Xerves Career

From Biki

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Succession 1.2 Administration of the empire 1.3 Revolts in the empire 1.4 Foreign policy: role in invasion of the Greek mainland 1.5 Building Program 1.6 Religious Policy

Career

Succession

The succession of Xerxes to the Persian throne after the death of his father Darius, appears to have gone smoothly. There was no challenge to the throne unlike that to latter kings.

Darius’ eldest son was Artabazanes, who was born before his father was king, by a commoner wife.

Xerxes was born after his father’s accession to the throne. His mother Atossa was the daughter of Cyrus the Great.

Sometime after 498BC, Xerxes appears to have become his father’s representative in Babylon. Xerxes also appears in reliefs at Persepolis behind his father Darius.

According to Ctesias, Xerxes’ brother Ariamenes, satrap of Bactria, contested the throne but was won over by gifts and the promise that he would be second in the kingdom after Xerxes. Ariamenes crowned the new King and remained loyal, dying a hero at Salamis.

Herodotus gives a different version: a violent quarrel broke out between Darius’ sons over the succession. A deposed Spartan king named Demeratus told Darius that in Sparta the custom was for the son born after his father became king to become king himself. Darius proclaimed Xerxes heir.

Herodotus believed that Xerxes would have become king anyway, ‘because of the immense influence of Atossa’.

An inscription dating to the beginning of Xerxes’ reign alludes to his power struggle: “Other sons of Darius there were – thus unto Ahura Mazda was the desire – Darius my father made me the greatest after himself”.

J.M Cook points out that Xerxes had a stronger claim than his brother because his mother, Atossa, was the daughter of Cyrus the Great. (The Persian Empire; J.M Cook; p. 74)

An inscription from Xerxes’ reign clearly shows that he was proud of his Achaemenid ancestry. Like Darius, he claimed the divine sanction of Ahura Mazda for his reign. “A great god is Ahura Mazda…who made Xerxes king, one king of many…I am Xerxes, the great king…song of Darius the king, an Achaemenid, a Persian…by the favour of Ahura Mazda…” (History of the Persian Empire; A.T Olmstead; p. 231)

Administration of the empire

The empire was a hereditary monarchy (king who inherited the throne from his father). The descendants of Achaemenes, the Achaemenids, formed the royal dynasty and ruled by the grace of Ahura Mazda. The Great King was not a god, but an absolute monarch, administering the realm from his palaces.

The king had considerable assistance in administering the empire.

High officials were appointed form the royal family and nobles as they were more likely to be loyal to the king.

The empire was divided into administrative areas called satrapies. When Xerxes became king there were over 20, each ruled by a satrap responsible to the king.

The king also appointed a satrap’s secretary and commander of the garrison.

The satrap collected tribute, raised military levies, dispensed justice, administered the economy and minted silver coinage.

The law was administered locally with a right of appeal to the satrap or even the Great king himself, assisted by a panel of royal judges who formed a High Court and held office for life.

Wherever possible, the Persian rulers tried to keep local institutions in each new area to prevent disruption.

Revolts in the empire

Within Persia itself, the change from Darius to Xerxes was smooth, but Xerxes had to contend with several revolts in the empire during the early years of his reign

1. Egypt::

Given encouragement by the Persian defeat at Marathon, Egypt rebelled in 486BC in protest against a rise in taxes designed to finance the invasion of Greece, against the corruption of the Persian administration and against the policy of skilled workers begin taken to work as labourers on building projects.

Darius died before he could put down the revolt.

Xerxes may have gone to Egypt himself. By 484BC, the revolt had been suppressed.

Property of many temples was confiscated and the treatment of the people became harsher.

Xerxes’ brother Achaemenes was appointed as satrap.

Xerxes broke with the tradition of posing as native ruler and built no temples. He became an unpopular king in Egypt.

Shortly before the death of Darius, the satrapy of Egypt rose in revolt, apparently as a protest against the heavy taxes imposed by the Persians.

Xerxes was left to deal with this protest, which he ruthlessly suppressed. He showed Egypt no mercy. Previously Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius had adopted Egyptian pharaonic titles but Xerxes did not.

