Xerxes the Great

Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Teuterberg Forest? What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? Or what made Alexander truly With a subscription to History Hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching your insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes.

And it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary, not available in all states. Hey, this is US Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis Woodhall. And I'm US Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall. As athletes, our lives are about having a clear path.

You can absolutely trust. So when it came to getting the best mortgage, we chose Pennymac. Penny Mac is proud to be the official mortgage provider of Team USA and you. Learn more at pennymac.com. Pennymack Loan Services, LLC, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS ID 35953, licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Conditions and restrictions may apply.

Persian king. The ruler who launched a massive invasion of Greece, who fought against the likes of Leonidas and Themistocles, Xerxes. Thanks to Hollywood blockbusters and the legend of Thermopylae, this Sparta. But there is so much more. story. And in this episode, Just who was the real Zerk? This is the Ancients. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and this is the story of Xerxes the. The reference. Jones, Professor of Ancient University and the author of Persian.

It really is the case, isn't it? We think when the name Xerxes gets thrown about, you might think of Zack Snyder's three hundred or the Persian invasion of Greece. But there is so much more to his story. Absolutely, he's one of the most fascinating kings of antiquity, I think, you know.

Yeah, he he he his legacy is there. I mean he he still lives with us in a way. He's one of those kings that was written about in the Middle Ages, in the Renaissance, in the nineteenth century. I mean, you know, he he still has a a cache about him, I think. Can we talk about his name first of all? Because it seems such a peculiar name today. Xerxes, really recognizable. Was it weird at the time? Um not necessarily. I doubt very much if it was his

b birth name, his given name. It's a it's a throne name. Um most of I think all of the Achaemenid kings actually when they came to the throne they adopt a a symbolic name. Of course we know him by his Latinized name. Um his real name in ancient Persian, in old Persian, was Hashatha Shatha. Hasha Shasha. Yeah. We're not calling that the name of this podcast. And it's got a good it's got good meaning to it. It means something like

ruling over the heroes, something like that. So it's quite a grand Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know, it said something about him and he chose that for himself.

So it says something about his self perception, doesn't it, as well, you know? So has he left many sources behind? Not just the Greek historians like Herodotus. Do we have a lot of different sources for learning about his life? We do, yes. Now I can say that with a caveat. Most of them are royal inscriptions, so written in cuneiform. They tend to be trilingual, so they tend to be in Old Persian, Babylonian or Akkadian, and also in Elam.

They are on the whole ahistorical. And what I mean by that is they tend to be very repetitive, and they tend to say the same thing like I am Xerxes, king of kings, king of all lands, king of all countries, son of Darius, uh who was the son of Hystapses uh an Archimenid, you know. Doesn't give us a lot to play with, but As we'll go on to talk about, there are one or two inscriptions absolutely unique to Zuck.

So I I think we'd be really hard pushed to write a biography of Xerxes, given just the Persian material. So we have to look at the the Greek material. But we have to look at the Greek material with a a kind of new set of eyes. You know, you know, I'm always after the Persian version of something. So what I try to like to do is to to strip away the kind of Greek writings and see if there isn't Sitting underneath that.

you know, something which is more indigenous Persian. So let me give you a story, a very famous story that's told by several Greek historians. Elyon, I suppose, is the one that we know the best. It's this this uh account that when Xerxes goes on his expedition to Greece, He comes across this beautiful plane tree, okay? And uh this this you know gives him shade and everything and According to the Greeks.

he falls in love with this tree, okay? Uh you know, sort of passionately in love with it and and sort of gives it necklaces and earrings and as he would a mistress, okay? And of course, you know, this has been picked up and you know Handel in his opera Xerxes of the 1750s, you know, that very famous largo, Ombre My Fu, under your shade, is, you know, uh all to do with this.

Well, I think what the Greeks are doing there is obviously kind of making uh a mockery on something they don't quite understand, because remarkably we have found a little seal, little cylinder seal. with the name of Xerxes on it, and it shows Xerxes in front of a tree. And what he's doing is he's giving gold offerings to this tree because trees were kind of semi-sacred to the Persians. So it's part of a tree cult.

So the Greeks are misremembering or deliberately twisting Part of uh a Persian theological way of life. you know, that Xerxes would have been very familiar with. So that's what I mean when we can look for a Persian version. that sits beneath the kind of Greek gloss that goes on top of the searching for the historical basis of the stories. Yeah. So all I think we should always be alert to the the possibility

that there's something sitting beneath it. You know, not all it doesn't work all the time, but you know, every now and then something emerges. So let's get the background sorted straight away.

What does the Persian world look like in the early fifth century BC, just before Xerxes takes the throne? Okay, so his father has been on uh on the throne, Darius the Great for some thirty years at this point. We've covered in a previous one we have indeed, absolutely. And so he is ruling the the biggest empire the world had ever seen. And here we're talking about the centre of the empire of course is southwestern Iran, around the Ancient sites of Persepolis and Susa and Pasagadi.

It's reaching out to Babylon as well, one of the main centers of uh Achaemenid life. But it stretches then to the the west. It goes all the way to the deserts of Libya, right the way down the Nile to Ethiopia, north. to the Crimea and then in the east, right the way across the east to Afghanistan, Pakistan, to Northern India. I mean this is vast, vast territories. And Darius the Great had kind of secured this. Darius was one of those kind of born bureaucrats, you know, he just had like red tape.

you know, running in his veins. And he was the one who kind of, you know, sat set up the satrapy system. So this is a system of governors, usually members of the royal family. So um by the time Xerxes come to the throne, what we have there is a a mature And safe. Empire essentially, you know, Darius has really set the rules. Um, the king's law, the the data of the king is flourishing in every part of of of the realm.

