什麼是薛西斯一世

Xerxes I

波斯文作Khsayarsha

阿契美尼德王朝的波斯國王（西元前486～西元前465年在位）。繼位前曾統轄巴比倫十幾年。西元前484年和西元前482年，對埃及和巴比倫尼亞進行猛烈的鎮壓。他為大流士在馬拉松的慘敗（西元前490年）報仇，花了三年時間徵集軍隊，並組成一支海軍。當一場暴風雨摧毀橫渡赫勒斯滂海峽的船橋，薛西斯用馬鞭抽海，以示懲罰。橋重新搭起之後，他以七天的時間監督軍隊跨海，按近代估計為360,000人，並有七百艘戰艦為後援。在幾次勝仗後，佔領阿提卡，洗劫雅典，但在薩拉米斯的海戰中失敗，跨海回亞洲，留下軍隊，在普拉蒂亞戰役後，才撤走軍隊。薛西斯因這次失敗而心灰意懶，退居蘇薩和波斯波利斯，開始大興土木，廣築宮室，在不知情下捲入後宮的陰謀，在王后的要求下，殺自己兄弟的全家。他本人則被宮廷的大臣們謀殺。他在希臘的挫敗意味着阿契美尼德王朝衰亡的開端。

前519年～465年

Xerxes I

Persian king (486-465 BC) of the Achaemenian dynasty. The son of Darius I, he had been governor of Babylon before his succession. He ferociously suppressed rebellions in Egypt (484) and Babylonia (482). To avenge Darius' defeat by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon, he spent three years raising a massive army and navy. When a storm destroyed the bridges he had built to cross the Hellespont, he had them rebuilt and for seven days oversaw the crossing of his army, numbering 360,000 troops by modern estimates, supported by over 700 ships. The Persians broke through at the Battle of Thermopylae and pillaged Athens, but then lost its navy at Battle of Salamis (480). Xerxes returned to Asia, leaving the army behind; it withdrew after its defeat at the Battle of Plataea (479). In Persia he began an extensive building campaign at Persepolis. Drawn unwittingly into palace intrigues, he killed his brother's family at the queen's demand. He was murdered by members of his court. His setback in Greece was regarded as the beginning of the decline of the Achaemenid dynasty.