He appears to have authorised no buildings in Egypt, and Egyptian officials filled only the lowest positions in administration.

Also, Xerxes confiscated temple lands, earning him the hatred of Egyptian priests,

He then appointed his brother Achaemenes to replace the satrap Pherendates, who had apparently been killed during the revolt.

2. Babylon

Two revolts in Babylon occurred: one in 484BC and the other in 482BC when the satrap Zopyrus was killed. The Babylonians were discontented because of taxation, the loss of skilled workers and the upkeep of the Persian court and garrison there.

Xerxes sent his brother-in-law Megabyzus to crush the revolt.

Babylon was severely punished: the fortifications were torn down, the leaders were executed and their land was given to Persian nobles. A minor gold statue from the temple of Bel Marduk was taken, a priest who objected to this was killed, the Euphrates River was diverted to divide the city and taxation remained high.

Xerxes seems to have dropped the title of “King of Babylon” from his official titles.

The satrapy of “Babylon and the Lands Beyond the River” lost its identity by being divided into two smaller satrapies, reducing Babylon’s political status. Babylon does not seem to have suffered economically after the revolt.

The Babylonians seemed to have resented the heavy taxation imposed by Xerxes and the forced removal of labourers to work on his monuments.

When Babylon revolted for the second, and last time, Xerxes was not so lenient. Among the punishments inflicted on the Babylonians was the destruction of the fortifications of Babylon, the execution of some priests, the infliction of damage on major religious sanctuaries and the confiscation and removal to Persepolis of valuable religious property.

Babylon lost its former political significance as a special province of the Achaemenid empire and was absorbed into the new satrapy of Assyria.

Foreign policy: role in invasion of the Greek mainland

Wars against the Greeks

Xerxes inherited his father’s plan to add Greece to the Persian empire, to take revenge on Athens for the help they had given the Ionains during the Ionian Revolt and for the defeat inflicted on the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490BC.

Until 483BC, revolts and internal problems had delayed Xerxes’ plans for invasion.

Internal pressure

There was significant pressure within Persia for Xerxes to invade Greece.

For example, as told by Herotodus, there was a lot of pressure from Mardonius, Xerxes’ brother-in-law who wanted to be governor of Greece.

European Greece would have been a profitable addition to the empire, certainly, but at the centre of Xerxes’ decision there must have been the feeling that he was honour bound to attack the Athenians since his father had failed to punish them.

Reasons for the attack on Greece

It is believed that Xerxes was greatly influenced by his cousin Mardonius, who was ambitious to become the satrap of newly conquered territory. He urged Xerxes to carry out Darius’ plan to attack Greece.

Queen Atossa was a very ambitious woman who also urged Xerxes to attack Greece, as she wanted her son to be acclaimed a worthy successor to Darius. She wanted to see the boundaries of the empire extended.

Xerxes himself wanted to acquire new territory and to be seen as a worthy successor to Darius. :Only Xerxes’ uncle Artabanus felt that the enterprise was too ambitious and feared defeat for the Persians.

Xerxes received envoys from Thessaly promising aid, and the exiled family from Athens, the Peisistraditids, was willing to help Persia.

Since the attack by Darius across the Aegean Sea had failed, Xerxes decided to invade Greece from the north. The army was to be supported by the fleet.

Preparations

Xerxes mobilised the resources of an immense empire for the expedition and spent approximately four years preparing.

Huge supply depots were established along the route through Thrace and Macedonia.

Engineers were engaged on large projects:

--> The bridge across the Hellespont allowed all the troops and supplies to cross from Asia into Europe. The distanced bridged was 1500 metres.

--> A canal was dug through the peninsula behind Mt Athos to avoid the diaster of 492BC when Darius’ fleet was destroyed by a storm. It took two years to build. The canal was over 2000 metres and 20 metres wide. Two triremes could be rowed past each other. Large breakwaters were built at either end to prevent the canal entrance and exit from silting up.

--> A bridge across the River Strymon allowed all the troops and supplies to cross safely.

--> A canal was cut at Mt. Athos to avoid any storm damage to the naval boats

The army

Herodotus says the army consisted of 1 700 000 men and was “far greater than any other in recorded history”. Modern historians suggest between 200 000 and 200 000 men.

