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Perspectives on Xerxes the Great
Among all free Hellenes there are two questions which are asked endlessly in these present times; how was a barbarian, this Xerxes, able to overcome the coalition of poleis arrayed against him, and what shall we, the free Hellenes, do now? As for the first question, the answer is divided between circumstance and error. It was inevitable circumstance which drove many of the Hellenes to make peace or alliance with Xerxes, for they did not have the capacity to defend themselves and did not have the support of the Hellenic League. They do not deserve to be deemed Medizers, for they took the only remaining option that presented itself to them. It was error that caused so many wasted opportunities to defend Hellas to pass by, and that caused the battle at Salamis between the two assembled armadas to favour the Persians. The Spartiates have already paid for their misdeeds, and many other Hellenes have done so with their lives. But above all the Hellenes committed a universal error, and that was to underestimate and misunderstand Xerxes himself. They were, and some continue to be, seduced by the notion that Xerxes is a barbarian, that he relies on all of his servants being his obedient slaves, that he has no abilities of his own. This is folly of the highest kind in the face of the considerable abilities that Xerxes brings to bear.
Xerxes rules the greatest Empire that has ever existed. As we have seen it was not created by him, nor much of its current extent added to the original Empire beyond Hellas and Makedonia, but he is of a bloodline of high kings, fierce in their martial prowess and wise in their governance. Xerxes is indeed a tyrant, a king of unnatural power ruling over hundreds of millions of men who could otherwise be free, but he is a wise king, who achieved the conquest of Hellas despite the questionable advisors who helped push him and Dareios, his father, into action against Hellas in the first place. He is cruel, unhesitant in throwing the lives of his lesser servants away to serve his greater purposes, as at the pass of Thermopylai, but will use clemency to weaken the resolve of his opponents, as with the Athenians following the defeat at Salamis. Countless times has Xerxes, king of the Persians, shown himself to be a powerful adversary, and evidence of these occasions have been demonstrated by myself in this undertaking. Those who underestimate him are doomed to fail in their endeavours against him, and doom those who follow them. But Xerxes is not immortal, not invincible, and for all that he possesses many abilities, possessions, and titles that most men would be envious of even individually, he is still consumed by hubris, for his ambitions outreach even the immense gifts that are his by birth, even those immense territories that are grossly swollen against all laws of nature.
This then answers the second question, of what to do to recover our homelands from those who currently occupy them, for we must also resist the continuing ambitions of Xerxes even over the sea. His goal, surpassing nearly all others, is the total conquest of Europa, and he has not remained idle in moving towards this ambition, and when he eventually dies then his heir, if Xerxes has made no movements towards conquest of the free Hellenes by that point, will be driven towards this unfinished goal in precisely the same manner that Xerxes was driven towards completing the unattained conquest of Hellas that was first attempted by Dareios. In either case the means of resistance is twofold; the Italiote League must be preserved, so that all of the Hellenic poleis which even now in Italia growing in splendour and might will unify their forces against any Persian attempt to conquer the lands over the sea. Additionally, the Hellenes must launch expeditions to reconquer their lands, or to defend those Hellenes which are still free and are threatened by Xerxes who do not live over the sea. This aggression must only be conducted, however, when the time is right, when the Persians are lax, when their borders are poorly guarded, when they are distracted by barbarians to the east of their Empire. Under such a king as Xerxes these opportunities may only come rarely, so they must be seized with unparalleled speed when they do, at last, present themselves.
Of all the kings listed by Kadmos in his work, none are so extraordinary as the first ruler of all the Hellenes who was not himself a Hellene, King Xerxes the Great. Xerxes, son of Dareios, was of an ancient line of kings in Persia, the Akhaimenidai. His father, King Dareios the Great, had made an attempt to conquer Hellas but departed this world before a second, more lasting expedition could be launched. King Xerxes took up this sacred duty, to unite the Hellenes and raise them to new heights, to avenge the depredations of the Spartiates and to tame the Athenians, to extend his dominion over those who would threaten his kingdom’s stability. This was achieved, his sacred duty fulfilled, and a union of Hellenes was born for the first time in the history of Hellas. Agamemnon assembled the first great panhellenic alliance, and the greatest armada and army of Hellenes that had ever been known at that time, but those assembled by Xerxes and his descendants would surpass even those achievements. Xerxes showed clemency to many of those who had fought against his conquest, and further clemency to those who rebelled against him in the Great Revolt, showing his compassion after the treachery and brutality of Mardonios’ atrocities. Those he did not show clemency towards were enemies of peace, inveterately warlike to the point where the only just action was to eliminate them from Hellas. Thus was Sparta reduced, delivering freedom to the Messenioi for the first time in centuries, and restoring a natural order in place of the slave-kingdom which had grown into Hellenic affairs like a weed.