All of which are linked together with incredible communication systems. Yes, they can travel to come. Amazing, amazing roads that crisscross the whole empire. And we know that people are travelling enormous distances because we've got these little sort of travel rations, you know, in these

um Persepolis fortification tablets, which we spoke about a long time ago. Some of my favourite things. They they you you'd think they're gonna be as dry as the dust they're written on, but you know they're absolutely packed full of detail and we get You know, um um accounts of people travelling from Memphis in Egypt?

All the way to Kandahar in Afghanistan and being supplied with food and drink and translators and all of that as they go. I mean that it's a really remarkable system. So that's the world that

uh Darius leaves behind him. It is an amazing uh set the scene moment, isn't it? Darius He doesn't just leave one son, does he? No. There's always seems to be a bit of a succession crisis as Persians as the Persian Empire goes on. Yeah. So at the time of his death, we know that Darius had had at least six wives. I mean Concurrently Persian kings were polygynous. plus any number of concubines as well. So the harems of his palaces were packed with women and with children.

Now one of the I think the real failures of the Persian royal system was that they never adopted primogeniture as a as a go-to means of the succession. So that meant essentially that when a king died, unless he'd appointed an heir, it was it was a open game. Anybody could could do it. No, I I think there's a rationale for that. You know, we shouldn't dismiss it.

And I think we have to remember in antiquity the mortality rate was very high for children and even to live into your adulthood, into your teens, was a perilous thing. You know, you just didn't know if you were ever gonna get there. So I think Kings were prepared to hedge their bets and almost play this kind of game of Russian roulette with their prospective heirs holding off.

on appointing one uh until, you know, they were secure that they'd reached their maturity, you know, things looked okay. Also, I think there's something in the in the non-primogeniture system which allows a king to choose most appeals to him. who has the right qualities to be a king as well. So this idea of uh not having a favourite today is very much out the window with the Persian king. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Completely, completely. No, no, they they needed their favourites, you know.

Now the other thing that we get, and I think I I would not want to dismiss this, although some scholars, you know, are are a bit more apprehensive about saying this, but I think it's right. That's the power that the mothers of these boys had as well. You know, within the within the imperial system, nobody could get closer to the king than one of his women, you know, in bed with him. You know, what happens between the sheets?

takes away the mystique of monarchy in a way. Herodotus says, interestingly, that Darius had many sons, But in his opinion, Xerxes

was a dead ringer for the for the crown because his mother, a tossa, was all powerful. Right. Which is really, really fascinating. Why then? Why is this woman, why does she have this kind of cachet? Well of course Darius had had several wives before he became king, and he had sons from these wives, but once he became king, and you'll remember that he grabs the crown in a kind of coup deta

He marries all the available Persian royal women, and brings them into his harem, and begets children on them straight away, and Atossa, Xerxes' mother, is the eldest daughter of Cyrus the Great. Ah, very prestigious. Very prestigious. So Xerxes is the first son born to Darius after he comes into his own as king, and has the blood of Cyrus the Great flowing in his veins.

So I think what we have there is a case of what we can call porphogeniture. That means born into the purple blood, you know, the royal blood is in his veins. And so this is why he's chosen as king. And I don't want to dismiss this idea that Atasa herself. pushed this idea constantly, of course, as well. It's to her advantage, you know, because

If Xerxes became king, she would become Queen Mother, and there is nobody to touch the Queen Mother. Whereas wives and concubines of kings can drop from status, you know, depending on the favor that the king shows them. the the Queen Mother, who is the the link between the two generations of kings. She can reign supreme in the Harim. She has the the the rank of the highest woman in the empire. So I think a tossa has a very important role to play in.

It's good to mention that as well. I mean, so Darius dies in the mid four eighties, that's correct. And he's not assassinated, he no, no, he dies, yeah, absolutely. Uh of natural causes, uh as far as we know. Uh absolutely.

And almost straight away um we have a series of uh inscriptions set up by Xerxes stamping his authority on the Empire. And the first one is is an inscription that we know as the Harim inscription because of where it was found at Persepolis. And there Xerxes makes a very bold statement. And he says, My father had many sons. But of his sons, I was the greatest. And the word there is Mathishta. Really is, absolutely. So he acknowledges.

that there could have been a succession crisis and maybe there really was, you know, which he overwrites, of course, you know. But then this statement, I was the greatwest greatest Mathishta, you know, that really puts his seal on what's going on. And what we find throughout the early part of Xerxes' reign in all of his inscriptions.

He makes a real play at being the son of Darius all the time. So as though we can't emphasize that enough. You know, he needs people to recognize his legitimacy as as king through through his through his um uh ancestry in particular. So this is a a real motif of of Xerxes' earliest inscriptions, constantly son of Darius, Anachaemenid, son of Darius, Anachaemenid, keeps on saying this all the time.

And he builds on his father's reputation quite literally. So around about 519 BC, we know that Darius started the big, big building project at Persepolis. Okay. So, you know, this becomes one of the sort of state palaces, a kind of ceremonial center for the empire. This is Darius' baby, it comes from his mind and he he builds um Like the famous Apadana today. That's right, exactly, exactly. So the Apadana is one of uh Darius's buildings. And this is all on a on a platform, a task.

which is sort of thirty meters off the ground. I mean it's a one of the most spectacular ruins of antiquity. It's it's an incredible sight to walk. Originally during Xerxes' lifetime the the entranceway to that platform was in the south of the of the Taft. Xerxes decided that he was going to enlarge that, and he changes the access.

