Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

I've taken the head of a liar king.

Xerxes believed in Arta, this concept of Arta, which means truth.

And this concept comes from his chief god, Ahura Mazda, the wise lord.

And Ahura Mazda is a creator god.

He is a god of everything light and good.

And the Persians believed that when the world was created, when Ahura Mazda formed the universe, he formed the king at the same time as well.

So the king is set in his place to rule

Naturally, the world.

So anybody who rebels against the Persian king doesn't follow Arta, is not following the truth at all.

And therefore, they call these rebels liar kings.

So Xerxes would have identified Leonidas and all of the Greeks as liars.

adherence of Drauga, the lie.

That's right, absolutely.

So all of these are labelled in that way.

And I think that's a really interesting concept for us, you know.

So I think as far as Xerxes is concerned, he came back from Greece, not with his tail between his legs, but actually quite triumphant.

And he returns from Greece personally

not because he's ashamed of what's gone on, but he goes back to put down another rebellion in Babylon.

No, it's not.

It's a pragmatic return.