How tall was King Xerxes?

Xerxes, the king of Persia, is portrayed as seven feet tall. Actor Rodrigo Santoro is only 6'2". Not too shabby, but the other 10 inches are special effects. To look the part though, Santoro had to let go of vanity.

How did King Xerxes look?

Based on ancient carved stone reliefs remaining from the Achaemenid Dynasty, Xerxes is actually depicted as having long curly hair and beard, adorned with a crown and royal robe.

What ethnicity was King Xerxes?

Read a brief summary of this topic. Xerxes I, Old Persian Khshayarsha, byname Xerxes the Great, (born c. 519 bce—died 465, Persepolis, Iran), Persian king (486–465 bce), the son and successor of Darius I.

Was Xerxes a coward?

Modern historians present Xerxes as a weak, cowardly and naïve leader who knew little of military leadership. The ambiguity in his leadership and personality is evident through his policy on religion and his actions in court conspiracies, which subsequently led to his demise.

Who betrayed Sparta?

In the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, Ephialtes was portrayed by Kieron Moore and is depicted as a loner who worked on a goat farm near Thermopylae. He betrays the Spartans to the Persians out of greed for riches, and, it is implied, unrequited love for a Spartan girl named Ellas.

Xerxes the Great: The God King of Persia

Who assassinated Xerxes?

In August 465 BC, Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres.

How old was Xerxes when he became king?

As the first son born during Darius' rule and a descendant of Cyrus, Xerxes was deemed to have a stronger claim to the throne. Artabazenes did not argue with or challenge the decision. King Xerxes was around 35 years old when he came to power and had spent over a decade as the satrap of Babylonia.

Did Spartans defeat Xerxes?

The Greek forces, mostly Spartan, were led by Leonidas. After three days of holding their own against the Persian king Xerxes I and his vast southward-advancing army, the Greeks were betrayed, and the Persians were able to outflank them.

Who was Xerxes wife?

Amestris (Greek: Άμηστρις, Amēstris, perhaps the same as Άμαστρις, Amāstris, from Old Persian Amāstrī-, "strong woman"; died c. 424 BC) was a Persian queen, the wife of Xerxes I of Persia, mother of Achaemenid King of Kings Artaxerxes I of Persia.

Is 300 based on a true story?

Like the comic book, the “300” takes inspirations from the real Battle of Thermopylae and the events that took place in the year of 480 BC in ancient Greece. An epic movie for an epic historical event.

Is Xerxes dead in 300?

Xerxes was the son of King Darius, who during an attempt to invade and conquer Greece, was killed by Themistocles of Athens by a well-placed arrow.

Who are the 4 kings of Persia?

Did Spartans throw babies off cliffs?

Spartans had to prove their fitness even as infants.

The ancient historian Plutarch claimed these “ill-born” Spartan babies were tossed into a chasm at the foot of Mount Taygetus, but most historians now dismiss this as a myth.

What did Spartans do with weak babies?

If a baby was weak, the Spartans exposed it on the hillside or took it away to become a slave (helot). Infanticide was common in ancient cultures, but the Spartans were particularly picky about their children. It was not just a matter of the family, the city-state decided the fate of the child.

Why did Sparta only send 300?

The Spartans may have only sent 300, not because of the Olympics or Carneia, but because they didn't wish to defend so far north, although it does seem unusual they would have sent a King if so.

How old was Queen Esther when died?

According to one tradition, she was forty years old, while another places her age at seventy-four, which is the numerical value of the name “Hadassah” (Esther's second name), or, according to another calculation of this numerical value, seventy-five (see above).

Does the Spartan bloodline still exist?

The Maniots (inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula) therefore are considered direct descendants of Spartans. Almost three thousand years ago, Greece consisted of multiple 'polis' that were mostly controlled by Sparta. Spartans, as depicted in the 2006 movie 300, were highly trained fighters.

Did any of the 300 Spartans survive?

Yet there was another man, one of Leonidas' 300, namely Aristodemus of Sparta, the only survivor of the epic battle. According to the historian Herodotus, there were only three men out of Leonidas' elite army who did not fight in the epic battle.

Did Leonidas really exist?

530-480 B.C.) was a king of the city-state of Sparta from about 490 B.C. until his death at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army in 480 B.C. Although Leonidas lost the battle, his death at Thermopylae was seen as a heroic sacrifice because he sent most of his army away when he realized that the Persians ...

How realistic is 300?

The film 300 is an adaptation of a comic book based on historical events, but it makes no pretense of being historically accurate. However, the battle of Thermopylae was a real event, with 300 Spartans at the center of the story.

Did King Xerxes think he was a god?

The historical Xerxes probably did not consider himself a god, but he was a legend in his own time. He removed a golden statue from the temple of Zeus, desecrating the temple, something his father Darius did not dare to do.