The army consisted of components from various parts of the empire with their own dress, weapons and tactics.

It was organised into sub-units of 10, 100, 1000, and 10 000 men. Mede or Persian generals supervised each group.

The main strength of the Persian army was in the Iranian cavalry and infantry, who were armed with a bow and spear.

The cavalry was drawn from all over the empire and included both horses and camels. The light cavalry would harass the enemy from a distance with javelins and bows, while the heavy cavalry used spears at close range.

Three generals commanded the cavalry.

The Persian army developed from the military traditions and tactics used by the Assyrian army.

The elite myriad of the Persian army was the king’s personal division, the 10 000 special chosen ‘Immortals’ – so called because their numbers were always kept up to 10 000. Included within the Immortals was the highest-ranking group of all, the Arstibara or king’s ‘Spearbearers’, composed of members of the Persian nobility.

As the empire expanded the army was increased by the addition of other myriads of infantry conscripted from the subject peoples. Valuable archaeological evidence of these people can be found in the sculptured reliefs from the palace at Persepolis.

The cavalry was the most important addition to the army.

The Medes who were regarded as the finest horsemen in Asia, formed the cream of the cavalry.

By the time of the campaign against Greece, cavalry included contingents of Bactrians, Sagartians, Cissians and Indians as well as Libyan chariots and Arabian camel units.

The navy

300 Phoenician ships formed the core of the fleet of 1 200 ships. The Egyptians were the next most important fleet with 200 ships.

The Ionians supplied 300 ships but their loyalty was in doubt when fighting fellow Greeks.

Four admirals commanded the fleet.

Transport and supply vessels were also used to sail parallel to the army.

Persia relied on the use of the navies of the maritime nations that it conquered.

The fleets of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Ionians formed the core of the Persian navy to which were added smaller contingents from Eastern Mediterranean states such as Cyprus, Pamphylia, Lydia and Caria.

The crews of these ships were manned by the marines of the subject states as well as a number of Persian sailors.

Each state’s navy was commanded by its own naval officers under the overall command of Persian admirals.

Xerxes’ invasion of Greece

Xerxes had three main objectives for his Greek offensive:

--> to punish the Athenians for their involvement in the Ionian revolt during the time of Darius and for the Persian defeat at Marathon in 490 BC

--> to extend the Persian empire into Europe by adding Greece

--> to gain personal glory as his predecessors had done before him.

Persian Strategy

Herodotus tells us “Xerxes called a conference of the leading men in the country, to find out their attitude towards the war and explain to them his own wishes.” (Book VII, section 8)

Foreign policy was based on conquest rather than a system of alliances.

Xerxes sent envoys to the Greek states demanding ‘earth and water’, the traditional tokens of submission. Athens and Sparta were excluded from this offer, because they were to be attacked and punished for previous offences.

Many of the Greek states had little choice but to agree to Persian demands in view of their own defencelessness and the size of the Persian force marching against them.

Persian policy: A vital component of Xerxes’ strategy was the decision to invade Greece by a combined land and sea attack. It was essential that the navy kept close contact with the army in order to provide it with supplies, protection and communication.

Persian logistics

Logistics refers to the provision, movement and supply of armed forces. It includes the following:

--> mobilisation (recruitment) of forces

--> supply of weapons and ammunition

--> provision of communications

--> organisation of transport

--> provision and distribution of stores (food, clothing, etc.)

Persian tactics

Tactics concern the particular methods of fighting adopted in battle. They include:

--> choice of area in which to fight

--> decision about when to fight

--> deployment (positioning) of troops before battle

--> troop manoeuvres during battle

Persian battle tactics relied on the use of vast numbers of soldiers.

This tactic was more suitable for the open terrain of Persian lands than the mountains and narrow passes of Greece.

Another feature of Persian tactics was the use of archers in initial attack. Kneeling archers would direct volleys of arrows at the enemy’s front line. The purpose of this was to panic the opposing force and prepare the way for the advance of the infantry.

The cavalry, a vital contingent of the army, would support the infantry and archers – its mobility enabled it to harass any section of the enemy line that tried to retreat.

