Question 1

True or false: Xerxes I was the son of Cyrus the Great.

Accepted Answer

False. Xerxes was the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, making him Cyrus's grandson.

Question 2

True or false: Xerxes I completed the construction of the grand Palace of Persepolis.

Accepted Answer

False. Xerxes I added major structures like the Hall of 100 Columns and his palace, but the entire Persepolis complex was not completed until later kings, and construction was ongoing at the time of its destruction.

Question 3

True or false: Xerxes I personally commanded the Persian navy at the Battle of Salamis.

Accepted Answer

False. Xerxes watched from a throne on land, not commanding the fleet; his admiral Artemisia advised against the battle.

Question 4

True or false: Xerxes I built a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont to invade Greece.

Accepted Answer

True. He ordered two bridges of boats, but a storm destroyed them; he famously had the sea whipped as punishment.

Question 5

True or false: Xerxes I introduced the first known postal system in the ancient world.

Accepted Answer

False. The Royal Road and postal relay system were established by Darius I, not Xerxes, though Xerxes maintained it.

Question 6

True or false: Xerxes I had a canal dug across the Mount Athos peninsula to avoid a storm.

Accepted Answer

True. After a previous Persian fleet was wrecked there, Xerxes ordered a canal cut—archaeological remains confirm it.

Question 7

True or false: Xerxes I was assassinated by his own vizier in a palace coup.

Accepted Answer

True. Artabanus, the commander of the royal guard, murdered Xerxes in his bedchamber in 465 BCE.

Question 8

True or false: Xerxes I invaded Greece with a million-man army.

Accepted Answer

False. Ancient sources exaggerated; modern estimates suggest around 100,000–200,000 troops, still huge for the era.

Xerxes I Trivia Questions