Xerxes I
Xerxes I succeeded Darius. His reign is associated with continued building at Persepolis and the campaign in Greece. Greek narratives need to be considered alongside Achaemenid inscriptions and material evidence.
Reign: 486–465 BCE
These cultural and symbolic images do not depict Dorehami members or events.
Image and licence
File:Persepolis stairs of the Apadana relief.jpg — Phillip Maiwald (Nikopol) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / crop
File:Persepolis stairs of the Apadana relief02.JPG — Taranis-iuppiter — CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / crop
Object images show the period’s heritage and are not necessarily authenticated portraits of this person.
Context and a reading path
Xerxes should not be studied only through campaigns in Greece. His place in imperial continuity, building and royal representation also matters. A campaign map is not a complete picture of an empire’s political and social life.
How to read the evidence
Read Greek narratives with attention to subject and audience rather than accepting or rejecting them wholesale. Compare Achaemenid evidence: what does it say about the same issue, and what does it leave unsaid? Films and games are not direct historical evidence.
A question to discuss
How might accounts of the same war differ when written from different perspectives?
The answer need not be settled beforehand. First note what the source actually tells us, then separate questions from guesses. Children can draw an object or building from the period; an imagined picture should not be presented as historical evidence.
Sources and further reading
Content reviewed: 19 October 2026
Back to the Achaemenids
Cyrus II: Cyrus the Great
About 559–530 BCE
Cambyses II
530–522 BCE
Bardiya and the Gaumata question
522 BCE
Darius I: Darius the Great
522–486 BCE
Artaxerxes I
465/464–424/423 BCE
Xerxes II
424/423 BCE
Sogdianus
424/423 BCE
Darius II
about 423–404 BCE
Artaxerxes II
about 404–359/358 BCE
Artaxerxes III
359/358–338/337 BCE
Arses: Artaxerxes IV
338–336 BCE
Darius III
336–330 BCE
Bessus: a claimant after Darius III
330–329 BCE