Xerxes and his commanders used these tactics with varying success throughout the campaigns of 480-479 BC.

Methods of warfare

Both armies usually put their most experienced soldiers in the centre, even though the heaviest fighting usually took place on the wings.

Preparations by the Greeks

Mainland states looked to Sparta for leadership. Sparta was the head of an alliance of Peloponnesian states, including Thevbes, Megara, and Aegina.

In 481BC, representatives of states willing to resist the Persians met at Sparta and pledged to put aside their feuds.

Spies were sent to Western Asia. Xerxes captured three and allowed them to see the strength of his forces and then let them return to Greece, hoping the Greeks would submit.

King Leonidas of Sparta was in charge of the Greek defence on land, and Eurybiades was in charge of the fleet.

Athens provided 200 of the 334 warships. Themistocles, an Athenian, came to have a very important role in the planning and tactics used in the naval battles.

The Greeks planned to meet the Persian army as it advanced. To protect northern Greece it would be necessary to guard the mountains between Thessaly and Macedonia. This would leave the rest of Greece open to attack.

Thessaly appealed for aid in guarding the Olympic Pass.

A force of 10 000 Greeks was sent to the pass at Tempe in northern Thessaly. When the Thessalians medised (changed to the Persian side), the defence at Tempe was abandoned.

The Greek army assembled at the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Peloponnesians had decided to defend the peninsula, leaving Athens to certain destruction. Themistocles threatened to withdraw the Athenian fleet.

The Greeks decided to hold the narrow coastal pass at Thermopylae and the channel off Cape Artemisium.

The Greeks were aware of Xerxes plans through spies sent to Persia, but were too preoccupied with domestic concerns to respond.

It was decided that the best overall strategy to counter the invasion was to bottle up Persia’s army and navy in narrow areas. This would make it impossible for them to deploy their huge numbers of troops and ships in traditional open formation.

Another important strategy was to prevent the Persian fleet from carrying out its vital supporting role of maintaining the extended supply lines to the army.

The course of the war

Xerxes planned to conquer Greece striking from the satrapy of Thrace.

Roads had been built in Thrace and the towns had been stocked with grain.

The great army assembled at Critalla and advanced with Xerxes to Sardis. From Sardis, Xerxes sent representatives to Greece, except for Athens and Sparta, to demand submission.

Xerxes was confident that the Greeks would fear the might of the Persian army and submit.

Xerxes marched to Abydos, where the Egyptians and the Phoenicians had constructed two bridges held together by cables and flax. When the bridges were destroyed by a storm, those in charge were beheaded.

The Greek Harpalus built new bridges consisting of ships that wer anchored together by six huge cables of flax and papyrus with three gaps for the passage of boats. On them were laid planks, then twigs, and then earth. Finally a paling was constructed along each side, high enough to prevent horses and mules from seeing over and taking fright. There were 360 vessels used in the bridge on the Black Sea side, and 314 for the Aegean Sea side.

The huge Persian army marched without hindrance through Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly to Thermopylae, with the fleet following the coastline, conscripting extra ships and crews from the coastal cities and islands as they advanced.

The Battle of Thermopylae

Leonidas went north to Thermopylae, a narrow pass between the mountains and the sea, the gateway to Athens, with 300 Spartans, supported by 7000 allied troops, to delay the Persians until the wall across the Isthmus of Corinth was completed.

The Greek fleet was to keep watch over the Persian navy to the east, near the island of Euboea.

Xerxes reached Thermopylae in early August 480BC and found the small army of 7000 Greeks defending the pass.

Xerxes paused for four days, expecting the outnumbered Greeks to withdraw. He sent a spy to observe the enemy camp.

On the fifth and sixth days, Xerxes sent in his troops to attack the Greeks but his best infantrymen were outclassed by the Spartan hoplites. The Persian casualties were very heavy. Xerxes sent in the Immortals, but they were no more successful.

A Greek traitor, possibly Ephialtes, is reported to have shown the Persians a path through the mountains, behind the Greek position. Xerxes sent the Immortals to surprise the Greek guards at night.

Leonidas ordered most of his troops to withdraw south while 300 Spartans and a small group of allies tried to hold the pass. Leonidas was killed along with the rest of the Spartans.

