480 BC. e. The Persian army, numbering, according to the research of modern historians, from 80 to 200 thousand soldiers (Herodotus gives absolutely fantastic figures of 1 million 700 thousand people) began to cross the Hellespont. A storm that came at this time swept away the pontoon bridges, and a number of Persian soldiers drowned in the sea. The enraged Xerxes ordered the sea to be whipped and chains thrown into it to pacify the raging elements, and the overseers of the work to have their heads cut off. The crossing lasted continuously for seven days. The further advance of the Persian army to Thermopylae passed without difficulty and in August 480 BC. e. The Persians approached the Thermopylae Gorge. By sea, the Persian army was accompanied by a strong fleet. In addition to the Persians, all the peoples under his control took part in the campaign of Xerxes: the Medes, Kissians, Hyrcanians, Babylonians, Bactrians, Sagartians, Sakas, Indians, Aryans, Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarii, Dadiks, Caspians, Sarangi, Pactians, Utii, Miki , Paricanians, Arabs, Ethiopians from Africa, Eastern Ethiopians (Gedrosians), Libyans, Paphlagonians, Lygians, Matienians, Mariandines, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Armenians, Lydians, Mysians, Bithynians, Pisidians, Kabalians, Milians, Moschians, Tibarenians, Macronians, Mossinians , Marys, Colchians, tribes from the Persian Gulf Islands. The following served in the fleet: Phoenicians, Syrians, Egyptians, Cypriots, Cilicians, Pamphylians, Lycians, Asian Dorians, Carians, Ionians, Aeolians, and inhabitants of the Hellespont.

2.4. Battle of Thermopylae

The position at Thermopylae made it possible for the Greeks to delay the advancing enemy for a long time, but the trouble was that in addition to passing through the gorge, another mountain road led to the south, known to local residents and, possibly, Persian intelligence. Leonidas, just in case, sent a detachment of 1000 Phocians there. When several attempts by the Persians to break through the Thermopylae Gorge were repulsed, a selected detachment, including the Persian guard, moved around along the mountain road; a traitor from the local residents volunteered to be a guide. Taken by surprise, the Phocians, under a hail of arrows, climbed to the top of the mountain and took up defense; the Persians, not paying any more attention to them, continued their march and went behind the Greeks. When Leonidas found out about what had happened, he released most of his detachment, and he himself, with the Spartans, Thespians and some other Greeks, remained in place to cover their retreat. Leonidas and everyone who remained with him died, but by delaying the Persian advance, they made it possible to mobilize the Greek forces, pulling them to the Isthmus and evacuate Attica.

Xerxes I

Relief of a Persian king (possibly Xerxes I) on the wall of the palace at Persepolis

Xerxes I (ancient Persian Khashāyārshā, which means “King of Heroes”; 521 or 519 - 465 BC) - Persian king, reigned in 485 - 464 BC. e., from the Achaemenid dynasty.
The son of Darius I and Atossa ascended the throne in November 486 BC. e. aged about 36 years. He was lethargic, narrow-minded, spineless, easily subject to the influence of others, but was distinguished by self-confidence and vanity.

Xerxes I

Revolt in Egypt

In January 484 BC. e. Xerxes managed to suppress the uprising in Egypt, which began during his father’s lifetime. Egypt was subjected to merciless reprisals, the property of many temples was confiscated. In place of Ferendat, who apparently died during the uprising, Xerxes appointed his brother Achaemen as satrap of Egypt. According to Herodotus, Egypt was subjected to an even greater yoke than before. From now on, the participation of indigenous people in the government of the country is even more limited - they are allowed only to lower positions; and Xerxes and subsequent Persian kings do not deign to pay attention to the Egyptian gods. True, in the Hammamat quarries the name of Xerxes is inscribed in hieroglyphs, but this king mined the material not for Egyptian temples, but for his buildings in Persia, delivering it by sea. Unlike his predecessors, Xerxes and the kings who followed him did not consider it necessary to accept pharaonic titles - only their Persian names written in hieroglyphs in cartouches have reached us.

Gate of Xerxes. Persepolis. Shiraz, Iran.

