Xerxes I of Persia (c. 519 BCE – 465 BCE), also known as Xerxes the Great, was a king of the Achaemenid Empire during the Greco-Persian Wars, and an ally of the Order of the Ancients in Persia.
Biography[]
Like his father, Darius I, Xerxes I was a strong ally[1][2] of the Order of the Ancients.[3] Additionally, the Cult of Kosmos supported Xerxes in his attempted conquest of Greece, unsuccessfully trying to sway King Leonidas of Sparta to allow Xerxes to conquer the land through their puppet the Oracle of Delphi.[4]
In 480 BCE, Xerxes led a second Persian invasion of Greece. Before crossing the river Strymon, Xerxes had white horses sacrificed as well as nine young women and men buried alive. After that, his army marched to clash with Leonidas' forces at the Hot Gates of Thermopylai in Malis.[3]
To oppose Xerxes' tyranny, the Persian elite consisting of Darius, Amorges, and Pactyas formed and led the Protectors of Persia, a secret group that resisted the King.[5] In August 465 BCE, while the freedom fighters attacked Xerxes' convoy, Darius used the distraction and his disguise as one of the king's agents to sneak in from behind and assassinate Xerxes.[6] This act marked the first recorded use of the Hidden Blade.[7][8]
He was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes I.[3]
Influence and legacy[]
By the time of the Peloponnesian War, a fort within Lokris was named after Xerxes.[3]
The place where Xerxes had performed his sacrifice of horses, women, and men near the river Strymon was afterwards known as Xerxes' Sacrifice of the Nine. The Followers of Ares had made their camp therein, and were subsequently slain by the misthios Kassandra.[3]
By the 420s BCE, Xerxes' story was part of a play written by Thespis, based on the Battle of Thermopylae. The part of Xerxes was set to be played by an actor famous for his previous villainous roles.[9]
By the 1st century BCE, Darius' killing of Xerxes had earned him a legendary reputation, and the Hidden Blade used during the assassination came to be seen as a "weapon of justice" according to Aya.[10] By the time of the Renaissance, Darius was a revered figure among the Assassins, the organization co-founded by Aya and her husband Bayek, for his fight against tyranny, best exemplified by his assassination of Xerxes.[7]
Personality and characteristics[]
Xerxes was known to be a cruel, ruthless, sadistic, ambitious and dictatorial man obsessed with conquering Greece to avenge his own father. He did not tolerate the resistance of his enemies against his massive Persian army, considering it as useless.[6]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed II (first mentioned)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (mentioned only)
- Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted (first appearance)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Bully the Bullies
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted – Protector of Persia
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted – Shadow of a Legend
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Curse of Fame
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Aya
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