Xerxes was born in 519 B.C. to Darius I the Persian king and Atossa. “When Darius ascended to the Persian throne, he took a number of the previous king's wives as his property. One of them was Atossa, daughter of Cyrus I” (abc-clio). Atossa wanted her son, Xerxes, to become king. To get her son to be king she enlisted the help of Greek exile Demaratus to convince the king that his elder sons, that he had before he became king, were not his children. That the had a different father. This seemed to work since Xerxes became next in line for king. Darius, in 490 B.C., tried to invade Greece but failed. Darius then appointed Xerxes viceroy of Babylonia. Viceroy is a person who rules over a certain area. The viceroy of Babylonia is a huge accomplishment