For the Greeks, Thermopylae was a delaying action that gave them time to evacuate Athens and prepare to meet Xerxes.

The Greeks defiance shocked Xerxes as he expected to march into Greece with little opposition.

According to Herodotus, Xerxes and his troops waited for four days (Herodotus, VII, 210)

On the fifth and sixth days, Xerxes and his army began fighting. The Greeks never slackened according to Herodotus.

This initial assault was to test the strength of the Spartans and their position.

Xerxes’ troops were able to round the Greek position by the Anopaia path. All was lost for Leonidas.

Leonidas sent the majority of Greeks home except for the remnants of the Spartan, Theban, Thespian and Mycenaean troops.

The Spartans were slaughtered and Leonidas’ body was impaled.

Herodotus writes that 200, 000 Persians were killed but many commentators say this is exaggerated. It is generally estimated as 20, 000.

The pass at Thermopylae was so narrow that the Persian’s great advantage in numbers was reduced.

Xerxes sent a force of Medes and Cissians but they were defeated.

Xerxes then sent his famous Immortals, but they also failed.

A third group were sent out, but they were once again defeated

Finally, an insider told Xerxes of a mountain track. Xerxes sent a force over the mountain to encircle the Greeks.

Persians attacked, Leonidas and his force were killed, and the Thebans surrendered.

With news of the Persian victory, the Greek fleet retreated to Athens.

The Persian fleet spent 6 days repairing damage.

Thermopylae was seen as an important victory for the Persians.

They gained control of central Greece and the rest of Greece lay open to Xerxes.

Xerxes then made for Athens.

Herodotus: “…the Persians coming on from the front…and closing in from behind, finally overwhelmed them with missile weapons.” (VII, 227)

The battle lasted for three days.

The Battle of Artemisium

The Greek and Persian fleets engaged indecisively.

The Greek fleet took its position at Artemisium but after the first contact with the Persians withdrew to the narrowest part of the channel at Chalcis.

Hundreds of Persian warships, transports and grainships were wrecked.

In the sea battle the Greeks damaged some of the Persian fleet but when news came of the defeat at Thermopylae, the Greeks retired to Salamis.

The loss of so many ships severely affected Persian naval superiority and left them in a poor position to engage in a full-scale sea battle.

While the Persian and Greek forces were fighting at Thermopylae, inconclusive naval encounters took place in the waters of Cape Artemisium to the north of Euboea.

With better knowledge of local weather conditions, the Greeks were able to ride out the storm in the sheltered waters of the Euripus Channel.

The Persians, in an attempt to encircle the Greek fleet, sent a squadron of 200 ships to sail south around Euboea but it was destroyed in yet another summer storm.

Over the next few days the Persian and Greek fleets fought three battles.

The Persians with their superior numbers and lighter, more manoeuvrable ships, attempted to surround the Greek fleet in the open waters between Aphetae and Artemisium. However, the Greeks used the defensive tactic called the ‘kyklos’, in which their smaller force formed a close circle with their rams pointing outwards, preventing the enemy ships from disrupting their formation. Herodotus (Book VIII, 9) tells that the Persians lost thirty ships in this encounter.

During the night, further storm damage to the Persian ships anchored off Aphetae encouraged the Greeks to sail across the channel and raid part of the Persian fleet engaged in repairing their ships.

In the final encounter, the Persian ships sailed across towards the Greek position at Artemisium and formed an offensive semicircle, which the Greeks attacked head-on. Both sides sustained heavy casualties and the Persians, recognising that little was to be gained, withdrew.

It was at this point that the Greeks received news of the disaster at Thermopylae; realising the danger facing southern Greece, they retreated down the Euripus channel to Athens, the Persian navy in pursuit.

While these naval encounters were indecisive, there were important outcomes:

--> the Greek navy was able, if only briefly, to prevent the Persians from assisting their land forces. Thus, the naval action at Artemisium interrupted the Persian strategy of combined naval and military operations.

--> The Persian navy was now significantly reduced in numbers. This would affect the outcome of the battle of Salamis.