Palace of Xerxes

Babylonian revolts

Then it was necessary to pacify Babylon, which again decided to revolt. Ctesias reports that this rebellion broke out early in the reign and was caused by the blasphemous discovery of the tomb of a certain Belitanus, and then pacified by Megabyzus, the son-in-law of Xerxes and the father of Zopyrus. Strabo, Arrian, and Diodorus also speak about the sacrileges of Xerxes in the Babylonian temples, and Arrian dates them to the time after Xerxes’ return from Greece. In all likelihood there were several uprisings. The Babylonians initially rebelled under the leadership of Belshimanni. It is possible that this uprising began under Darius, under the influence of the Persian defeat at Marathon. The rebels captured, in addition to Babylon, the cities of Borsippa and Dilbat. In two cuneiform documents found in Borsippa, dated "the beginning of the reign of Bel-shimanni, king of Babylon and the Lands." The witnesses who signed this contract are the same as those found on documents from the second half of the reign of Darius and the first year of Xerxes. Obviously, Belshimanni rebelled against Darius and took the daring title of “King of the Countries,” which the False Buchadnezzars had not yet encroached upon. But two weeks later in July 484 BC. e. this uprising was suppressed.

In August 482 BC. e. The Babylonians rebelled again. Now the rebellion was led by Shamash-eriba. This uprising is evidenced by one Babylonian document - a contract of the Egibi merchant bank, dated 22 Tashrit (October 26), the year of the accession to the reign of Shamash-erib, “King of Babylon and the Countries”, and the witnesses to the transaction are the same as those mentioned in the documents of the times of Darius; the son of one of them is mentioned already under the 1st year of Xerxes. In any case, the uprising did not last long - this is already evident from the presence of one document from the “beginning of the reign.” The rebels achieved major successes, capturing Babylon, Borsippa, Dilbat and other cities, since most of the military garrisons stationed in Babylon were transported to Asia Minor to participate in the upcoming campaign against Greece. The suppression of the uprising was entrusted to Xerxes' son-in-law Megabyzus. The siege of Babylon lasted several months and apparently ended in March 481 BC. e. severe punishment. City and other fortifications were razed. Even the course of the river was diverted and the Euphrates, at least for a time, separated the residential part of the city from its sanctuaries. Some of the priests were executed, the main temple of Esagila and the ziggurat of Etemenanki were also badly damaged.

Herodotus also does not know anything about him, but he reports, without suspecting it, the interesting information that Xerxes took away from the temple of Bel (Esagila) a colossal, weighing 20 talents (approx. 600 kg), golden statue of the god, killing the guarding priest. Of course, the Greek historian believed that the reason was greed. In fact, as we know, it is deeper. The pacification of the riot entailed extreme measures: the destruction of the temple and the removal of many items from the treasury of this temple to Persepolis; The golden statue of the god Marduk was also sent there, where it was probably melted down. Thus, Xerxes not only actually, but also formally liquidated the Babylonian kingdom, turning it into an ordinary satrapy. By depriving Babylon of the statue of Marduk, Xerxes made the appearance of kings in it impossible. After all, the applicant had to receive royal power “from the hands” of God. Since then, the title of the king on Babylonian documents has also changed: on those dated “the year of accession” Xerxes is also called “King of Babylon, King of the Countries”; on those originating from the first four years of his reign - “the king of Persia and Media, the king of Babylon and the Countries”; finally, from the 5th year (480-479) the designation “king of the countries” begins, which remains with all the successors of Xerxes.

Trek to Greece

Preparing for the hike

Xerxes orders the sea to be hewn

By the end of the 80s, the situation in Persia had stabilized, and Xerxes began to energetically prepare for a new campaign against Greece. For several years, work was carried out to build a canal (12 stadia long, more than 2 km) across the isthmus to Chalkidiki, in order to avoid bypassing Cape Athos, where Mardonius' fleet was lost. A bridge was also built across the Strymon River. Numerous workers from Asia and the adjacent coast were brought to the construction. Food warehouses were created along the coast of Thrace, and two pontoon bridges, 7 stadia long (about 1300 m) each, were thrown across the Hellespont. Diplomatic preparations for the campaign were also carried out; Ambassadors and agents of Xerxes were sent to various states of Balkan Greece and even to Carthage, which was supposed to use military action to distract the Greeks of Sicily from participating in the war with Persia. Xerxes attracted prominent Greek fugitives who were at his palace to prepare the campaign. Argos and Thessaly submitted to Persia. In many Greek cities, not excluding Athens, there were strong pro-Persian groups.