After Xerxes’ conquest of Hellas, and restoration of its affairs after the Great Revolt, he did not rest on his achievements. When the Hellenes of Taurika attempted to embargo Hellas, removing their grain supply and causing many to starve, Xerxes sent an expedition to force the restoration of the grain supply. He avenged the murder of his son, Dareios, by his traitorous advisor Autophradates, and put down a revolt in Armenia when it was rumoured that Xerxes himself had perished. His reign as King of Persia lasted for forty three years, and as King of the Hellenes for thirty seven years, and was known by some as Xerxes the Old towards the end of his life. There are only a few kings who compare to the greatness of King Xerxes Dikaios when it comes to the sum of their achievements, and the impact they had upon the strength of Hellas, and Kadmos will now explain King Xerxes’ achievements in greater detail.
BIBLIOTEKHE HISTORIKE BY MOHANE (29 CE)
ON XERXES THE GREAT
There are few alive who have not heard the name Xerxes, or who are unfamiliar with King Xerxes the Great, but in the five centuries since his reign many myths and untrue deeds have been associated with this unparalleled King, and we must establish base truths about this titan of history. King Xerxes was born as son to King Dareios, and was not in any way fathered or mothered by a Hellene, as many have claimed. His father, as we have seen, had inherited and strengthened the great Empire founded by Kyros, and Xerxes would continue the legacy of the Akhaimenidai accordingly. When he became king the realm of Hellas had become a sore spot for the Akhaimenidai, frequently being the cause of warfare or diplomatic incidents on their western border. With Dareios’ expedition against the Hellenes having failed, Xerxes’ first goal as the next King of Persia was to finish what had been started, though he was interrupted in this by revolts in Babylon which occurred over a period of several years. To do this he assembled an immense army, not an army of ten million, nor one million, but an army of five hundred thousand gathered from all quarters of the Empire. He then bridged the Hellespont with an immense, man-created bridge, the like of which has never been seen or attempted since. He and his army passed through first the realms of the northern barbarians and then into Makedonia, whereby the King of the Makedonians Alexander was compelled to give allegiance to King Xerxes. Then began his expedition into Hellas.
Those of small power or who valued survival aligned with Xerxes nearly immediately, and many of those who did not initially submit were quickly forced to do so by the progress of Xerxes’ forces and his installation of garrisons in key locations. There are many Hellenic poleis who claim to have submitted willingly but the histories speak differently. The Hellenes of potency who aligned against him adopted a strategy whereby they attempted to delay his advance through Hellas until he was forced to depart at the end of the campaign season, whereby they would launch a counterattack. This was a wise policy, but Xerxes was wise to it, and by defeating the navy of the Hellenes at Salamis he was able to subdue the Athenians, quickly occupy the Peloponnesos, and defeat the remaining forces ranged against him. It was not King Xerxes who personally destroyed Sparta, the most hated state in Hellas, but he had given authority to his general Artabazos to make such decisions, nor was he displeased when he learned that this decision had been taken. Neither did Xerxes personally order the Messenioi be restored to their independence, though he did affirm this decision. He then set about ordering Hellas as best he could before departing back to the rest of his Empire. Mardonios was initially appointed satrap of Hellas. Though he was not, as some have said, lacking in ability or entirely malicious, as can be evidenced from his earlier prudent tactics in the invasion of Hellas and a time as successful satrap of the Hellenes, he did cause a general revolt among the Hellenes and effectively revolted against Xerxes by ordering the destruction of Hellenic cities without seeking permission to take such drastic measures. Upon Xerxes arrival he executed Mardonios and restored peace to Hellas, though he did remove the formerly independent status of many regions in Hellas and make them a part of the satrapy proper. He made a visit to Messenia upon his second, and final, journey to Hellas, whereby he reaffirmed the rights and privileges of the Messenioi, and Messenia remains the region of Hellas in which Xerxes is most beloved.
