Xerxes I
Xerxes I of Persia (/ˈzɜrksiːz/; Old Persian: OldPersian-XA.svg OldPersian-SHA.svg OldPersian-YA.svg OldPersian-A.svg OldPersian-RA.svg OldPersian-SHA.svg OldPersian-A.svg Xšaya-ṛšā IPA: [xʃajaːrʃaː] meaning "ruling over heroes"[1] Greek Ξέρξης [ksérksɛːs]; 519–465 BC), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth of the king of the kings of the Achaemenid Empire. He ruled from 486 BC until his murder in 465 BC at the hands of Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard. He is notable for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Like his predecessor Darius I, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex, although Xerxes I would briefly manage to conquer even more land of mainland Greece than Darius I through the battles at Thermopylae and Artemisium, overrunning Attica, Boeotia, Euboea, Thessaly,[2] and the rest of mainland Greece to the north of the Isthmus of Corinth,[3] until the losses at Salamis and Plateae which reversed these gains and would eventually end the second invasion decisively.
Xerxes I is most likely the Persian king identified as Ahasuerus (Hebrew: אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Modern Aẖashverosh, Tiberian ʼĂḥašwērôš)) in the biblical Book of Esther.
N49° 59.320 W96° 47.364
A little known fact, Xerxes invented the Persian rug. Really! I’m not yanking the rug out from under you!