He blocks off the old access of his father, and he builds a new gateway with a double staircase on the eastern side, which goes up to this most enormous yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw'n yw. All of these dignitaries and diplomats come every year in the springtime to give their offerings to the great king, to give him their gifts, their diplomatic um exchanges, to to hear the king's speeches, to um show their loyalty to him.

So you get With the creation of of that, a kind of real sense of confidence in uh in the empire and what he's inherited from his father. And in fact, we have several empire lists. from Xerxes' reign, um, where he enumerates, you know, uh we have uh Medes and Elamites and Achaeans and Chosamians and Yauna and all of this. We get actually to the to the number of thirty-three, thirty-three peoples under Xerxes, which is actually bigger than Darius's.

um province count. And Yauna are the Greeks, are they? Yauna are the Greeks, yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Same same word in modern Persian today actually for Greece, Yauna. It's remains the same. So so yeah, we get a r I I think a sense of real confidence.

about him in in that respect. Um and maybe that is a reaction to some of the political problems that he faced in reality. at his succession. Now I dare say there must have been skirmishes with some of his brothers. I was going to ask, I mean, do we know anything about his relationship with all of these half brothers? Well, yes we do, mainly from Herodotus, Catisius,

and some other Greek sources as well. Um, we he had a a load of full brothers, the sons of Atossa, and of course many, many more half brothers, and by and large, you know, His relationships with his brothers were pretty good. Not bad at all. Many of them fought in the in the Persian Wars alongside him, for instance. Some of them even lost their lives, um, you know, for him.

and he appointed many of them as satraps in different parts of the of the empire as well, these kind of regents acting on his behalf. But I think there must have been some kind of antagonism at the beginning. You know, maybe like Darius's very first born son, who was a a son of a a woman who came from a very, very high ranking uh Persian noble family, the family of Gobrias. I can't see that he would have, you know, given up his

potential so easily. So while the sources are silent, I think it's quite feasible to think there must have been a bit of a clash with a few of the brothers or half brothers. But of bigger concern to Xerxes was the fact that Egypt erupted into rebellion immediately at the death of Darius. And so we see that Xerxes Heads an army, goes off to Egypt, quells the revolt, and that's a really great thing. This is in the first year of his.

accession. So that's, you know, immediately saying, Look, I I'm I'm I'm serious here, you know. It also shows us that he's a good military man as well. You know, we shouldn't dismiss him at all. On his way back from Egypt, in fact, he puts down another rebellion in Babylon. These are the always the kind of, you know,

litmus tests for kings in the Babylon and Egypt. Can you hold them, you know? Um and and again he he does um a good job of putting down the the the Babylonian rebellion too. So we can see in the very first year of his reign He's an very active individual, you know, and he Stamps his mark on the empire. Always in the shadow as if of his father, but nevertheless, you know, he's there and he says, you know, I am king now.

Okay, I'm I know I'm in the same line as Darius. You remember how he ruled you, I will rule you the same. And I think that's that's kind of an interesting thing. And is that how Xerxes portrays himself during this period? You know, this idea that he's a young, active, energetic ruler. Yes, the great old Darius is dead, but rejoice. We got a young ruler on the throne now and he's gonna continue it. And I think I think he can say that with

genuine honesty because he's been trained for governance by his father. So about fourteen years ago we discovered amidst the the archive from Persepolis Um a tr a tablet that hadn't been translated before. And it's a document which talks about reserves of food and drink. being sent to the Satrapal Palace in Parthia, in northeastern uh Iran, from uh from central Iran, and that's where Xerxes is serving his time as a governor.

So I think that what the kings, great kings tended to do was to test their sons by giving them important satrapies to look after. So we see Xerxes going through this period of, I suppose, uh an apprenticeship, really, you know, governing a large and important province. So we know that he has that kind of background.

The other thing I think he does uh uh, you know, after his father's death is to provide his father gyda'r hyn sy'n gweithio gyda'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio'r hyn sy'n gweithio in this great kind of cataph, um, you know, and there was sort of a uh a period of mourning declared across the empire. And we know that Xerxes establishes a a cult.

for the worship of his father as well. Persian kings weren't weren't gods, they didn't see themselves as gods, but certainly now we have more understanding that they took on a kind of divine essence. after their deaths. And despite of what Herodotus tells us, you know, they didn't have um these kind of cults or temples or statues, we know now that they really did have these.

And we have found recently in Babylon, uh, from the archives there, reference to a to a cult of Darius and to offerings being given to Darius and to his statue as well. So I think Xerxes did all the right things. in the first year of his accession, you know. He buries his father with great dignity and great honor, and he shows himself to be a warrior king. And this is what his father himself puts on his tomb facade, you know. Um

We are, you know, I am a Persian man. The spear of the Persian man has gone far. As a a horseman, I'm a good horseman. As a spearman, I'm a good spearman. As a bowman, I'm a good bowman. And Xerxes lives up. to all of those ideas that his father has. So, you know,

That image that we have of straightaway this this boy king who can't quite live up to his father, I I don't think stands at all. No, it seems like he really does succeed in that potentially troublesome immediate years taking the throne in that succession uh time.

