خشایارشا — شاه ایرانی که به یونان لشکر کشید و تخت جمشید را ساخت
Xerxes I (c. 519–465 BC), son of Darius the Great, was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire. In 480 BC, he launched the largest military expedition in the ancient world — a force of perhaps 200,000 soldiers crossing the Hellespont on a bridge of boats to invade Greece.
Xerxes' army defeated the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae (the famous 'last stand' popularized by the film '300') and burned Athens in 480 BC. But the Persian fleet was decisively defeated at the Battle of Salamis, where the Greek strategy of fighting in narrow waters neutralized Persian numerical advantage. At Plataea in 479 BC, the Persian land army was routed, ending the Persian invasion.
The Persian invasions of Greece (490 and 480 BC) are among history's most consequential events — they preserved Greek city-state culture, which later produced Athenian democracy and the philosophical tradition that underpins Western civilization. From the Persian perspective, these were military operations on the western periphery of a vast empire, not existential conflicts.
No. Despite initial successes including the defeat of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae and the burning of Athens, the Persian navy was defeated at Salamis (480 BC) and the army was routed at Plataea (479 BC), ending the Persian invasion.
Ancient sources claim millions, but modern historians estimate 180,000-250,000 soldiers — still the largest military force assembled in the ancient world. The logistics alone (feeding and supplying this army) were a massive feat of Persian imperial organization.