The Greeks are preparing to fight back

Greek warriors from the Greco-Persian Wars (reconstruction). On the left is a Cretan slinger. On the right are hoplites, on the left the shield is equipped with a special curtain that protects from arrows.

But a number of Greek states were preparing for the fight. In 481 BC. e. A pan-Hellenic union was created with a center in Corinth, headed by Sparta. It was decided to meet the Persians on the border of Northern and Central Greece, at Thermopylae. The mountains in this place come close to the seashore, and the narrow passage was easy to defend. At the same time as the actions of the ground army, a fleet operation was planned near the island of Euboea, so that the Persians could not break through the Euripus Strait and end up in the rear of the Greeks. Since the position at Thermopylae was defensive, the Greeks decided to send a small part of the united Greek army there, approximately 6.5 thousand people in total, led by the Spartan king Leonidas I.

Crossing the Hellespont

Warriors of Xerxes' army.

From left to right: Hadleyan infantry formed the first rank of the Persian phalanx of archers; Babylonian archer; Assyrian infantryman. The warriors wore quilted jackets stuffed with horsehair - a characteristic type of eastern armor of that time.

Warriors of Xerxes' army from Asia Minor. On the left is a hoplite from Ionia, whose weapons are very reminiscent of the Greek ones, but he is wearing a soft quilted armor, widespread among Asian peoples (in this case, Greek cut); on the right is a Lydian hoplite in a bronze cuirass and a peculiar frame helmet.

Warriors of Xerxes' army. Reconstruction based on the description of Herodotus, archaeological finds and drawings on Greek vases. From left to right: Persian standard bearer, Armenian and Cappadocian warriors.

Warriors of Xerxes' army. Reconstruction based on the description of Herodotus and archaeological finds. From left to right: an Ethiopian warrior armed with a powerful bow, half of his body painted white; infantryman from Khorezm, Bactrian infantryman; Arian cavalryman.

In the summer of 480 BC. e. The Persian army, numbering, according to the research of modern historians, from 80 to 200 thousand soldiers (Herodotus gives absolutely fantastic figures of 1 million 700 thousand people) began to cross the Hellespont. A storm that came at this time swept away the pontoon bridges, and a number of Persian soldiers drowned in the sea. The enraged Xerxes ordered the sea to be whipped and chains thrown into it to pacify the raging elements, and the overseers of the work to be beheaded. The crossing lasted continuously for seven days. The further advance of the Persian army to Thermopylae passed without difficulty and in August 480 BC. e. The Persians approached the Thermopylae Gorge. By sea, the Persian army was accompanied by a strong fleet. In addition to the Persians, all the peoples under his control took part in the campaign of Xerxes: the Medes, Kissians, Hyrcanians, Babylonians, Bactrians, Sagartians, Sakas, Indians, Aryans, Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarii, Dadiks, Caspians, Sarangi, Pactians, Utii, Miki , Paricanians, Arabs, Ethiopians from Africa, Eastern Ethiopians (Gedrosians), Libyans, Paphlagonians, Lygians, Matienians, Mariandines, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Armenians, Lydians, Mysians, Bithynians, Pisidians, Kabalians, Milians, Moschians, Tibarenians, Macronians, Mossinians , Marys, Colchians, tribes from the Persian Gulf Islands. Fleet: Phoenicians, Syrians, Egyptians, Cypriots, Cilicians, Pamphylians, Lycians, Asian Dorians, Carians, Ionians, Aeolians, and inhabitants of the Hellespont.

Battle of Thermopylae

The position at Thermopylae made it possible for the Greeks to delay the advancing enemy for a long time, but the trouble was that in addition to passing through the gorge, another mountain road led to the south, known to local residents and, possibly, Persian intelligence. Leonidas, just in case, sent a detachment of 1000 Phocians there. When several attempts by the Persians to break through the Thermopylae Gorge were repulsed, a selected detachment, including the Persian guard, moved around along the mountain road; a traitor from the local residents volunteered to be a guide. Taken by surprise, the Phocians, under a hail of arrows, climbed to the top of the mountain and took up defense; the Persians, not paying any more attention to them, continued their march and went behind the Greeks. When Leonidas found out about what had happened, he released most of his detachment, and he himself, with the Spartans, Thespians and some other Greeks, remained in place to cover their retreat. Leonidas and everyone who remained with him died, but by delaying the Persian advance, they made it possible to mobilize the Greek forces, pulling them to the Isthmus and evacuate Attica.