During Xerxes remaining years as king, which were many, there could not be found a foe to master him. The forces of the Hellenes who chose to resist him could not ultimately win out against him, though they fought bravely. Autophradates, who was an advisor to Xerxes and not his bastard son, killed Xerxes’ chosen heir and had aimed to take the throne himself, but King Xerxes utterly defeated Autophradates, and had his entire close family put to death in the cruelest possible fashions.The Hellenes in Taurika, who attempted to withhold vital grain supplies and who raised their banners against them, were crushed, and the more trustworthy Sindoi raised to masters of Taurika in their place. The revolts of Babylon in the early part of the king’s reign, before his expeditions to Hellas, were put down. The incursions of Saka on the north-eastern frontiers were beaten back, and many new tribes of Saka were made to become tributaries of Xerxes instead. The expedition of Perikles of Megathenai and Herodotos of Halikarnassos against Krete was the closest that any men came to mastering Xerxes on the field of battle. Many once said that the claims of victories on Krete by the Megathenian expedition were false, they were simply attempts to frighten those Hellenes that remained loyal to the Persians, but this is known to have been false, and those who still repeat it are poorly educated. Even then they were only able to conquer part of the island of Krete, and were forced to come to terms with Xerxes when both sides proved unable to be defeated in open warfare.
Xerxes remains to this day the perfect example of a king. Indomitable warrior, consummate general, the preserver of his already vast kingdom and successful expander of its boundaries, and one of the most pious rulers that the world has ever seen. His dedication to gods and religious scruples are an example to all that have followed him, even before the coming of the teachings of Boda to Asia. Though this is not so well known in the west of Asia, many Asians elsewhere have claimed that Xerxes had already encountered the teachings of Boda, and made laws in accordance with them. This is not to be believed, and indeed it is to be lauded that such a pious grace could exist in a person, great as they were, who remained ignorant as to Boda and his teachings. The name of Xerxes shall forever provoke fear among the unrighteous, and awe among the morally great, and upon the great steppes of Asia, when a child misbehaves, their parents will get them to behave by saying that if they are disobedient that the great spirit Xeres will come for them.
In these times of discourse between the kingdom of the Hellenic Persians and the free Hellenes, of reconciliation between the Hellenes of the west and the Hellenes of the east, what are we to think of such a man, a king, as Xerxes? Not so long ago a man in my position, as a free citizen of Dikaia, would have declared him an enemy of all that is right in the world, a brutal conqueror and a tyrant and a glutton of all the world’s wealth. But I am not so sure that Herodotos was off the mark when he described Xerxes as wise but cruel, skilled but consumed with hubris. It is clear to any thinking man that Herodotos understood Xerxes far better than most, for it was only he, in conjunction with Perikles, who was able to roll back any of Xerxes’ conquests, and he bought the freedom of the western part of Krete for some time afterwards. It is also clear that Xerxes was impossible to defeat on the field, only to delay, and that he was far from stupid. One need only look at the history of all conflicts with that king to see the evidence of this. Those who believed Xerxes stupid fell before him, and those who relied purely on the idea that they were righteous and that he was an impious and barbarian king who would get his due fared equally poorly. He also had capable and skilled generals under his command, equally capable of gaining victories against the Hellenes even without the supervision of their King. Mardonios, Artabazos, Hystapses are all figures of some dread in the history of the free Hellenes, and for good reason. But those who claimed to write history and which tried to portray these men as the only reason that Xerxes ever won anything, as the sole reason for Xerxes’ success in Hellas, were liars, and guaranteed that further progress against the Persians would not be made.
Nor is it possible, in good faith, to say that Hellas under the rule of Xerxes and his descendants, or under these newer rulers descended from Amavadatos, is desolate or entirely unhappy. There are many sycophants that dwell in the satrapy of Hellas, in the lands of our ancestors, and the worst of them are intolerable to deal with, a breed apart in their entirety, but most of the Hellenes who have been under the yoke of the Persians have simply tried to get by. Given the strength of their conquerors, and the brutal ways in which Hellenic revolts have been put down, who can blame them? Not only that, there are Hellenes who have cause to be grateful to the Persians, in particular the Messenioi who had been under the dominion of the Spartiates. They were raised up from their servitude, and gained freedom over their own lands once again. Now it is possible to say that it is only the fact that the Persians benefited them specifically that cause the Messenioi to respect them so, and this is nothing more than the most base kind of gratitude manifesting as respect, and that is not entirely without merit, but it is sufficient evidence to say that some of the eastern Hellenes enjoy more freedom and justice than they previously experienced. Others can report similar. In addition, the roads and similar construction projects that Xerxes and his descendants commissioned have enabled trade and discourse between landbound Hellenes on a scale our ancestors would not have known. Yet Mardonios and Xerxes caused a number of Hellenic cities to be razed, and this should not be forgotten, even though the Spartiates were disliked by most other Hellenes this must be included within this category of atrocity. Neither were the Hellenic cities freed from interference, and these eastern poleis no longer have freedom of foreign policy. In addition the mood is to celebrate kingship, even at times at the expense of those poleis who have retained their constitutions gained at the expense of kings. This attitude extended towards kingship is because of the visible strength of the kings like Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and once again because of these modern descendants of Amavadatos.
