Xerxes reigned from 485-465 B. C., and he began with the suppression of
the Egyptian revolt in 484, devoting the next four years to preparations
against Greece. The grand effort made in 480 has been ever famous in
history for the magnitude of the host of men and ships employed, for the
heroism of the resistance on the one side, and the completeness of the
final disaster on the other, as will be seen in the history of Greece.
Xerxes returned to Sardis, after the destruction of his fleet at
Salamis, toward the end of the year 480. The defeat of his general
Mardonius at Platæa ended the war in Greece, and the Persians lost their
last foothold in Europe by the capture of Sestos on the Hellespont.