Mark Gagnon

I think so.

Dude, as a Greek, that is crazy work.

You can't do that.

I'm not going to let you do that.

All right.

Because we're going to explain why that's funny later.

But basically, this guy Xerxes is, I mean, one of the more interesting and important leaders in all of ancient history.

And today we're going through all the details of why.

Now, again, I'm not a historian.

This is just my research.

So if there's anything I missed, please drop a comment.

Let me know.

Now let's jump in.

So to understand Xerxes, you actually have to understand where he came from and who his parents and his grandparents were.

So Xerxes actually inherits an empire known as the Achaemenid Empire.

And it was by almost every measure, the actual first true superpower in all of human history.

But where does this empire come from?

Well, it all starts with Cyrus the Great.

This is Xerxes' grandfather.

And in the mid-6th century, Cyrus united the Persians and the Medes and conquered Babylon and built an empire that stretched across the entirety of the Near East.