We can and should still point to Xerxes as the cause of a lack of interest in general liberty that has become endemic throughout Hellas, which must be corrected in our dealings with our homelands. In addition, he is the reason that argument and debate have become muted, though not silenced, in Hellas proper, comparing the philosophical texts and histories written by those such as Xenokritos with those written in Italia and elsewhere is like comparing the speech of babes to that of fully grown adults. We must restore what has been lost. Xerxes was cruel, frequently, and we must never forget or forgive these things. We must remember all of the cities he caused to be knocked down, all of the prominent men and women he caused to be killed, and witness the multitudes that had to flee his imminent conquest. Neither must we ever allow ourselves to love his lust for conquest. But perhaps I can acknowledge his personal bravery, his martial skill, his political intelligence and his common sense, and also that he did not entirely treat the homeland of the Hellenes without respect.
How the scholar’s heart leaps when they turn to the era of King Xerxes! An era of titanic struggles across the face of the earth, of great kings and noble demokrats, of vast armies, and the foundation of the world in which we live. What exemplary men there are to study! What talents! It is no wonder, therefore, that among the skeptikoi it is by far the preferred area of study, with the sole exception of the meteoric rise of the Tyrsenoi. It is the study of these two periods and places that forms the core of what we understand to be proper arkhaioteria, the necessary education of all of those who would become valuable in our society, and of these two periods the Xerxian is by far the most fascinating. Picture, if you will, King Xerxes, handsome specimen of a noble lineage of Asian kings, ruthless, determined, born to all the talents his ancestors commanded, long-lived beyond all expectation. The importance of this one man in our history cannot be understated, especially as we understand him to a more subtle and nuanced degree than those Hellenes which had initial cause to despise him for taking control of their homeland. He is also a picture of unequalled ambition which fascinates and which, to some degree, appals. His legacy shines through even into our history, in lands which never felt the touch of his boots or the presence of Persian soldiers.
Then picture the quality of his opponents! Aiskhylos, the poet-warrior, veteran of the great battle of Marathon against Xerxes’ father, Dareios, hammer of the Persians until his dying day; Perikles son of Xanthippos, the arch-demokrat of early Megathenai, champion of the Italiote League and architect of Megathenai’s greatness, crafty beyond all measure; Herodotos, the prince of Halikarnassos who came among the exiled Athenians, who created the entire western tradition of historia, and who near the end of his life would lead armies in the struggle to liberate Krete; Kimon, the lifelong anti-monarchist, the great skeptikos of Megathenaic literature but also the firebrand who alienated his own patriotic fellows; Sophokles son of Sephilos, the first (and some would say greatest) dramatist of history, who wielded his stylus as his weapon against the might of Xerxes, and who carved up the face of his opponent with his satires, tragedies, and comedies; Phyrnikhos, Sophokles’ only rival for king of the tragedies, who sought to capture the grief of the Hellenes in exile and harness it into steely determination to reclaim their homeland. For all that King Xerxes was, by himself, a man of impossible power, he was also the making of his opponents, and much of the measure of the man is in the qualities he inspired among the western Hellenes after the disaster at Salamis. He inspired them to create new societies, stronger ones, in the lands of Hesperia and beyond, including the lands of my own people’s ancestors, the Massaliotes. The foundation of glorious Massalia rests on the determination instilled by Xerxes in the citizens of ancient Massalia, as does the foundation of our greatest friends and foes. He has as big a part to play in the creation of our arkhait culture as the Hellenes and the Tyrsenoi. The height of this legacy came with the reunion of western and eastern Hellenes, the Great Reconciliation. The best parts of what each had discovered were brought together and rose the world around them to new heights. Even the end of the arkhait world, with the collapse of both Tinian and Imerian Empires, would not undo the progress that had been made, and brought about a new, Hellenistic, world.
