In Search of the Zoroastrians Xerxes |
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Xerxes (meaning "ruler of heroes" although
his real name was Ahasuerus) was king of Persia from 486-465 BCE. He was son of Darius the Great and Atossa, daugher of Cyrus
the Great. During his reign he put down uprisings in both Egypt and Babylon, but his efforts to invade Europe were thrown
back by Greece in 480. He was assassinated by his chief minister, Artabarus, in 465 and succeeded by his son Artaxerxes I.
Artaxerxes continued building work at Persepolis.
It was completed during the reign of Artaxerxes III, around 338 BC. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian armies
of the third Darius. He marched into Iran and, once there, he turned his attention to Persepolis, and that magnificent complex
of buildings was burnt down. This act of destruction for revenge of the Acropolis, was surprising from one who prided himself
on being a pupil of Aristotle. This was the end of the Persian Empire.
Xerxes's Hall of the 100 Columns is the
most impressive building in the complex. It is also the most crowded--a jumble of fallen columns, column heads, and column
bases. |
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