Xerxes

Xerxes I of Persia meaning "ruling over heroes", also known as Xerxes the Great (519–465 BC), was the fourth king of the kings of Achaemenid Empire. Xerxes I is more than likely the Persian king identified as Ahasuerus in the biblical book of Esther. On the demise of Darius, the Persian throne descended to his son Xerxes. After putting down a rebellion in Egypt, he formed a plan to invade Greece with an enormous army drawn from every province of the vast Persian Empire. The land battles of Thermopylae and Plataea as well as the naval battles of Artemisium, Salamis, and Mycale are described here, complete with the complicated but heroic stratagems of the Greek hero Themistocles.