During that time do we know who was closest to him? I mean is his mother still around and influencing him? Yes, and in fact A Tossa comes into her own in the indigenous Iranian sources of this period. So whereas during the lifetime of her husband Darius, we only get like six mentions of her in the Port Persepolis fortification text. suddenly, with

her accession to the the role of Queen Mother, she's everywhere. You know, I mean she's the principal lady in the land, you know, so yes, absolutely. She really sort of swells in in uh in in appearance. And also, of course, the other woman important in his life is his one known, one named consort. He must have had many more. And that is uh a woman called a mestris, which is um based on the Persian word meaning strength, which says something about her as well.

So here we have, you know, this ideal couple both, you know, ruling over heroes and woman of strength. That's the way they want to project their image, you know. And she is the daughter of a very, very high ranking Khan. uh sort of uh tribal leader indeed. And so it's a it's a great match between these two kind of tribal houses. And she gives him a a a whole brood of sons and and daughters as well. So

Uh and they're they're already born by the time Xerxes becomes king. And so, you know, he comes with a ready made family. The the the throne is set to continue. Um and he must have had many other consorts and and concubines as well, of course. So again, another Pactarim. And of course, we should remember that Xerxes. appears in the Hebrew Bible. Ah. In a kind of just in a gu a guise, that's all. So in the book of Esther.

which was probably written in the fourth century, so about a hundred years after Xerxes' death. It's set during the reign of Xerxes. So according to the Hebrew scribes, Esther is a wife, of of Xerxes as well. It's just that in the Bible he's called Ahasirus, which is the the the Hebrized version of Xerxes essentially.

Tonight's meal, tilapia surprise with boiled cabbage. Begin cooking steps one through fifty now. Are you kidding me? Making dinner shouldn't feel like doing a thousand piece puzzle. With Blue Aprons new one pan assemble and bake meals. The hard part's already done. Pre-chopped ingredients, zero stress. Just assemble, bake, and enjoy. No complicated steps, no mountain of dishes. Try assemble and bake today. Get 20% off your first.

orders with code APRIN20. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com slash terms for more. Ready to change your life for just$2 a day? Orange Theory Fitness delivers one-hour workouts that combine strength and cardio to help you burn fat, build muscle, and feel unstoppable. Right now get a full month of unlimited classes for just$62. Don't wait, this offer ends soon. Visit Orangetheory.com or your local studio and start your transformation today.

January thirty first, twenty twenty-six new members only, premier membership, performance monitor, and monthly billing required. Other terms apply C studio for details. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to progressive and save hundreds.

Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home, and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it, so your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations.

Land a Viking longship on island shores, scramble over the dunes of ancient Egypt, and avoid the poisonous cup in Renaissance Florence. Each week on Echoes of History, we uncover the epic stories that inspire Assassin's Creed. We're stepping into feudal Japan in our special series Chasing Shadows, where samurai warlords and shinobi spies Teach us the tactics and skills needed not only to survive, but to conquer.

Whether you're preparing for Assassin's Creed Shadows or fascinated by history and great stories, listen to Echoes of History, a Ubisoft podcast brought to you by History Hits. There are new episodes every week.

Do we know much about the harem of Persian rulers, including Xerxes? Do we know much about its composition? Yes, I think that the best way to see it, as as in any kind of high level court society, it must have had a a real strict hierarchy to it.

Where clearly you have the mother of the king holding the prime position. So since a king could have many wives, but he could only ever have one mother, of course, you know, so she holds that principal position. Then he can have a numerous consort. Now we know that in Persia the queens, the wives of kings

only come from Persian families. So he never they never marry outside of the the Persian blood. Okay? Is that the blue blood idea, is it? Yeah, I suppose well well it's to keep these family lines, these these great noble alliances with with with the great households of the Persian tribes to keep them going. But then he could take foreign concubines, many, many foreign concubines, and these came in so many different forms, so they could be given as gifts.

diplomatic gifts. They can be taken as war captives and war booty. Basically what we're dealing there, of course, is is with sex trafficking. But these women, you know, these women who become concubines, they are not insignificant because we d we have several occasions when the the sons of concubines become king. And so a concubine from the lowest rang of the Harim

suddenly finds herself in the next generation as the Queen Mother, you know? So so there's a political game going on in the harem all the time. Now, some colleagues feel, you know, this is all a Greek um fantasy. I don't think so at all. The harem is a feature of many ancient courts and in court.

ever since, you know, think of the Qing in China, uh, think of the Mughals in India. You know, these are important aspects of of the the politicking of the of a royal family. So w you know, we we find exactly the same thing in in Persia. And how important were eunuchs to Xerxes' rule, and indeed to Persian rule? That's interesting. So so Xerx Xerxes did use eunuchs in his court, and these are castrated men, uh, of course. As cast rates

They were thought of as being more loyal. They didn't have families of their own. Okay. So they weren't going to, you know, try to work for um the betterment of their their own family at the same time. Yeah, precisely. There's all this Greek philosophizing on on Persian eunuchs. The Greeks really find it very problematic.

