What Became of King Xerxes I of Persian Empire

King Xerxes I was a famous Persian King who is known in the western world for his invasion of Greece and his battle with 300 soldiers of King Leonidas of Sparta. Because of this, King Xerxes has a demonised image among Europeans especially, who view Greece as the mother of European civilisation and democracy. This is, of course, unfair of the Persian king and perhaps, the entire civilisation of Persia’s Achaemenid Dynasty.

A Colourful, Ficticious and more Dreadful Portrayal of King Xerxes from
the movie 300 when shown as a more evil person then he really was.

This ancient Persian Dynasty was stooped in a rich history of which, the Greek invasion was a bit of a sideshow. That’s not taking away anything from the brave 300 of Sparta who all Europeans love and cherish.

King Xerxes I of Persia lived from 519 BC until his death in 465 BC at the age of 54. His death and passing from this world is an affair of dreadful intrigue and murder, for he would be betrayed by a man called Artabanus and he would try to rule in his stead as a regent for a few months after the death of King Xerxes I of Persia. He would almost destroy the declining Achaemenid Dynasty.

Before King Xerxes I was murdered, he is said to have had his brother and his entire family killed on the wishes of his wife and queen. One of his queens was named Esther, but the story of this queen was probably earlier in his reign. This Killing of his brother would obviously cause great tension in the royal household and make many jittery. His Queen Esther is celebrated as a heroine by Hebrews because she is remembered with affection for saving them from massacre and getting a high profile minister executed who was planning to have Jews killed in King Xerxes' name. This is a famous story, but such events and dealings within the Achaemenid household would cause tensions among other members who were, perhaps, less fond of this beautiful Jewish queen who had rose to great power from the kings harem. When King Xerxes I was assassinated, there is no record of what became of Queen Esther. She may have died before hand or gone back to Israel or been slain too. The later is unlikely, but if Xerxes is this powerful king with a harem of many women, perhaps Queen Esther had played her part in history and moved aside, drifting out of prominence yet leaving a wake of dissatisfaction for the king - weather she died, lived or left to fade from history.

A presentation of King Xerxes and Queen Esther from a movie called:
One Night with the King

King Xerxes’ would be murderer, Commander of Royal Bodyguard – Artabanus had come to the prominent position of the Royal Persian court because of strong religious support from zoroastrian priests and gaining friends among the eunuchs – a powerful body of slaves that knew of harem intrigue and chatter. Artabanus also had seven sons who were put into prominent positions of the Royal Persian court too. It is probable that Artabanus was extremely calculating and very audacious in some form of planning and wanted to gain control of the Persian Empire and rule it directly. He had eyes and ears all about the court and access to much information. His ambition might have been so outrages for a number of good reasons. Perhaps and despite not being related to the Achaemenid Dynasty; he might have had some distant blood line along the fringe that he thought to fashion into some legalised way of ruling, once he had eliminated prominent Achaemenid persons of power. Perhaps he had heard of other relations resentful of their less prominent positions of power within the Royal Achaemenid family. Perhaps many were nervous of this queen who had seen murder done to the king's brother and family. There must have been a lot of tension and many might have thought Xerxes was losing his grip on his dynasty.

King Xerxes I had an elder son who would succeed him called Prince Darius. Xerxes had many sons and daughters but Prince Darius was to be the successor. Another son, lower in line, was called Artaxerxes and it is possible that Commander of Royal Bodyguard Artabanus formulated a plan to eliminate King Xerxes and his eldest son Darius and somehow find a way to work through the younger Prince Artaxerxes.

Commander Artabanus got close help of a powerful eunuch named Aspamitres and had King Xerxes I killed. It was then blamed upon Prince Darius as parricide and he was quickly put to death. The vacuum of the Persian throne left Commander Artabanus as a regent dictator for a few months. History is not sure if Artabanus then tried to groom Prince Artaxerxes to his way, so that Artabanus could rule through him or perhaps he might have tried to manipulate the young prince in some other way before taking total control over the Achaemenid Dynasty.