Fleet actions

Simultaneously with the battle at Thermopylae, active fleet operations took place near the island of Euboea. The storm caused significant damage to the Persian fleet anchored off the poorly defended coast of Magnesia. Several hundred ships sank and many people died. During the passage of the Persian fleet from the coast of Asia Minor to the Euripus Strait, the Athenians captured 15 Persian ships that lagged behind the main forces. To cut off the Greeks' path to retreat, the Persians sent 200 ships along the eastern coast of the island of Euboea, but a sudden storm scattered this squadron; many ships sank. The clash of naval forces in the battle of Artemisium was fought with varying degrees of success. The forces of the parties were approximately equal, since the Persians were unable to deploy their entire fleet. Both sides suffered significant losses. Upon receiving news of the death of Leonidas’s detachment, the further presence of the Greek fleet here lost its meaning, and it retreated south to the Saronic Gulf.

Sack of Attica

Now the Persians could move unhindered to Attica. Boeotia submitted to the Persians, and Thebes subsequently provided them with active support. The Greek land army stood on the Isthmus, and Sparta insisted on creating a fortified defensive line here to protect the Peloponnese. The Athenian politician, creator of the Athenian fleet, Themistocles, believed that it was necessary to give the Persians a naval battle off the coast of Attica. It was undoubtedly not possible to defend Attica at that moment.
A few days after the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persian army entered the almost empty land of Attica. Some of the Athenians took refuge in the Acropolis and offered desperate resistance to the Persians. Apparently there were not so few of them, since 500 people were taken prisoner by the Persians. Athens was sacked, the temples of the Acropolis were destroyed, and some monuments were taken to Persia.

Sea battle off the island of Salamis

Naval battle of Salamis

After long debates at the Greek military council, a new proposal was adopted to give battle to the Persian fleet in the Strait of Salamis. September 28, 480 BC e. a decisive battle took place. At night, Persian ships surrounded the island of Salamis and blocked the Greek fleet's exit from the strait. At dawn the battle began. Xerxes personally observed the battle from a high place on the coast of Attica, from the other side, from the island of Salamis, the battle was vigilantly watched by women, old people and children of evacuated Attica, who would face slavery and death if the Greeks were defeated. The Persian ships that entered the strait did not have the opportunity to use their numerical superiority and maneuver, since they were pressed behind by their own ships. The Greeks could gradually bring into battle their reserves, which were stationed in the bay off the northwestern coast of Attica and were not noticed by the Persians at the beginning. In addition, the wind rose unfavorable for the Persian fleet. Persian ships died not only from enemy attacks, but also from bumping into each other. The Greeks won a complete victory.

At first the Persians managed to hold back
Pressure When in a narrow place there are many
The ships have accumulated, no one can help
Couldn't, and the beaks directed the copper
Their own in their own, the oars and rowers are crushing...
...the sea was not visible
Because of the wreckage, because of the overturned
Ships and lifeless bodies...
Find salvation in a disorderly flight
The entire surviving barbarian fleet tried,
But the Greeks of the Persians are like tuna fishermen.
Anything, boards, debris
They beat the ships and oars...

- Aeschylus. "Persians"

The Greeks are preparing for the decisive battle

However, although the Persian fleet led by Xerxes left Greece after the defeat, a land army was left on the Balkan Peninsula under the command of the commander Mardonius, son-in-law of Darius I. Unable to feed themselves and their cavalry in Attica, the Persians went north. The Athenians were able to temporarily return home.

Xerxes' campaigns in Greece

In the next 479 BC. e. The Persians again invaded Attica and devastated its fields. Mardonius, through the mediation of the Macedonian king Alexander, tried in vain to persuade Athens to a separate peace. Sparta, which the Salamis victory freed from immediate danger, hesitated to continue active military operations against Mardonius, offering to annoy him with naval attacks in Thrace and off the coast of Asia Minor, and on the Balkan Peninsula to hold the line of defense on Isthmus. Sparta promised Athens compensation for crop losses, funds for the maintenance of women, children and the elderly, but not military assistance. However, in Sparta itself there were supporters of more active actions (for example, Pausanias, regent under the young king, the son of Leonidas), and when, at the insistence of Athens, it was decided to give battle to Mardonius, the mobilization of troops in the Peloponnese and their advance to Isthmus were carried out like this quickly, that Argos, hostile to Sparta, who promised Mardonius to delay the Spartans, was unable to do anything. Warned in time, Mardonius, who was at that time in Attica, retreated to Boeotia, leaving smoking ruins behind him. The Persians needed a plain for battle, where they could deploy their numerous and strong cavalry. In addition, Thebes, friendly to the Persians, provided the rear of their army.