So they say, Oh Cyrus the Great probably started this as this trend. He didn't. They were they were much, much older than that. You know, eunuchs have been in the Near East since the fourth millennium. BCE. But the Greeks say, you know, oh, he he castrated men to make them more like um docile dogs, if you castrate a dog, you know, or if you castrate a horse.

it becomes more docile. So it makes these men docile. I don't think there's any n necessary truth in that, but the the Greeks try to justify it in in that kind of way. What it really meant is that um these castrated individuals become really kind of like a third sex. So it means that they can they can easily go between the inner world of the central court or the inner court, which includes the harem, of course.

into the outer court of men, you know, of governance as well. So this is why they're very often used as messengers. Messengers, as go betweens. And we find that in, you know, in the Hebrew Bible, in Herodotus. They understand that that's the kind of i idea about them. But they could also be very important counselors, counsellors of state, officers of state, and important individuals in the army as well. We have we have b um unit generals.

as well. So they're omnipresent in a way. Why would you put yourself through um castration? Well, I think there's there's two forms that go on. Um we have eunuchs who are castrated before puberty. And therefore they stay essentially like boys, you know, they don't really develop and their voices stay high and so forth. And then we have individuals who will have themselves castrated post uh I know post

youth. And therefore, you know, the the testosterone has developed and and you know they s they they to all intents and purposes, they look like real men, you know. Um it gave these individuals access into the very heart of Persian royalty. Uh and that's the way it's always been. You know, if you think about the the forbidden city in China in the eighteenth, nineteenth early nineteenth centuries, you know, these men had

Extraordinary access to power. And we hear them with Xerxes, do we? Yes, we do, absolutely. And in fact Catisius, who is one of our chief sources for this period, he's a Greek from Knidos and lived in the Persian court for seventeen years, he automatically kind of lists

Every time he talks about a new succession of a king. Interesting. So he'll say Xerxes became king. The eunuchs who were influential under him were blah, blah, blah, blah, and he will name them in that way. So yes, w there there was definitely a reliance on these men who were advisers, civil servants, military men, all of these things wrapped into one.

You mentioned Kinidas there in passing, so that's part of the Greek world, but it's in it's on the western coast of Turkey, isn't it? That's right, yeah, not too far from from Bodrum, modern day Bodrum. So it's within the sphere of Persian.

The biggest thing many people remember with Xerxes is his massive, ultimately failed invasion of Greece. We're not gonna cover that in detail in today's chat because we've done an episode, a detailed episode with Doctor Rule Canon as well. Two episodes and two episodes on

Both the invasion of Greece by his dad, Darius, and by Xerxes too. So we'll kind of cover it quickly, but I think an overarching question to cover it will be, how much of Xerxes' reign, I mean, how much attention does he really give to the Greeks? How much would you ask? Not as much as the Greek sources suggest. But the Greeks are not irrelevant to him either. Um, and I think that's chiefly because, you know, during Xerxes' early reign, he's still looking at the idea of expanding the empire.

um both east and west. You know, that's still something that, you know, his father had done and he'd like to do, and that's the kind of thing that's reflected in these empire lists as well. For the satraps on the western borders of the empire, so that is, you know, in modern day Turkey, in these kind of Greek speaking city states like um Miletus, uh Ephesus, Sardis, this kind of thing.

then obviously what went on in the Aegean and across the Aegean in the Greek mainland was of importance to them, of course, you know. And I think it's because of that. that really Xerxes was was kind of encouraged to think about bringing the Greek mainland under his control. Don't forget, um, many of the the Greek city states of northern Greece, Macedon, Boeotia, Thebes, um, were already kind of, you know, Persian, Friendly Persian allies, some of them had even been satraps.

So there wasn't this sharp divide between Greece and Persia that the kind of, you know, the traditional histories have have portrayed. It wasn't really like that. But I think that Xerxes really wanted control of the Aegean more than anything else.

Because the Aegean obviously bleeds into the the Mediterranean, Mediterranean gives you access to the Nile. Um his father Darius had dug a canal. Which went from the River Nile across the desert to the Red Sea. Can you believe it? It's amazing. And that meant that, you know, a trade ship could go right the way down through the Nile, the Red Sea, around Arabia into the Persian Gulf. I mean, you know, I so I think

the access there to the Aegean is something that really appealed to to Xerxes and not made much of in the sources, because, you know, Herodotus and the others want to make this an ideological war more than anything else. I don't think it was for Xerxes. And I think if we could put ourselves in in Xerxes' shoes for a moment, I think that for him, you see, the Persian Wars were a success.

You know, what did he accomplish? Well he accomplished two things that he set out to do. The first was the sack of Athens. Great. Perfect. That's the thing. I mean it's it's it's devastated. And the second thing is, he takes the head of Leonidas, the king of Sparta. And for Xerxes, Leonidas would have represented chaos. This is this is their victory at the Bastard of Thermopylae. Thermopylae, exactly. So that's hailed as you know a great tragedy for the Greeks, but also a moment of sort of

ideological triumph where Greece comes into its own, and Xerxes loses out on something. I don't see that at all. I think Xerxes would have seen this. I have taken the head of a liar king. Xerxes believed in in Arta, this concept of Arta, which means truth. And this concept comes from his chief god, Ahura Mazda, the wise lord. And Ahura Mazda is a creator god, he is a god of everything light and good. And the Persians believed that when the world was created, when Ahura Mazda formed the universe,

he formed the king at the same time as well. So the king is set in his place to rule naturally the world. So anybody who rebels against the Persian king doesn't follow Artad, is not following the truth at all. And therefore they they call these rebels liar kings. So Xerxes would have identified Leonidas and all of the Greeks as

adherence of Draugga, the line. So Themistocles as well, which is the man who wins the Battle of Salamence. That's right, absolutely. So all of these are are labelled in in in that way. And I think that's a really interesting concept for us, you know.