-->Their fleet reduced, the Persians would be unable to send naval detachments to attack other parts of the Greek mainland. The fleet had to be kept together, as its destruction would mean the end of the Greek campaign as originally conceived.

The looting of Athens

At the end of August 480BC, Xerxes marched to Athens.

The Athenians withdrew to the Isthmus of Corinth where the army under :Leonidas’ brother Cleombrotus was frantically trying to finish the wall.

Themistocles had ordered the evacuation of women and children. Most of the men were recruited for the navy, while a handful of men tried to hold the Acropolis.

After a two week siege, the Persians took the Acropolis, killing the defenders before looting and burning its sacred buildings in revenge for the burning of Sardis during the Ionian Revolt.

Xerxes’ fleet sailed on towards Attica.

The Battle of Salamis

The Persian fleet sailed south from Artemisium after the fall of Thermopylae and anchored and anchored in the bay of Phalerum near Athens, meeting up with its army, which now occupied the city.

Reinforced by ships from medising Greek states, the Persian fleet assembled at Phalerum, the port of Athens, for inspection y Xerxes and Mardonius. Only the Ionian Greek Queen Artemisia advised against engaging the Greek fleet at Salamis. She pointed out that the Greeks were superior sailors and that if Xerxes waited the Greeks would soon run out of supplies and surrender. Xerxes ignored this advice and ordered his fleet to assemble.

The Greeks were able to manoeuvre their more agile ships in the narrow straits and so had a great advantage over the Persians. The Greek ships were fitted with rams and could cut a Persian ship in half, turn quickly and do the same again.

By nightfall, Xerxes had witnessed the destruction of most of his fleet, the survivors taking advantage of a westerly wind later in the day to help them escape. The Persians lost 200 ships and the Greeks lost 40.

Aristides and some Spartan hoplites wiped out the contingent of the Immortals positioned on the island of Psyttaleia.

At Salamis, in what was regarded as the major turning point of the Persian wars, the Greek navy decisively defeated the Persian fleet. The Greek commanders were bitterly divided about the best tactics to adopt against the Persians.

The overall commander of the Greek navy was the Spartan Eurybiades, the leader of the Athenian contingent was the brilliant Themistocles.

After Salamis: Mardonius in command

After the defeat of the Persian navy at Salamis, Xerxes returned to Persia, leaving Mardonius to continue the campaign. Mardonius led his troops against the combined Greek army at Plataea in central Greece.

The Battle of Plataea

In 479BC, Mardonius offered terms to Athens but was refused and so he again ransacked Athens.

The Spartans sent 30 000 hoplites to join 8000 Athenians and men from other states against Mardonius.

The Greeks moved at night and Mardonius, thinking they were withdrawing, attacked at dawn.

Mardonius was killed, the Persian order collapsed and the men retreated. Thus Xerxes failed to add mainland Greece to the empire.

At the battle of Plataea, the Persians enjoyed many initial advantages:

--> the army was as yet undefeated in this campaign

--> Mardonius could rely on the Thebans for men and supples

--> Mardonius had chosen to meet the Greeks on terrain that was well suited for the deployment of his cavalry – now strengthened by the Thessalian cavalry, which used the best horses in Greece.

--> Mardonius himself was an experienced and capable general, by now very familiar with Greek conditions and tactics.

Later Events

Greek forces constantly attacked the Persian empire and Xerxes’ army and navy were decisively defeated.

By the end of Xerxes’ reign in 465BC, the Persians could not even claim a foothold in Europe.

The era of Persian imperial expansion was over.

The Greek view of the victory against the Persians has been emphasised at the expense of a balanced perspective.

M.A Dandamaev believes that: “There is no doubt that the Persians did not regard themselves as being defeated, because the previously proclaimed objectives had been accomplished: Athens was taken twice…To the Achaemenid empire, with its huge extent and enormous resources, the defeat in Greece had the character of minor set-back along the periphery of its realm.” (A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire; pg. 225-226)

Building Program

Xerxes completed the work begun by his father Darius I at Susa. He then turned to Persepolis in Persia itself.

Xerxes' greatest building achievement was the completion of Persepolis, the monumental structure begun by Darius in about 515BC.

