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Xerxes

 

            "How could Xerxes have lost to the Greeks when he had such overwhelming organization, logistical expertise and numbers of soldiers?".
             King Xerxes lost to the Greeks due to his overwhelming confidence that sheer numbers and logistical preparation would prevail. The decision to invade Greece was some what influenced by his late father's wish to defeat the Greeks. His father previously failed twice in his attempts to punish the great city-state of Athens and had planned for a third expedition but due to his death Xerxes must have felt "obliged to carry out his father's plans, to punish Athens for the burning of Sardis and to avenge the Persian defeat at Marathon." (Cameron from Studies in Ancient Persia pg 115). He had to restore Persian prestige after what Athens had done. This expedition would be the largest against the Greeks with an enormous amount if time preparing logistically with roads, canals and bridges to help the massive army and navy that would lead the onslaught onto Greece. However the Greeks used their tactical supremacy over the Persians by deciding intelligent battle plans and battle landscapes to suit their strengths. Their weaponry was far more advanced and their troops had superior training. Xerxes choice to ignore the Greeks strengths led to the failure of the campaign to Greece.
            


Essays Related to Xerxes

1. Xerxes

... be based largely on Greek sources. Some bias is therefore inevitable. It is consequently necessary to included only the less disputable evidence from relatively impartial sources to judge Xerxes contribution to the Persian Wars. Xerxes influence on the 2nd Persian Wars can be categorized into three areas; What provoked him to begin the invasion, the preparation as well as the leadership throughout ... the campaign. It must also be deduced how these factors effected the wars outcome. Xerxes decision to begin a campaign against Greece was provoked by a number of factors. These included hi...

  • Word Count: 664
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Greek Resistance to the Persian Invasion

... the Greeks knew an invasion from Persia was looming. Time however proved to be on their side, which was key in building a defense. Firstly Xerxes inherited an empire in which Egypt was in full revolt. The forces Darius had compiled after the defeat at Marathon which were intended to re-invade ... navy too had very fast ships that could rival the Phoenicians, and unlike the Persians most of the Greeks could swim. Despite the ease at which Xerxes expected to win he had overestimated the power of numbers and underestimated the power of the soldier's motivation. Coupled with a navy that cou...

  • Word Count: 2444
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Aeschylus' Persians and the Depiction of Kingship

... rule to be the will of God, and further establishes his claim to the throne. It is also the basis from which the kings, including Xerxes, claim divinity, which is a crucial characteristic as it validates the reign and emphasizes the king's authority. The next line in the inscription lists ... he was a meticulous leader who never acted out of impulse. In this description of Darius, the people of the chorus draw a comparison to Xerxes, who has brought ruin to Persia as a result of an impetuous desire to conquer Greece. Persians' portrayal of Darius is similar to that from ... their prede...

  • Word Count: 1689
  • Approx Pages: 7

4. Battle of Salamis

... from Salamis where he could watch for officers behaving with distinction, he would find out their name, city and parentage as well as watching the battle Xerxes was very impressed by a plan Artemisia succeeded in that got her out of a very awkward situation to benefit her greatly. An Athenian trireme was chasing ... sank her but the Samothracian crew had been armed with javelins, cleared the deck of the attacking ship, they leapt aboard and captured her. After Xerxes had seen that fine piece of work by a Ionian ship he turned to the Phoenicians and ordered their heads to be cut off from c...

  • Word Count: 798
  • Approx Pages: 3

5. Film Review - 300

... which angered the Persian Emissary. A Spartan soldier, Stelios, then cut off the Persian Emissary's arm and ordered him to go back to Persian lines and warn Xerxes, the Persian King, of what was coming. As Spartan warriors refused to drop their weapons, the battle soon began. Spartans used the Hot Gates to their ... advantage as well as their superior fighting skills to take down many rows of the Persian army. During the battle, Xerxes personally approached Leonidas and tried to get him to surrender bribing him with wealth and power, but Leonidas acted as any Spartan would and declined. ...

  • Word Count: 1257
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Esther

... the most controversial books of the Bible. The book starts out by setting the scene of the story, a prologue almost. King Ahashuerus, also referred to as Xerxes, is having a royal feast for all his people. His wife, Queen Vashti, was also holding a banquet for the women in the palace. In the midst ... king. Mordecai heard this and told Esther, who in turn reported it to ! the king; consequentially the chamberlains were hanged for their plottings. At this time Xerxes promoted a man, Haman, to a very high position, higher than all nobles. All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt do...

  • Word Count: 914
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Gates Of Fire

... Spartan soldiers. Xeones mortally wounded, is found beneath a pile of dead warriors. Under orders from King Xerxes himself the royal surgeons are commanded to attend to Xeones. Once recovered, he is placed before King Xerxes and his scribes and historians to find out how so few men could hold off two million troops ... at Thermopylae, and was ordered by Orontes captain of the Immortals to tell his story about what kind of men were these Spartans to his Majesty Xerxes. King Xerxes felt that by Xeones telling his story that it may be learned how a relatively small force of three hundred cou...

  • Word Count: 2446
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Herodotus and Thucydides - Greek Historians

... his army sending them back to Persia. Darius dies before he could lead another invasion and his son Xerxes succeeded him and is appointed as king. Another reason for the cause of the Persian Wars was the invasion of Xerxes. Xerxes was Darius's son who was the next heir to the throne. The king of Persia wanted to fulfil ... his dads dream of conquering the Greeks. Xerxes assembled the largest army and navy the world had ever seen and set out to Hellespont, between Asia Minor and Europe. There, he made his way ... 300 Spartans at the mountains of Thermopylae. The Spartans were tragically d...

  • Word Count: 1042
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Persia, Greece and the Persian War

... Persians and the Greeks began to improve their technology and warships. Yet as the war progressed Persia's king and commander Darius has died and was replaced by his son Xerxes. During his rule, Xerxes invaded Greece with a force of 13,000 soldiers and 1,200 ships which was a greater number of forces than his father's last invasion of Greece. Even though the Persian ... to a chance of failure Leonidas told his extra 7000 allies to go south and flee and that his 300 Spartans would hold them off as they go ( Philip, Axelrod88). When Xerxes and Leonidas met up at a narrow passage it would ...

  • Word Count: 990
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School