On the other hand, it is possible that the younger Persian Prince played along with the Commander of Bodyguard Artabanus, allowing him to eliminate all above thus placing him in line. It is not written so, but it could be. History is vague in this point. Whatever drove Commander Artabanus upon his ambitious crusade for power; it all went wrong when Prince Artaxerxes killed him – some say personally stabbing the Commander of Royal Bodyguard with his own sword. All of Commander Artabanus’ sons were quickly dispatched and put to death too, plus the eunuchs and priests who had supported the Commander that tried to move and do things beyond his station in the Persian society.

After the death of the famous King Xerxes I of Persia, the brief interlude of a few months was followed by the actual rule of King Artaxerxes I from 465 BC to 424 BC.

King Artaxerxes is seen as avenging the murder of his father King Xerxes I and elder brother Prince Darius. However, it is possible that this blame might be put upon Commander Artabanus though It is difficult to imagine what Artabanus long term gain might be, if he was not of Royal line when the society he lived in understood only these things. Was Prince Artaxerxes more involved in the plot rather then that of an unwitting pawn in over ambitious Commander Artabanus' plan?

What Happened to The Mary Rose Battleship of King Henry VIII?



The Mary Rose



England was a land of virtual irrelevance during the 15^th century and was no more than a fringe island on the edge of Europe – a small nation that had spent years fighting a civil war of the Roses between House York and House Lancaster. This finally ended with the death of Richard III in battle and the accession of Henry VII of the Tudor dynasty. During this turbulent time England had neglected her navy and had only constructed six ships for the crown in a period of eighty seven years. The new king, Henry VII maintained a precarious peace with the dominant powers of Europe and managed to keep the island nation free from trouble allowing England a small time to establish breathing space and rebuild. At least, begin to rebuild.

Midships Section of Mary Rose

When Henry VII died his second son – became King Henry VIII. His first son, Arthur had died before ascending to kingship. Arthur had briefly married the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. In this day and age, Spain was the super power of the world and France challenging for dominance too. Because Henry VIII wanted to join a powerful Spanish alliance against France, he decided to marry his late brother’s wife Catherine of Aragon – he was six years her junior. By doing this, Henry the VIII had made a powerful enemy of France but had many strong allies including the Holy Roman emperor Maximillian alongside the superpower of Spain. Little England was trying to punch above her weight, but for those who dare; sometimes things work out. This did in the long run but in twisted ways that none designed or could have predicted at the time.

Henry VIII had received the start of a navy from his father Henry VII, but early into his new alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, his small country decided to start by showing ambitions to the navy. England had two large warships to boast of and they were the Regent and the Sovereign. Henry VIII decided to add two more substantial battleships of the day. One was called the Peter while the other would be the Mary Rose. After this, even more ships were started and the beginnings of a Royal Navy ensued.

Inside Part of Mary Rose

The grand war ship ‘Mary Rose’ was launched in the summer of 1511. She went to London and received adulation in a grand ceremony as she was towed up the River Thames. The glorious array of flags and streamers must have been a colourful sight to behold as citizens of London flocked to see the modern battleship. For the times, this ship was real state of the art building and engineering, lovingly crafted from fine English oak and craftsmen who were very proud of the profession and able to work for the grand king and country.

Some people believe the name ‘Mary Rose’ came from Henry VIII sister, Mary Tudor and the Rose of the Tudors. However, eminent historians say that it was the fashion throughout Europe to name ships from everyday common Christian names. England was trying to play alongside the big boys of Europe now and tried to emulate them in all ways.

For twenty five years the ship patrolled and did her national duties taking part in actions against the national enemies of France and Scotland. She had castle style protection at the stern and bow with a lower mid-ship section. She would have looked resplendent in this day and was brought back into dock for a major rebuilding and enhancement programme in 1536. She was to be upgraded from a 500 ton vessel to 700 tons. After this, the Mary Rose continued in her duties against the main enemies until a fateful day in 1545 when the grand ship of war took a lead to attack a French invasion fleet.