“Persepolis was in fact the symbolic apogee of Achaemenian achievement, a monument recording the rise to power of the Persian tribes under the protection of Ahuramazda, the creator god of the Zoroastrian creed.” (Persia and Persepolis; G. Woodcock;

The exact purpose for the building of Persepolis is unclear, but evidence from buildings and inscriptions on the site suggests that it may have served a variety of functions. The majestic splendour of buildings like the Apadana and the Hall of 100 Columns indicates that Xerxes and the other kings who contributed to the structure wished to demonstrate both the might of Persian kingship and the power and wealth of the empire.

The Fortification and Treasury tablets from Persepolis offer valuable insights into the day-to-day administration of the Empire, its commerce and bureaucracy.

The religious importance of the site is also clearly indicated by the inscriptions located at key points of the complex. One such inscription, found at the entrance gate built by Xerxes, read: “Saith Xerxes the King: By the favour of Ahura Mazda, this Colonnade of All Lands I built…whatever good construction is seen, all that by the favour of Ahura Mazda we built.” (Kent, p.150)

Darius laid down the overall plan of Persepolis in about 520BC. Artists and overseers who had finished their work at Susa were brought to Persepolis.

Persepolis is mainly the work of Xerxes. The first eight years of his reign were occupied with putting down revolts in Egypt and Babylonia and his attempt to conquer Greece.

Work on Persepolis started only a year after Xerxes became king, and during the rest of his reign the building became his main interest. A vast amount of the empire’s wealth went into his building program.

Xerxes’ additions to Persepolis

The Apadana, the audience hall, had been begun by Darius but was completed by Xerxes. It is the most impressive building on the site. The terrace was covered with sculptures: Ahura Mazda, palm trees, cypresses, lions attacking bulls, and the magnificent procession of soldiers, courtiers and subject peoples wearing their national dress and carrying their famous products, advancing towards the King at the New Year’s Feast.

Xerxes added stairways to the Palace of Darius

He erected a new palace for himself between the banquet hall and treasury.

The Harem was possibly completed for Queen Amestris and the royal ladies. It was surrounded by rooms for the eunuchs and had various apartments.

The Hall of a Hundred Columns was begun in Xerxes’ last years. There were guard chambers with Immortals carved on the doorways. In the Great Hall there were sculptures of the king in audience in minute detail.

Xerxes began another palace in the last years of his reign on the highest point of the platform.

Xerxes was the great builder at Persepolis. Achaemenid art reached its peak during his reign. He died before the Hall of a Hundred Columns and his Palace were finished.

Religious Policy

Like his father Darius I, Xerxes attributed his ascension to the throne and his building program to Ahura Mazda. Xerxes still honoured Ahura Mazda as the god “who made this earth”, but placed greater reliance on the concept of the mother goddesses.

The Persian god Ahura Mazda appears to have been the major deity worshipped by the Achaemenid kings.

Like Darius, Xerxes was anxious to acknowledge Ahura Mazda as the supreme creator god. More importantly, Xerxes recognised that he was king through the “favour” of Ahura Mazda.

The kings’ worship of Ahura Mazda gave the religion an important political dimension – in justifying their claims to the throne and the activities of their reigns they could seek divine approval.

An important concept of this religion was “Arta”, meaning truth or “righteousness”, and Xerxes chose to emphasise this.

Further demonstrating his devotion to Arta, Xerxes named his son and successor, Artaxerxes, meaning Arta’s kingdom.

Xerxes declared himself an adversary of the daevas, or demons, possibly the gods of the early Aryans, who had been relegated to the position of demons associated with the forces of evil. On a stone tablet at Persepolis, Xerxes states that he destroyed the sanctuaries of the daevas, which he describes as “false gods”. It is not known which country was involved and whether or not he was trying to suppress a local religion and introduce the worship of Ahura Mazda into other parts of the empire.

Xerxes appears to have developed his own form of personal religion that stressed not so much the aloof nature of the god or the strict Zoroastrians, but rather an emphasis on holy Arta, truth and righteousness. Xerxes named his son and successor Artaxerxes, meaning “Arta’s Kingdom”, and urged him to emphasise the concept of righteousness in his rule.