Battle of Plataea

Greek warriors from the Greco-Persian Wars (reconstruction). A Thessalian cavalryman and lightly armed warrior with javelins and a bag for stones.

In 479 BC. e. near the city of Plataea, on the border of Attica and Boeotia, the last, decisive battle of the Greeks with the Persian army, which invaded the Balkan Peninsula, took place. The Greek army was commanded by the Spartan Pausanias. For more than a week, the 30,000-strong Greek army and the Persian army, numbering approximately 60-70 thousand people, stood opposite each other without engaging in battle. While the infantry remained idle, the Persian cavalry harassed the Greeks with frequent raids and finally captured and filled up their main source of water supply. The Greek army retreated on the orders of Pausanias. Mardonius, deciding that the Greeks had chickened out, led his army across the half-dried river separating the opponents and began to climb the mountain to meet the Spartans who attacked them. The Athenians and Megarians repulsed the onslaught of Boeotian and Thessalian hoplites (allies of Persia), supported by Iranian cavalry, and began to press back the Persian riflemen. They still held out while Mardonius was alive, fighting on a white horse. But he was soon killed, and the Persians left the battlefield to the Spartans. The Greeks also achieved victory in the clash with the advancing flanks of the Persian army. The commander of its center, Artabazus, began a hasty retreat to the north and, eventually, crossed by boat to Asia Minor. Xerxes approved of his actions.

Saka warriors of the army of Xerxes. Reconstruction based on Herodotus’ description and archaeological finds. On the left is a foot archer; on the right is a horse archer, armed, in addition to the characteristic Scythian bow in a goryt and a spear, also with a hammer, a melee weapon designed to pierce armor.

The Persians who remained in Boeotia tried to take refuge in their fortifications. But the Greeks broke in and plundered the Persian camp, capturing huge booty. No prisoners were taken. According to Greek historians, only 43 thousand Persians managed to escape, of which 40 thousand fled with Artabazus. The data is probably exaggerated, and the information about the killed Greeks is clearly underestimated - 1360 soldiers. Apparently, only hoplites whose names were listed on monuments in honor of the fallen are taken into account here. The Greeks promised “eternal” gratitude to Plataea, on whose territory the victory was won. Thebes suffered moderate punishment for betrayal. The leaders of the Persophile group, betrayed by the besieged city, were executed, but the threat to destroy the city was not carried out. Continuation of hostilities in Persian territory

Battle of Mycale

According to legend, Themistocles proposed immediately after the Battle of Salamis to send a fleet to the Hellespont in order to destroy the bridges built there by Xerxes and thus cut off the Persians’ path to retreat. This plan was rejected, but soon the Greek fleet began operations against the islands of the Cyclades archipelago, which collaborated with the Persians. Secret ambassadors from the inhabitants of the island of Samos, still under Persian control, came to the commander of the Greek fleet with an appeal to support the impending uprising of the Ionian Greeks. The Samians freed 500 Athenian prisoners taken away by the Persians.

In August 479 BC. e. The Greek fleet approached Cape Mycale not far from Miletus. The Greeks landed on the shore and some of them began to move inland. Commander of the Persian 15 thousand. Tigran's corps attacked half of the Greek army remaining on the shore, but was defeated and himself died in this battle. The Ionians - Samians and Milesians, who were in the ranks of the Persians, actively helped their fellow tribesmen. Having won on land, the Greeks destroyed the Persian fleet stationed nearby; all the ships were burned after the booty had first been carried ashore. The Battle of Mycale, although not as grandiose as those that preceded it, but it freed the Aegean Sea for the actions of the Greek fleet. Samos, Chios, Lesbos and some other islands were accepted into the pan-Greek union, the inhabitants of which took an oath of allegiance to the common cause.