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 3:XSHAHYAM or BASILEIA
HERODOTOS OF HALIKARNASSOS’ HISTORIA (c.440 BCE)
ON XERXES
CHAPTER 3:XSHAHYAM or BASILEIA
HERODOTOS OF HALIKARNASSOS’ HISTORIA (c.440 BCE)
ON XERXES
Among all free Hellenes there are two questions which are asked endlessly in these present times; how was a barbarian, this Xerxes, able to overcome the coalition of poleis arrayed against him, and what shall we, the free Hellenes, do now? As for the first question, the answer is divided between circumstance and error. It was inevitable circumstance which drove many of the Hellenes to make peace or alliance with Xerxes, for they did not have the capacity to defend themselves and did not have the support of the Hellenic League. They do not deserve to be deemed Medizers, for they took the only remaining option that presented itself to them. It was error that caused so many wasted opportunities to defend Hellas to pass by, and that caused the battle at Salamis between the two assembled armadas to favour the Persians. The Spartiates have already paid for their misdeeds, and many other Hellenes have done so with their lives. But above all the Hellenes committed a universal error, and that was to underestimate and misunderstand Xerxes himself. They were, and some continue to be, seduced by the notion that Xerxes is a barbarian, that he relies on all of his servants being his obedient slaves, that he has no abilities of his own. This is folly of the highest kind in the face of the considerable abilities that Xerxes brings to bear.
Xerxes rules the greatest Empire that has ever existed. As we have seen it was not created by him, nor much of its current extent added to the original Empire beyond Hellas and Makedonia, but he is of a bloodline of high kings, fierce in their martial prowess and wise in their governance. Xerxes is indeed a tyrant, a king of unnatural power ruling over hundreds of millions of men who could otherwise be free, but he is a wise king, who achieved the conquest of Hellas despite the questionable advisors who helped push him and Dareios, his father, into action against Hellas in the first place. He is cruel, unhesitant in throwing the lives of his lesser servants away to serve his greater purposes, as at the pass of Thermopylai, but will use clemency to weaken the resolve of his opponents, as with the Athenians following the defeat at Salamis. Countless times has Xerxes, king of the Persians, shown himself to be a powerful adversary, and evidence of these occasions have been demonstrated by myself in this undertaking. Those who underestimate him are doomed to fail in their endeavours against him, and doom those who follow them. But Xerxes is not immortal, not invincible, and for all that he possesses many abilities, possessions, and titles that most men would be envious of even individually, he is still consumed by hubris, for his ambitions outreach even the immense gifts that are his by birth, even those immense territories that are grossly swollen against all laws of nature.
This then answers the second question, of what to do to recover our homelands from those who currently occupy them, for we must also resist the continuing ambitions of Xerxes even over the sea. His goal, surpassing nearly all others, is the total conquest of Europa, and he has not remained idle in moving towards this ambition, and when he eventually dies then his heir, if Xerxes has made no movements towards conquest of the free Hellenes by that point, will be driven towards this unfinished goal in precisely the same manner that Xerxes was driven towards completing the unattained conquest of Hellas that was first attempted by Dareios. In either case the means of resistance is twofold; the Italiote League must be preserved, so that all of the Hellenic poleis which even now in Italia growing in splendour and might will unify their forces against any Persian attempt to conquer the lands over the sea. Additionally, the Hellenes must launch expeditions to reconquer their lands, or to defend those Hellenes which are still free and are threatened by Xerxes who do not live over the sea. This aggression must only be conducted, however, when the time is right, when the Persians are lax, when their borders are poorly guarded, when they are distracted by barbarians to the east of their Empire. Under such a king as Xerxes these opportunities may only come rarely, so they must be seized with unparalleled speed when they do, at last, present themselves.
EXTRACT FROM KADMOS’ LIVES OF KINGS (c.390 BCE)
KING XERXES
KING XERXES
Of all the kings listed by Kadmos in his work, none are so extraordinary as the first ruler of all the Hellenes who was not himself a Hellene, King Xerxes the Great. Xerxes, son of Dareios, was of an ancient line of kings in Persia, the Akhaimenidai. His father, King Dareios the Great, had made an attempt to conquer Hellas but departed this world before a second, more lasting expedition could be launched. King Xerxes took up this sacred duty, to unite the Hellenes and raise them to new heights, to avenge the depredations of the Spartiates and to tame the Athenians, to extend his dominion over those who would threaten his kingdom’s stability. This was achieved, his sacred duty fulfilled, and a union of Hellenes was born for the first time in the history of Hellas. Agamemnon assembled the first great panhellenic alliance, and the greatest armada and army of Hellenes that had ever been known at that time, but those assembled by Xerxes and his descendants would surpass even those achievements. Xerxes showed clemency to many of those who had fought against his conquest, and further clemency to those who rebelled against him in the Great Revolt, showing his compassion after the treachery and brutality of Mardonios’ atrocities. Those he did not show clemency towards were enemies of peace, inveterately warlike to the point where the only just action was to eliminate them from Hellas. Thus was Sparta reduced, delivering freedom to the Messenioi for the first time in centuries, and restoring a natural order in place of the slave-kingdom which had grown into Hellenic affairs like a weed.
