9. Xerxes I

Darius is gone and his son Xerxes has inherited a golden age. What will he do with it? His dad still left him some homework but there’s so much cool stuff to do in the empire. Tune in to find out how Xerxes balances the two and say a fond farewell to Herodotus

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Sources:

History of the Persian Empire by A. T. Olmstead

“Medi e Persiani: dall’Iran al Mare Egeo”, in “Storia d’Europa e del Mediterraneo. Il mondo antico II. La Grecia”, volume III, chapter VII

“Serse e la flagellazione dell’Ellesponto. Ideologia avestica e conquista territoriale achemenide” by Andrea Piras

Diodorus 11.1-11.19, 11.27-11.39, 11.69

Herodotus 7, 8, 9

Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions: XPh (“Daiva inscription”)

Ctesias F. Persica Book XIII (“The complete Fragments of Ctesias of Cnidus” by Dr. Andrew Nichols, 2008)

Map of Greece during Xerxes’ invasion. Many of the “neutral” states in gray turned to the Achaemenid side when Xerxes passed through on his descent

An overall view of the archaeological site of Persepolis

The cool bull capitals. Imagine hundreds of these in the palace and brilliantly painted

Lydians and Armenians bringing tribute

The portrait of Xerxes in Persepolis

No, bad Hollywood director! What did we tell you about this sort of thing?

Sariel’s depiction of Xerxes having a bad night’s sleep