So I think as far as Xerxes is concerned, he came back from Greece, not with his tail between his legs. But actually quite triumphant. And he re he returns from Greece personally, not because he's ashamed of what's gone on, but he goes back to put down another rebellion in Babylon. But it is coincidental, isn't it, that his decision to return to Asia does happen Right after the the Athenian victory at the Bastosanamus, the naval victory. I mean so I was going to ask

Uh is the this idea of Xerxes back in Asia and he's a defeated monarch. But what you were saying there sounds like it's not. No, it's not. It's a pragmatic return. Babylon is far too important to lose. Oh, you know, if if Xerxes has a choice over Babylon or Athens, it would be Babylon every time. Okay. So that's what takes him back.

It's so easy then to put the spin on it, isn't it? You know, that he goes back a defeated man. It's not it's not it's not true at all. I think there's a great what if, you know, what if the Persians hadn't had to deal with Babylon at this time. What if Xerxes had stayed around in Athens? You know, what would have happened? In my opinion, I think he would have marched into the Peloponnese. I think he would have crushed Sparta. I think Sparta would have disappeared.

So there would have been no Peloponnesian war. And I think that probably Xerxes would have chosen Athens to be the new satrapal capital. for uh for Greece, for you know, uh and he would have installed, I think, uh a Persian satrap plus I think a a Greek, an Athenian, maybe, uh, governor, maybe even Themistocles himself, you know, because one thing that the the Persians didn't do was to kind of completely overturn local systems. And so if Themistocles had already been seen as a good thing

for the government, uh for in Athens and I wouldn't be surprised if Xerxes would have left him there. Well shall we elaborate on this Themistocles Xerxes link? Because we do think of Themistocles fighting the Persians, which he did, you know, he's the great admiral who wins the Bass of the Salamence.

In the in the film three hundred of course, he actually kills Darius, doesn't he? We won't go down that route anymore. We won't delve more into the the Greco Persian Wars for now. We very much know your allegiance, Lloyd. But with

Can we explore this relationship between Xerxes and Thomisty Leeds? Because it doesn't end with them fighting. I mean, how does this actually become a bit of a friendship as time goes on? Well it's bizarre, isn't it? You know, th people say never burn your bridges, right? So like What happens to Themistocles is kind of typical of any Athenian politician who's been there for too long. He gets gets ostracized, right? You know, he's literally voted out of office.

and has to go into exile, which I think is a really good idea, and that any politician should always be under the threat of ostracism. So, you know, this this happens numerous times in in Athenian democracy. And so he becomes Themistoc Themistocles becomes this kind of vagabond really, and he goes sort of bounces around different city states, and even goes to the island of Thassos to see if he can't like, you know, stay there.

He finally ends up in the Persian Empire, in in Asia Minor, um close to the city of Daskileon, which is a satrapal capital there, and he actually goes and sees the satrap and says, Look, do you think I could, you know Rydw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw i ddw

And not only invites him to Susa, but gives him a house there, gives him a pension. And Themistocles becomes completely Persianized. He learns Persian to fluency. And he lives out the rest of his life. As a guest of state. Um beyond Xerxes' reign, into the reign of his son as well. So isn't it strange? Does Plutarch mention that as well? Yes, yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Makes a big thing of that. Absolutely. Isn't it incredible? Yes. No, no, these sworn enemies, you know?

They they find a way. It's it's really quite nice. I like it. Yeah. Ready to change your life for just$2 a day? Orange Theory Fitness delivers one-hour workouts that combine strength and cardio to help you burn fat, build muscle, and feel unstoppable. Right now get a full month of unlimited classes for just$62. Don't wait, this offer ends soon. Visit Orangetheory.com or your local studio and start your transformation today. Offer ends January 31st.

Only premier membership performance monitor and monthly billing required. Discount applies to first month only. Other terms apply. See studio for details. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive,

You can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll help you find options within your budget. Try it today at progressive.com, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliate. Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.

So what do we know about Xerxes' rule after he returns uh to Persia, to Asia? So he puts down the Babylonian revolt and then how does he promote himself? Well i it's kind of interesting. This is when we get a change in the tone. of these royal inscriptions. So what we get now is an area really uncharted by Persian kings before. So in the nineteen thirties, when Hertzfeld and his team were excavating Persepolis, they discovered these really elegantly carved cuneiform blocks, okay? Trilingual.

And in it, Xerxes says really str something really strange. So he says, you know, the usual, I am Xerxes great king, son of Darius, and all of that. And then he says, It's kind of come to my notice that in my empire, there are people who worship the divers. The divers. And they do not worship Ahura Mazda in the right way and at the right time. And Ahura Mazda is the chief god of you know this this wise lord, this creator god.

And he said, you know, some of the sa there are some peoples who reject him altogether, right? So you've got to read between the lines and all of this. Who are these some peoples who are rejecting? Is is his

experience of Greece on his mind, you know? Or is it Babylon that he's still thinking about? But some somehow he's aligning, of course, theology to politics here, okay? But w what about this word divers, then? Divers. Well diver comes from a an Indo-European word which is linked to things like the Latin deus, uh the Welsh Dew, the French deer, so it's a it's a word for God.