After Xerxes’ conquest of Hellas, and restoration of its affairs after the Great Revolt, he did not rest on his achievements. When the Hellenes of Taurika attempted to embargo Hellas, removing their grain supply and causing many to starve, Xerxes sent an expedition to force the restoration of the grain supply. He avenged the murder of his son, Dareios, by his traitorous advisor Autophradates, and put down a revolt in Armenia when it was rumoured that Xerxes himself had perished. His reign as King of Persia lasted for forty three years, and as King of the Hellenes for thirty seven years, and was known by some as Xerxes the Old towards the end of his life. There are only a few kings who compare to the greatness of King Xerxes Dikaios when it comes to the sum of their achievements, and the impact they had upon the strength of Hellas, and Kadmos will now explain King Xerxes’ achievements in greater detail.
BIBLIOTEKHE HISTORIKE BY MOHANE (29 CE)
ON XERXES THE GREAT
There are few alive who have not heard the name Xerxes, or who are unfamiliar with King Xerxes the Great, but in the five centuries since his reign many myths and untrue deeds have been associated with this unparalleled King, and we must establish base truths about this titan of history. King Xerxes was born as son to King Dareios, and was not in any way fathered or mothered by a Hellene, as many have claimed. His father, as we have seen, had inherited and strengthened the great Empire founded by Kyros, and Xerxes would continue the legacy of the Akhaimenidai accordingly. When he became king the realm of Hellas had become a sore spot for the Akhaimenidai, frequently being the cause of warfare or diplomatic incidents on their western border. With Dareios’ expedition against the Hellenes having failed, Xerxes’ first goal as the next King of Persia was to finish what had been started, though he was interrupted in this by revolts in Babylon which occurred over a period of several years. To do this he assembled an immense army, not an army of ten million, nor one million, but an army of five hundred thousand gathered from all quarters of the Empire. He then bridged the Hellespont with an immense, man-created bridge, the like of which has never been seen or attempted since. He and his army passed through first the realms of the northern barbarians and then into Makedonia, whereby the King of the Makedonians Alexander was compelled to give allegiance to King Xerxes. Then began his expedition into Hellas.
Those of small power or who valued survival aligned with Xerxes nearly immediately, and many of those who did not initially submit were quickly forced to do so by the progress of Xerxes’ forces and his installation of garrisons in key locations. There are many Hellenic poleis who claim to have submitted willingly but the histories speak differently. The Hellenes of potency who aligned against him adopted a strategy whereby they attempted to delay his advance through Hellas until he was forced to depart at the end of the campaign season, whereby they would launch a counterattack. This was a wise policy, but Xerxes was wise to it, and by defeating the navy of the Hellenes at Salamis he was able to subdue the Athenians, quickly occupy the Peloponnesos, and defeat the remaining forces ranged against him. It was not King Xerxes who personally destroyed Sparta, the most hated state in Hellas, but he had given authority to his general Artabazos to make such decisions, nor was he displeased when he learned that this decision had been taken. Neither did Xerxes personally order the Messenioi be restored to their independence, though he did affirm this decision. He then set about ordering Hellas as best he could before departing back to the rest of his Empire. Mardonios was initially appointed satrap of Hellas. Though he was not, as some have said, lacking in ability or entirely malicious, as can be evidenced from his earlier prudent tactics in the invasion of Hellas and a time as successful satrap of the Hellenes, he did cause a general revolt among the Hellenes and effectively revolted against Xerxes by ordering the destruction of Hellenic cities without seeking permission to take such drastic measures. Upon Xerxes arrival he executed Mardonios and restored peace to Hellas, though he did remove the formerly independent status of many regions in Hellas and make them a part of the satrapy proper. He made a visit to Messenia upon his second, and final, journey to Hellas, whereby he reaffirmed the rights and privileges of the Messenioi, and Messenia remains the region of Hellas in which Xerxes is most beloved.
