As an aid to students, teachers and parents, we have constructed an A–Z of the World taken from E. H. Gombrich’s, A Little History of the World. We’ve shared bite size introductions to historical figures, events and periods – using Gombrich’s magical words – along with links to free resources, so that readers of all ages can discover more. X is for Xerxes.
X
Xerxes
E. H. Gombrich: The great Darius, King of Kings of the vast Persian empire, died shortly after his army was defeated by the Greeks at Marathon, leaving his son and successor, Xerxes, to take revenge on Greece once and for all.
One part of this gigantic army attacked Greece by sea, while another part marched overland. In northern Greece, a small army of Spartans, who had made an alliance with the Athenians, tried to block the Persian advance in a narrow pass called Thermopylae. The Persians called on the Spartans to throw down their weapons. ‘Come and get them yourselves!’ was the reply. ‘We’ve enough arrows here to blot out the sun!’ threatened the Persians. ‘So much the better’, cried the Spartans, ‘then we’ll fight in the shade!’ But a treacherous Greek showed the Persians a way over the mountains and the Spartan army was surrounded and trapped. All three hundred Spartans and seven hundred of their allies were killed in the battle, but not one of them tried to run away, for that was their law. Later, a Greek poet wrote these words in their memory:
Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here obedient to their laws we lie.
Free Resources to Learn More about Xerxes
BBC Bitesize (KS2)
BBC In Our Time
BBC News Magazine
Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian eyes – Professor Ali Ansari
Ancient History Encyclopedia
Ancient-Origins.net
The Powerful Persian King Whose Death Destroyed an Empire
Khan Academy
The Yale Blog
Richard Stoneman’s series of blogposts on Xerxes: The Builder of Persepolis
This page provides access to a list of free online resources. It is not intended to endorse any particular resource.
About the book
A Little History of the World
E. H. Gombrich
The World has existed for over 4 billion years, but humanity arrived much more recently. Here E. H. Gombrich brings to life the full story of human experience on Earth. He paints a colourful picture of remarkable people and events, from Confucius to Catherine the Great, from the invention of art to the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
