“Later when the anger of King Xerxes had subsided…”
I started reading Esther 2 and pondered the word “later” in verse 1. As it turns out, later was about 3 years later! I did some reading up on what Xerxes was up to during that time and thought I would share a little about the Greco-Persian Wars.
Most of what we know about the Greco-Persian Wars comes from the Greek historian Herodotus from his book The Histories. Herodotus did a series of interviews to learn all he could about the origins of this conflict and of the battles that took place. He earned the title “Father of History” from his efforts, and his method of collecting information set the precedent for how we document history today.
Xerxes started preparing to invade Greece in 483 B.C. He amassed troops, ships, and supplies from all over the empire. What started off as a king punishing his Greek subjects for revolting, quickly became an expedition for complete domination. One of Xerxes’ successful battles was in August 480 B.C., called the Battle of Thermopylae. In fact, the movie 300 was based on this battle (although, I wouldn’t recommend seeing 300 unless you can handle strong violence). Unfortunately for Xerxes, the Greco-Persian wars ended in a stalemate and he returned to Susa in embarrassing defeat.
When we get to Esther 2:1 it becomes evident why Xerxes was angry. I had previously assumed he was still angry over Vashti’s refusal, but it was really about his disaster of a military campaign. I came across a story that I think gives some insight into Xerxes’ state of mind during those wars. Herodotus reported that Xerxes had ordered a bridge built over the Hellespont (waterway that separates Asia Minor from Greece). The bridge was demolished by a strong storm. He was so furious that he beheaded the engineers and ordered the water lashed 300 times. Yes, he had the water punished.
Fun Extras:
Want to see what the wars might have been like for Xerxes? Check out this Interactive Map where you follow his journey step by step and are given trivia questions to answer along the way. I had fun with it! This would be great for kids, too.
Here are some more resources to learn about the Greco-Persian wars:
National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment’s Persian Wars
Tufts University Persius Project
Animation of the Greek phalanx battle formation
Above image is from EDSITE and depicts the Greek phalanx.
