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Excerpt from The Military Annals of Greece Our knowledge of the Persian Wars is derived chiefly from Herodotus. Fortunately for posterity the writings of the first great historian have escaped the ravages of time. After the lapse of centuries, we may read his charming account of the manners, customs and traditions of the nations of antiquity, and also concerning the wars and conquests embraced in their military annals. The attempt of Asia, under the control of a single individual, to reduce to slavery the free cities of Hellas, presents one of the most fascinating stories in recorded history. It is difficult to realize the extent of the power of Cyrus and Cambyses, of Darius and Xerxes, who ruled the eastern world, when we remember that without exception all within their vast dominions were abject slaves. At the request of Haman, Ahasuerus (Arta-xerxes) issued a decree "to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women in one day." At the request of Queen Esther the decree was reversed, and at the king's command, Haman and the entire race of Agag perished. It is now reasonably certain, that the Amestris of Herodotus was the Vashti of Esther. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.