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The eighth attested ruler of the Achaee of thirty-five and wasted no ti a revolt in Egypt, then in Babylon, where he declared the Babylonian Eolden idol of Bel-Marduk and had itthe empire’s spiritual foundations

Two years later Xerxes turned his wrath on the Athenians, who had fallen afoul of the Achaemenid Dynasty at the Battle of Marathon, where they’d thwarted King Darius I’s attempt to conquer all of Greece

In 483 BC Xerxes began preparations for the invasion of Greece in drae to span the Hellespont, then by digging a navigable canal across the Athos Isthmus

Froh Thrace and Macedonia before being stalled at Ther Leonidas and his Spartans, who despite a valiant effort were killed to a man Now unhindered, Xerxes continued south down the coast to Athens, where he plundered the abandoned city This would prove to be the zenith of Xerxes’ invasion; shortly thereafter he lost much of his fleet at the Battle of Salamis, then most of his land force at the Battles of Plataea and Mycale in 479 BC

Leaving the arenerals, Mardonius, Xerxes retired to Persepolis, in modern-day Iran, where he spent the re with political turuard, possibly at the behest of his own son, Artaxerxes I, who took the Achaemenid throne in 464 BC

“Oh, what a tangled web,” Remi said as she finished Sam, ten seconds behind her, looked up and replied, “Not a nice guy, Mr Xerxes”

Remi smiled “Are any of them?”

“Not often Well, if we’re looking to Xerxes’ biography for clues about what Bondaruk’s after, the first thing that strikes me is the Bel-Marduk idol from Babylon, but history says it was melted down”

“What if the history is wrong? What if he inal, then lost it somewhere?”

“Could be” Saot a “Checking on it” e-mail a few minutes later “Okay, other possibilities?”

“It see went downhill for Xerxes after his invasion of Greece He surrendered control of the army, went home, loitered about for a few years, then was assassinated Maybe he lost son”

“And Bondaruk thinks recovering it will soht for the Xerxes line”

“As you said, the safe money is on Bel-Marduk, but history treats the Babylonian uprising as nothing more than an annoyance for Xerxes”

“How about the Egyptian revolt? It was roughly the same time”

Rehed “It’s possible The problem with history—especially ancient history—is that often only the highlights get the attention For all we know, buried in an ancient text in some library or museu with their disposition”