Xerxes is a historical biography by Jacob Abbott. Xerxes I, generally known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire in modern day Persia, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. Excerpt: "As the Pass of Thermopylæ was now in Xerxes's possession, the way was open before him to all that portion of the great territory which lay north of the Peloponnesus. Of course, before [Pg 225]he could enter the peninsula itself, he must pass the Isthmus of Corinth, where he might, perhaps, encounter some concentrated resistance. North of the isthmus, however, there was no place where the Greeks could make a stand. The country was all open, or, rather, there were a thousand ways open through the various valleys and glens, and along the banks of the rivers. All that was necessary was to procure guides and proceed."