Ahasuerus is the Hebrew version of the Median-Persian kings better known in Western literature as Xerxes (which is how it is rendered in the NIV and LXX). In Persian, he was called Khshayarsha. The name was in fact to be identified in history with three different persons, two of them Median and one Persian, of which two appear in the Old Testament.
1) The Ahasuerus (Xerxes in NIV) mentioned in Dan 9:1 is generally identified with the Astyages (or, possibly, Cyaxares, who was Astyages's father) of secular history, the father of Darius the Mede. Astyages was the last king of the Median Empire and ruled from 585-550. He was dethroned by Cyrus the Great, who then went on to found the Persian Empire.
2) The Ahasuerus more often mentioned in the Old Testament—he is the referent in 29 of the 30 occurrences of the name—was the Persian king better known as Xerxes I, who ruled Persia from 486-465 BC, the son of Darius I the Great, and who—famously to Christians—took Esther as his queen (Est 1:1) in the 7th year of his reign. Though he was the a younger son he gained the favour of his father over his brother Artabazanes, and was taken into the court when he was still fairly young so that by the time he came to the throne at age 35, he had had already nearly a dozen years' experience at royal administration. The early years of his reign were occupied with rebellions in Egypt and Babylon. It has been surmised that it was at the end of this difficult period when, having won the victories he needed to establish himself firmly on the throne that he called for the celebrations that saw Queen Vashti's rebellion and removal, and the eventual marriage to Esther (Est 1).
In secular history Xerxes is best known for his massive invasion of Greece in 480 BC—as part of the Greco-Persian Wars began by his father, Darius I—giving us such memorable events as the Battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea, and the legends of the '300' led by Leonidas and the sack of Athens recorded for us by Herodotus. The reason for his exploits in Greece, which were largely unsuccessful, remains a matter of debate. One suggestion that has gained much traction is that he was pursuaded into the venture by his cousin and brother-in-law Mardonius in revenge for the humiliation his father had suffered at the hands of the Greeks ten years earlier at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). Though massively organized, his campaign against the Greeks also failed. After the initial successes at Thermopylae (Aug 480, the setting for the '300' story) and Attica and Athens (Sept), he suffered a massive defeat at the Battle of Salamis, after which he returned to Asia. When Mardonius was killed in another undecisive battle at Platea the following year Xerxes decided to withdraw though hostilities between the two sides continued for many more years. In many ways Xerxes represented the last great king of the Persian Empire.
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