Before this battle, the grand ship had performed admirably during the first and second French Wars – this was the third French war when Mary Rose was to meet her fate.

The Mary Rose lay on the Solent bed for many years.

As the Mary Rose went into action, a Flemish eye witness had his version of events written down. He saw the Mary Rose fire all one side of her guns as the battle began – a salvo. Then as the grand ship manoeuvred to present her opposite side of guns, she was caught by a strong breeze which caused the vessel to extravagantly heel to her starboard side, where many of the lower deck gun ports were still open. These were water tight when shut, but during the confusion of the battle they remained open and were, of course, in use. The sudden intake of water caused the ship to heel further over to her broadside as the weight of the water intake caught the mighty ship of balance. All people on board would have been flung about. Heavy guns and other bulk items would have broken from their fastenings and slide starboard too, causing more weight on this starboard side. Men would have been crushed and killed during the horrendous twist of fate. Those that escaped being crushed would have been struggling in blind panic as their world, inside the ship, turned upside down. It was all over, very quickly, as the Mary Rose capsized and sank in the Solent off of the Isle of Weight and from a crew of four hundred and more; only thirty five men survived the capsizing of the Mary Rose. The vice Admiral George Carew went down with his ship and crew as well.

Salvaged part of hull in Portsmouth museum

This terrible event rocked the entire nation and the great battleship lay on the sea bed for hundreds of years until she was raised by scientists in 1982 after being re-discovered in 1971. Many of her artifacts and much of her hull are on display at the Portsmouth naval museum today.

Scientists working on Hull Preservation

Did Ancient Phoenicians Trade with Britain?

The Phoenicians came from areas of today's Lebanon and Israel

The Phoenicians were a Mediterranean race of seafarers that travelled many seas in search of trade. They were among the first of the great cargo transporters developing complex international trade among the great and emerging civilisations of ancient times. The lands that these people came to occupy during their greatest era was Lebanon (mainly) but also parts of what is today, Israel, Palestine and Syria. The prominent times of the Phoenician sea traders was between 1200 BC and 800BC. After this time, the Phoenicians began to be swallowed up or ruled by other Mediterranean powers, though their seamanship skills were still hailed and used.

Main areas of Phoenicians

In their heyday; the Phoenicians sent out explorers to settle various area and even went beyond the Mediterranean sea in search of trade. They were known to go along the west coast of Africa, Spain and France. It is also believed that some settled in Ireland too. There is also a strong belief that the Phoenicians began to trade with Britain for tin, which was abundant in Cornwall. Some historians believe that the tin was traded for in the north west of France as a secondary seller, acting for south west Ancient Britain - a sort of middle man. However, if a seafaring race like the Phoenicians know that tin can be got across a channel of water, it is very likely that seafarers would go directly to the source once known. I, therefore, believe that the Phoenicians and probably Israelites travelling with them, might have came to Britain and traded for tin.

Phoenician Bireme used to travel across great seas

There are, of course, no written records in existence of Phoenicians visiting Britain because when Carthage fell, to the Roman Empire many of the historical writing of Phoenician explorers was lost in the destruction of the great city, long after the time of the great Phoenician trade routes and explorations.

Imagine what the Phoenicians might have thought of the Celtic Neolithic stones of Gaul, Ireland and Britain - especially Stonehenge, for I believe these Mediterranean traders would have seen such places. But then coming from lands of Pyramids and other great building feats of monumental achievement; perhaps the stones would not have been too amazing to such well travelled people.

The Phoenicians had hundreds, perhaps thousands, of such trading vessels
scouring the seas for nations and trade

I try to visualise the scenes of Ancient Britain through the eyes of a Phoenician sailor or Jewish trader looking for things of interest to buy and sell. The lands of North West Europe would have seemed very lush green and densely forested - a raw untamed view of mystical Celtic Britain via the eyes of a first time visitor.

A Phoenician Trader might have chanced Britain's
rivers in certain areas.