But within its Persian context, diva can also be linked to a modern Persian and modern Arabic word div, div, which means like a um a wicked spirit. So we could call it something which is like uh something stas satanic or something evil, something dark. So they are worshipping. evil gods. Mesopotamian demons, I think. Possibly. Possibly. Okay. So he's a lilith and stuff like that. So yeah, well I don't think you need to do that. I think I think he's it's he is applying this word

to mean gods who are not Persian. Ah okay. Okay. So, you know this is really odd. In a world of polytheism, nobody ever gets really Bothered by other gods. You know, people just recognize different countries have different gods. The Jews in antiquity, you know, they get worked up about this, okay? Um, because, you know, by the Second Temple period, they've got their monotheistic god. Xerxes is kind of preempting that idea, I think, in in this thing which we call the diver inscription.

You should be worshipping Ahura Mazda. in the proper ways and at the proper times, he says, which suggests then that there is a kind of codified system of worshipping this God, with certain rituals and at certain festivals or certain times of the week or the day or whatever it might be. So this is the only time we get this idea that the Persians are imposing a religious ideology on their empire. It is completely

out of touch with Cyrus the Great, who was happily worship, you know, whatever gods were available, and likewise Darius as well. In D Darius, you know, when he conquers or goes into Egypt as a pharaoh, um, you know, he worships Egyptian gods. It's no problem. Xerxes suddenly seems to have almost this kind of zealot like Attachment to Ahura Nazda. Given the amount of different cultures within the Persian Empire at that time, the superpower.

Such an inscription, if they try and enforce it, and dare they try and do like persecutions almost. I mean that is going to cause his reputation to absolutely absolutely absolutely i it is so unlike the Persians, you know? So something strange is going on here, and that strangeness is emphasized by the fact that Herzfeld and his team Discovered these And they are beautifully mar made inscriptions. They really are.

But they found them in the most unlikely context. They found them taken off the walls, hacked off the walls, and they were actually in the latrines, in the drainage channels underneath Persepolis. So somebody has chosen to you know to to to decry these things by literally putting them in their place and and doing their business over them.

The question is who was it? Who was it? Now we know that toward The end, there are tensions among Xerxes' many sons. So just you know, this is history repeating itself. Okay, so Xerxes has a long reign, and long reigns tend to be dangerous. four kings towards the end. So how long are we talking?

What are we saying here? We're talking about thirty odd years on the throne. So twenty years or so after the invasion of Greece. Yes, m maybe maybe fifteen, something like that. We we start you know, but here he's got a family of sons who are already, you know, in their twenties, you know, some of them actually early thirties as well. Um and so they're all sort of chomping at the bits to have a go at being king.

And there's one in particular, a boy um who is known as Ocus. He seems to be particularly sort of ambitious for the crown. And if we pull together all of the different classical versions that we have of what happens next. It seems that Occus starts working with a group of courtiers, in particular a group of influential units. in order to plot perhaps the overthrow of his father, Xerxes. Now, this might sound again, you know, like a like a kind of orientalist fantasy.

But we have a Babylonian text which becomes so important for us. Because the Babylons Babylonians of course were great um astronomers, sky watching. Okay, so they were always looking out for omens. And in the Babylonian um star charts, which is essentially like a diary of what goes on in the sky every day. Or the astronomical diaries. Yeah, exactly. Some Babylonian astrologer simply writes down, you know, there was an eclipse of the moon

A normal happening, nothing, nothing incredible, on this particular date. And then the entry ends, Xerxes. as it were, comma, his son killed him. Ah It's really amazing. So this is chronic aren't they, those entries? Very, very. So this is the only extra classical source to talk about Xerxes' assassination. But of course, frustratingly, we don't know which of his sons did it, okay? But

My money has to be on Occus, I think, who wasn't the eldest of the sons. And in fact, what Occus manages to do in the last month. Of D of Xerxes' life before he is killed, he manages to instigate a plot against his eldest brother, Darius. and has the boy executed, the man executed. So he's get gotten rid of his chief rival already. This man is r this Occus is really a a mover and shaker. And what we get from the from the Greek historiography is that Xerxes personal life is in chaos, right?

And you know, I don't know how much emphasis we really should put on it, but Let's let you know, well the Greeks were certainly interested in it. So for instance. as a lover, he decides to have an affair with his daughter-in-law, uh who is Darius's uh this prince Darius' wife. And there's a an a very interesting s tale that's told about this. So the king's wife, a mestre,

She makes the king with her own hands this beautiful robe, a sort of riding coat, and she gives it to him. And it's, you know, a a great gift, or obviously, you know, a great pride to a mestress that she's done this. But uh This mistress of Xerxes, a girl called Arta Yinti, her his his daughter in law and his his niece at the same time, his brother's daughter.

She says to the king, Oh, I I'd really like that. Please can I have it? You know, and the king says, Well no, my wife made it for me. But anyway, she keeps on and on and so he she gives he gives it to the girl. But the girl doesn't keep it for herself. She sends this robe to her father and whose name is Mycestes and he is um Xerxes' full brother. Now, this is one of those moments where you have to look at for the Persian version, okay?

Because if you if you just think, oh well, you know, that's a bit of an insult, isn't it? You know, you know, to to a mestress and all of this. No, it's more than that. Because A robe worn by the king. in ancient Persian thought, kind of took on his phar, took on his power. Okay. So a king sometimes would gift a robe of his to a favoured courtier, and the courtier would wear it just on his shoulders, and this would be a huge mark of honor.