During Xerxes remaining years as king, which were many, there could not be found a foe to master him. The forces of the Hellenes who chose to resist him could not ultimately win out against him, though they fought bravely. Autophradates, who was an advisor to Xerxes and not his bastard son, killed Xerxes’ chosen heir and had aimed to take the throne himself, but King Xerxes utterly defeated Autophradates, and had his entire close family put to death in the cruelest possible fashions.The Hellenes in Taurika, who attempted to withhold vital grain supplies and who raised their banners against them, were crushed, and the more trustworthy Sindoi raised to masters of Taurika in their place. The revolts of Babylon in the early part of the king’s reign, before his expeditions to Hellas, were put down. The incursions of Saka on the north-eastern frontiers were beaten back, and many new tribes of Saka were made to become tributaries of Xerxes instead. The expedition of Perikles of Megathenai and Herodotos of Halikarnassos against Krete was the closest that any men came to mastering Xerxes on the field of battle. Many once said that the claims of victories on Krete by the Megathenian expedition were false, they were simply attempts to frighten those Hellenes that remained loyal to the Persians, but this is known to have been false, and those who still repeat it are poorly educated. Even then they were only able to conquer part of the island of Krete, and were forced to come to terms with Xerxes when both sides proved unable to be defeated in open warfare.
Xerxes remains to this day the perfect example of a king. Indomitable warrior, consummate general, the preserver of his already vast kingdom and successful expander of its boundaries, and one of the most pious rulers that the world has ever seen. His dedication to gods and religious scruples are an example to all that have followed him, even before the coming of the teachings of Boda to Asia. Though this is not so well known in the west of Asia, many Asians elsewhere have claimed that Xerxes had already encountered the teachings of Boda, and made laws in accordance with them. This is not to be believed, and indeed it is to be lauded that such a pious grace could exist in a person, great as they were, who remained ignorant as to Boda and his teachings. The name of Xerxes shall forever provoke fear among the unrighteous, and awe among the morally great, and upon the great steppes of Asia, when a child misbehaves, their parents will get them to behave by saying that if they are disobedient that the great spirit Xeres will come for them.
EXTRACT FROM XANTHIPPOS OF DIKAIA’S XERXES (319 BCE)
In these times of discourse between the kingdom of the Hellenic Persians and the free Hellenes, of reconciliation between the Hellenes of the west and the Hellenes of the east, what are we to think of such a man, a king, as Xerxes? Not so long ago a man in my position, as a free citizen of Dikaia, would have declared him an enemy of all that is right in the world, a brutal conqueror and a tyrant and a glutton of all the world’s wealth. But I am not so sure that Herodotos was off the mark when he described Xerxes as wise but cruel, skilled but consumed with hubris. It is clear to any thinking man that Herodotos understood Xerxes far better than most, for it was only he, in conjunction with Perikles, who was able to roll back any of Xerxes’ conquests, and he bought the freedom of the western part of Krete for some time afterwards. It is also clear that Xerxes was impossible to defeat on the field, only to delay, and that he was far from stupid. One need only look at the history of all conflicts with that king to see the evidence of this. Those who believed Xerxes stupid fell before him, and those who relied purely on the idea that they were righteous and that he was an impious and barbarian king who would get his due fared equally poorly. He also had capable and skilled generals under his command, equally capable of gaining victories against the Hellenes even without the supervision of their King. Mardonios, Artabazos, Hystapses are all figures of some dread in the history of the free Hellenes, and for good reason. But those who claimed to write history and which tried to portray these men as the only reason that Xerxes ever won anything, as the sole reason for Xerxes’ success in Hellas, were liars, and guaranteed that further progress against the Persians would not be made.
Nor is it possible, in good faith, to say that Hellas under the rule of Xerxes and his descendants, or under these newer rulers descended from Amavadatos, is desolate or entirely unhappy. There are many sycophants that dwell in the satrapy of Hellas, in the lands of our ancestors, and the worst of them are intolerable to deal with, a breed apart in their entirety, but most of the Hellenes who have been under the yoke of the Persians have simply tried to get by. Given the strength of their conquerors, and the brutal ways in which Hellenic revolts have been put down, who can blame them? Not only that, there are Hellenes who have cause to be grateful to the Persians, in particular the Messenioi who had been under the dominion of the Spartiates. They were raised up from their servitude, and gained freedom over their own lands once again. Now it is possible to say that it is only the fact that the Persians benefited them specifically that cause the Messenioi to respect them so, and this is nothing more than the most base kind of gratitude manifesting as respect, and that is not entirely without merit, but it is sufficient evidence to say that some of the eastern Hellenes enjoy more freedom and justice than they previously experienced. Others can report similar. In addition, the roads and similar construction projects that Xerxes and his descendants commissioned have enabled trade and discourse between landbound Hellenes on a scale our ancestors would not have known. Yet Mardonios and Xerxes caused a number of Hellenic cities to be razed, and this should not be forgotten, even though the Spartiates were disliked by most other Hellenes this must be included within this category of atrocity. Neither were the Hellenic cities freed from interference, and these eastern poleis no longer have freedom of foreign policy. In addition the mood is to celebrate kingship, even at times at the expense of those poleis who have retained their constitutions gained at the expense of kings. This attitude extended towards kingship is because of the visible strength of the kings like Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and once again because of these modern descendants of Amavadatos.