Siege of Sesta

After the victory at Mycale, the Greek fleet headed to the Hellespont. It turned out that the bridges built by order of Xerxes had already been destroyed by the Persians themselves. The Spartans went home, and the Athenians and the allied Greeks of Asia Minor, under the command of Xanthippus, besieged the city of Sestus, where the Persians had strengthened. In the spring of 478 BC. e. Sest was captured by the Greeks, and the Persian satrap Artanktes, who led its defense, was executed. Afterwards the Athenians also sailed home.

Greeks form Delian Maritime League

After 479 BC e. Persia no longer threatened Balkan Greece. The Greek states themselves went on the offensive. But further military successes exploded the temporarily established unity of the Greeks. The contradictions became more and more obvious, especially between Athens and Sparta, and the temporarily subdued struggle between the political groupings of individual states intensified. Meanwhile, naval operations against Persia continued successfully. The Greeks liberated the Hellespont Strait and resumed trade with the Northern Black Sea region. In 478 - 477 BC. e. At the suggestion of the allies, supreme command was transferred to Athens. Since from now on the war was fought at sea, and the Athenians had the strongest fleet, this was quite natural. Under the leadership of Athens, the so-called Delian Maritime League, which included the coastal and island Greek states.

Battle of Eurymedon

After the Spartans were removed from command, military operations continued, primarily to clear Thrace from the Persians. During these years, Cimon, the son of Miltiades, came forward to lead the actions of the Athenian and allied fleets. Under his command, the Greeks took a fortress that guarded strategically important bridges across the Strymon River and a number of other points on the Thracian coast. In 468 BC. e. Cimon sent his fleet to the southern coast of Asia Minor. Here the last, major clash with the new Persian fleet took place. The Greeks won a double victory, defeating the Persian forces at sea and on land, as in the Battle of Mycale. After this, the Persian fleet no longer dared to sail into the Aegean Sea.

The situation in the State

These failures in the Greco-Persian wars intensified the process of collapse of the Achaemenid power. Already under Xerxes, symptoms dangerous to the existence of the state appeared - the rebellions of the satraps. Thus, his own brother Masista fled from Susa to his satrapy Bactria with the aim of raising an uprising there, but on the way, warriors loyal to the king caught up with Masista and killed him along with all the sons accompanying him (c. 478 BC). Under Xerxes, intensive construction was carried out in Persepolis, Susa, Tushpa, on Mount Elwend near Ecbatana and in other places. To strengthen state centralization, he carried out a religious reform, which boiled down to prohibiting the veneration of local tribal gods and strengthening the cult of the pan-Iranian god Ahuramazda. Under Xerxes, the Persians stopped supporting local temples (in Egypt, Babylonia, etc.) and seized many temple treasures.

Murder of Xerxes as a result of conspiracy

According to Ctesias, towards the end of his life, Xerxes was under the strong influence of the chief of the royal guard, Artabanus, and the eunuch Aspamitra. Probably Xerxes' position at this time was not very strong. In any case, we know from Persepolis documents that in 467 BC. e., that is, 2 years before the murder of Xerxes, famine reigned in Persia, the royal granaries were empty and grain prices increased seven times compared to usual. In order to somehow appease the dissatisfied, Xerxes dismissed about a hundred government officials over the course of a year, starting with the most senior ones. In August 465 BC. e. Artabanus and Aspamitra, apparently not without the machinations of Artaxerxes, the youngest son of Xerxes, killed the king at night in his bedroom. At the same time, Xerxes' eldest son Darius was killed.

Dandamaev M. A. Political history of the Achaemenid state.. - M.: Nauka, 1985. - 319 p. — 10000 copies. copy Dandamaev M. A. Media and Achaemenid Persia // History of the ancient world / Edited by I. M. Dyakonov, V. D. Neronova, I. S. Sventsitskaya. — Ed. 3rd, rev. and additional - M.: Main editorial office of oriental literature of the publishing house "Nauka", 1989. - T. 2. The heyday of ancient societies. — 572 p. — 50,000 copies. — ISBN 5-02-016781-9

Gluskina L. M. Greco-Persian Wars // History of the Ancient World: in 3 volumes / Ed. I. M. Dyakonova, V. D. Neronova, I. S. Sventsitskaya. — Third edition. - M.: Nauka, 1989. - T. 2. The Rise of Ancient Societies.