Xerxes has not gifted this to his brother. It's gone via his his mistress to his brother. And basically, what uh uh Artayinti and her father are doing is they are claiming the kingship. through him wearing this robe. Oh, right. So that's the thing. So it's it's this is this is treason, really, okay. Uh now Xerxes who who's always portrayed in Herodotus, you know, as as you know, hubristic and stupid, let's put it that way, okay? Doesn't see any of this, but a mestress does.

So what does a mistress do? Well interestingly she doesn't punish the girl because she's the mistress of Xerxes and kind of untouchable, but instead she brings the girl's mother, my sister's wife to court. and she has her guards mutilate her, chops off her nose, her lips, her ears, cuts off her breasts, and throws those to the dogs, and then sends this poor woman in this mutilated state back to my Sistie's house.

And of course the woman dies thereafter. But Mycestes has seen what is has what has happened, and then there's an open rebellion between these two brothers in which Mycestes is then killed. So this is the background to Xerxes' final years.

Chaos within the royal family equals chaos within the empire. Things will only decline sharply. And maybe it's because of this. That. Ocus. And this group of you know. do what they do. Xerxes is murdered in his in his bed. That's where he is. And uh actually Xenophon. writes, you know, um about the the the frequency of assassination in Persia. He says, you know, and nowhere is a king more susceptible to the knife. than when he's in his bed, in his bath, or drunk.

You know, and and this is the way that Xerxes, great Xerxes. Is killed in his bed. And I find it interesting how over the course of Xerxes' reign you see his extended family get cut down in one way or another. Oh constantly, absolutely. Either either by Greek troops, yes. Absolutely. Yeah, they're the shadow of what are their former selves. And what's interesting, you know, when uh he is succeeded by Occa.

Who takes the throne name Artaxerxes becomes Artaxerxes I, okay? Occus actually goes through a whole pogrom. of Xerxes courtiers. So all the old guards who used to, you know, look after Xerxes, advise him and so they're all they're out. All executed, you know. So this is a fresh start. And I think that

those incredible diver inscriptions were probably hacked off the walls under Artaxerxes the first instructions. And there's also a very interesting thing as well because At the center of the two staircases in the great Apadana Eposepolis, there were once this big relief of a king and his crown prince standing together. And that was probably meant to be Xerxes and Prince Darius.

But they were hacked off the wall too. They weren't destroyed, but they were put away in the treasury, out of sight, out of mind. And I think that again is on the order of Ataxerxes, trying to get rid of his father. So we have a complete change around, don't we, of this idea that Xerxes was so reliant on his his link with his father. But Artixerxes wants to kind of distance himself from his father.

In his official inscriptions, Ataxerxes will say, I am the son of Xerxes, the son of Darius, the son of Hystapses. So he gives the line there, but he'd rather get back to, you know, being an Achaemenid and just using that title really than lingering. with his father. So he doesn't doesn't stop to stop at I am the son of Xerxes. And that could potentially be, of course, the infamous end, but maybe Xerxes' policies later on, which maybe were looked upon very unfavorably.

Find in these next lot of Achaemenid kings, Ataxerxes I, Darius II, Ataxerxes II. is far more evidence of them worshipping other Persian gods. such as Anahita, Mithra. So was Xerxes trying to get rid of all deities? apart from Ahura Mazda. You know, was there really a kind of

religious revolution underway. Yeah, absolutely. You know, was was something like that going on. Yeah, so uh you know, there's a lot more to Xerxes than than meets the eye and a lot more than, you know, we just see in the in the Greek historians.

Lloyd, this has been such a fantastic chat. I mean, how would you say how should we view Xerxes today? I think we should see him as a a very able king. who during the the heights of his power uh was an active politician, a a good military commander, a good leader, um somebody who was very aware of the empire that he created. However, As he got older, there seems to have been this

religious nagging pull that he's trying to deal with as well. Um, that's not unusual, again, in long reigns, you know, for for people to, you know, take different approaches or to become obsessed with other things. So I think there is a a slight change in the personality of Xerxes towards the end. But I think by and large we should judge him. far more favourably than historians have usually given him justice.

We've covered a lot of his story, but is there anything you feel we should briefly mention before we wrap up? Any other achievements that we should highlight? I think more than anything it's it's it's the kind of legacy that that he's left behind for us because he is one of the best known. Persian kings.

he has been written about constantly. He's been portrayed on stage, on screen, in opera. Um and I think it's lovely that he's there. There's only been one attempt, however, to write a biography of him. Richard Stoneman, a really fine uh classical historian who went to Iran

about ten years ago fell in love with the place, like we all do and we go there, you know, and attempted to write um this story of Xerxes. I would love to see more people uh attempting that with with more um Persian great kings anyway, because we can do it.

If only we looked for the Persian version. Well, Lloyd, this has been such a fantastic chat. You have, of course, written about the Persian Empire, which focuses also on Xerxes' life. That's right, absolutely, called Uh Persians, The Age of the Great Kings. Well, as always, it's such a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much for coming back on. the Great, showing how there is so much more to that Persian king story than just his That invasion Ninerdike talking through the In an episode.

But thank you for listening to this episode. Please follow. Wherever you get your podcasts. That really helps us and you'll be doing If you'd also be kind enough to leave us a rating as well, well we'd really appreciate that. Now don't forget you can also sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a new release every week. Sign up at historyhit.com slash subscribe. That's all from me. I'll see you in the next episode.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive,

You can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll help you find options within your budget. Try it today at progressive.com, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliate. Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.