We can and should still point to Xerxes as the cause of a lack of interest in general liberty that has become endemic throughout Hellas, which must be corrected in our dealings with our homelands. In addition, he is the reason that argument and debate have become muted, though not silenced, in Hellas proper, comparing the philosophical texts and histories written by those such as Xenokritos with those written in Italia and elsewhere is like comparing the speech of babes to that of fully grown adults. We must restore what has been lost. Xerxes was cruel, frequently, and we must never forget or forgive these things. We must remember all of the cities he caused to be knocked down, all of the prominent men and women he caused to be killed, and witness the multitudes that had to flee his imminent conquest. Neither must we ever allow ourselves to love his lust for conquest. But perhaps I can acknowledge his personal bravery, his martial skill, his political intelligence and his common sense, and also that he did not entirely treat the homeland of the Hellenes without respect.
EXTRACT FROM THE ISONOMIK OF HISTORY (1679 CE)
How the scholar’s heart leaps when they turn to the era of King Xerxes! An era of titanic struggles across the face of the earth, of great kings and noble demokrats, of vast armies, and the foundation of the world in which we live. What exemplary men there are to study! What talents! It is no wonder, therefore, that among the skeptikoi it is by far the preferred area of study, with the sole exception of the meteoric rise of the Tyrsenoi. It is the study of these two periods and places that forms the core of what we understand to be proper arkhaioteria, the necessary education of all of those who would become valuable in our society, and of these two periods the Xerxian is by far the most fascinating. Picture, if you will, King Xerxes, handsome specimen of a noble lineage of Asian kings, ruthless, determined, born to all the talents his ancestors commanded, long-lived beyond all expectation. The importance of this one man in our history cannot be understated, especially as we understand him to a more subtle and nuanced degree than those Hellenes which had initial cause to despise him for taking control of their homeland. He is also a picture of unequalled ambition which fascinates and which, to some degree, appals. His legacy shines through even into our history, in lands which never felt the touch of his boots or the presence of Persian soldiers.
Then picture the quality of his opponents! Aiskhylos, the poet-warrior, veteran of the great battle of Marathon against Xerxes’ father, Dareios, hammer of the Persians until his dying day; Perikles son of Xanthippos, the arch-demokrat of early Megathenai, champion of the Italiote League and architect of Megathenai’s greatness, crafty beyond all measure; Herodotos, the prince of Halikarnassos who came among the exiled Athenians, who created the entire western tradition of historia, and who near the end of his life would lead armies in the struggle to liberate Krete; Kimon, the lifelong anti-monarchist, the great skeptikos of Megathenaic literature but also the firebrand who alienated his own patriotic fellows; Sophokles son of Sephilos, the first (and some would say greatest) dramatist of history, who wielded his stylus as his weapon against the might of Xerxes, and who carved up the face of his opponent with his satires, tragedies, and comedies; Phyrnikhos, Sophokles’ only rival for king of the tragedies, who sought to capture the grief of the Hellenes in exile and harness it into steely determination to reclaim their homeland. For all that King Xerxes was, by himself, a man of impossible power, he was also the making of his opponents, and much of the measure of the man is in the qualities he inspired among the western Hellenes after the disaster at Salamis. He inspired them to create new societies, stronger ones, in the lands of Hesperia and beyond, including the lands of my own people’s ancestors, the Massaliotes. The foundation of glorious Massalia rests on the determination instilled by Xerxes in the citizens of ancient Massalia, as does the foundation of our greatest friends and foes. He has as big a part to play in the creation of our arkhait culture as the Hellenes and the Tyrsenoi. The height of this legacy came with the reunion of western and eastern Hellenes, the Great Reconciliation. The best parts of what each had discovered were brought together and rose the world around them to new heights. Even the end of the arkhait world, with the collapse of both Tinian and Imerian Empires, would not undo the progress that had been made, and brought about a new, Hellenistic, world.
TELEO or AKUNAVAM: END OF CHAPTER 3
- Daeres
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