Xerxes I (Xerxes the Great)

Xerxes I was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great. Inheriting the largest empire on Earth upon his father's death, Xerxes swiftly suppressed major rebellions in Egypt and Babylon before turning his attention to fulfilling his father's pledge to conquer Greece.

In 480 BCE, Xerxes amassed an unprecedented multinational army and navy, bridging the Hellespont with pontoon bridges and cutting a canal through Mount Athos. After overcoming King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae, Xerxes captured and burned Athens. However, devastating naval defeat at the Battle of Salamis and subsequent land defeat at Plataea checked Persian expansion into Europe. Returning to Persia, Xerxes completed his father's architectural vision at Persepolis, constructing the colossal Gate of All Nations and the Hall of a Hundred Columns before being assassinated in a palace coup.