134 



XERES-XERXES. 



enjoyed his confidence; he fought under his stand- 

 ard, and conquerfd with him in the Asiatic pro- 

 vinces, as well as at the battle of Coronsea. His 

 fame, however, did not escape the aspersions of 

 jealousy; he was publicly banished from Athens 

 for accompanying Cyrus against his brother ; and, 

 being now without a home, he retired to Scillus, a 

 small town of the Lacedemonians, in the neighbour- 

 hood of Olympia. In this solitary retreat, he de- 

 dicated his time to literary pursuits ; and, as he had 

 acquired riches in his Asiatic expeditions, he began 

 to adorn the country which surrounded Scillus. 

 He built a magnificent temple to Diana, in imitation 

 of that of Ephesus, and spent part of his time in 

 rural employments, or in hunting in the woods and 

 mountains. His peaceful occupations, however, 

 \\cic soon disturbed by a war which arose between 

 the Lacedaemonians and Elis. The sanctity of 

 Diana's temple, and the venerable age of the philo- 

 sopher, were disregarded ; and Xenophon, driven 

 by the Eleans from his favourite spot, retired to 

 the city of Corinth. In this place he died, in the 

 eighty-seventh year of his age. Besides the works 

 already mentioned, Xenophon wrote the Banquet 

 of the Philosophers, a counterpart of a composition 

 of Plato, and several smaller works, relating to 

 agriculture, politics, and the science of war; also a 

 history of the Greeks, in seven books, and a con- 

 tinuation of the history of Thucydides, down to 

 the battle of Mantinea ; and the Life of Cyrus the 

 Elder, more known under the name of Cyropaedia". 

 This celebrated production is not a real history, but 

 rather a historical novel. It contains Xenophon 's 

 ideas respecting the best form of government ; and 

 the biography of the greatest ruler known at that 

 time is embellished to illustrate the writer's princi- 

 ples. Xenophon considered the monarchical form 

 of government the best ; and his purpose seems to 

 have been to recommend it to his countrymen. His 

 style in general, and particularly in this work, is a 

 model of elegant simplicity. Xenophon is there- 

 fore one of those classics which are particularly 

 selected for the instruction of youth, though his 

 philosophical works are not proper for beginners. 

 The Greeks esteemed his merit as a writer so high 

 that they called him the " Greek bee," and the 

 " Attic muse." His works have been often pub- 

 lished, separately and together. The most recent 

 editions are by Schneider and Weiske. There is 

 no other instance on record of a man who was at 

 the same time so great a general, so excellent a 

 writer, and so amiable a philosopher. 



Another Xenophon, an amatory poet, lived to- 

 wards the beginning of the third century A. D., 

 was a native of Ephesus, and wrote a tale called 

 the History of Habrocomes and Anthia. 



XERES, FRANCIS ; a Spanish historian, who ac- 

 companied Pizarro in his conquest of Peru, and 

 acted as his secretary. By order of the conqueror, 

 he addressed a detailed account of this great expe- 

 dition to Charles V. The work of Xeres appeared 

 at Salamanca in 1547, folio, under the title Con- 

 quista del Piru : Verdadera Relation de la Con- 

 (juista del Piru y de la Provincia del Citzco llamada 

 la Nueva Castillo, &c. It is sometimes to be found 

 at the end of Oviedo's Natural History of the In- 

 dies. The work of Xeres has been translated into 

 Italian, and inserted by Ramusioin the third volume 

 of his Collection of Travels and Voyages. Not- 

 withstanding the great partiality of Xeres for the 

 conqueror of Peru, his history is important, as he, 

 was an eye-witness of every thing he relates, and 



took an active part in Hie war which decided the 

 fate of that beautiful country. 



XERES DE LA FRONTERA: a town of 

 Spain, in Seville, on the Guadalete ; fifteen miles 

 north-north-east of Cadiz, and thirty-two south of 

 Seville; Ion. 6 15' \V. ; lat. 36 41' N. ; popula- 

 tion, between twenty and thirty thousand. It is 

 pleasantly situated, surrounded with walls, the 

 streets wider than those of Cadiz, clean and neatly 

 paved, and some of the houses splendid. It is an 

 ancient town, supposed to be built, on the site of 

 Asta Regia. In the environs is produced the wine 

 called sherry, a corruption of Xeres. Some sweet 

 wines are also produced in this neighbourhood, of 

 which 4he best known is the vino tin to, or tent 

 u-inc. The country around is very fertile, and 

 the climate delightful Near this town a battle 

 was fought between the Moors and Goths, in 712, 

 in which Roderic, the last king of the Goths, lost 

 his life. 



XERES WINE. See Sherry. 



XERXES I., king of Persia, famous for his un- 

 successful attempt to conquer Greece, began to 

 reign in 485 B. C., and was the second son of Da- 

 rius Hystaspes. He was preferred to his brother 

 Artab&zanes, who had been born before his father 

 was raised to the throne ; while Xerxes was born 

 after that event, and was the son of Atossa, daugh- 

 ter of Cyrus. This preference caused no struggle 

 between the brothers. After having subdued Egypt 

 in a single campaign, he thought himself able to 

 execute the plan of conquering Greece, which had 

 been already conceived by his father. He collect- 

 ed for this purpose an immense army. The his- 

 torians estimate it at a million of men. In all 

 probability, the Greeks greatly exaggerated *the 

 number of their enemies; and the train of women 

 and slaves, who followed the army, made, at least, 

 half of its numerical amount: still, however, the 

 power of Xerxes was beyond all comparison supe- 

 rior to that of the Greeks. But these fought for 

 their home and their freedom, and the Persian sol- 

 diers were hirelings. By means of a bridge of boats 

 Xerxes crossed the Hellespont. The Greeks await- 

 ed their enemy on the frontier of their country, in 

 the pass of Thermopylae. After the heroic Leonidas 

 had fallen with his Spartans (see Leonidas and 

 Ephialtes), Xerxes pressed forward, and burned 

 Athens, which had been forsaken by its inhabitants. 

 The first naval battle between the two powers, at 

 Artemisium, had been undecisive ; but it inspired 

 the Greeks with new confidence ; and the second 

 naval action, at Salamis, in which, if we believe 

 the Greek historians, two thousand Persian vessels 

 were engaged against three hundred and eighty 

 Greek, eventuated in the defeat of the Persians. 

 Xerxes now quitted Greece, leaving behind him 

 his best general, Mardonius, who, not long after, 

 was entirely beaten at Plataeae. Xerxes himself 

 returned from his expedition in the most humiliat- 

 ing manner. The bridge of boats over the Helles- 

 pont had been destroyed and he passed the strait 

 in a small fishing boat. He now gave himself up 

 to debauchery ; his conduct offended his subjects, 

 and Artabanus, the captain of his guards, conspired 

 against him, and murdered him in his bed, in the 

 twenty-first year of his reign, about 465 years be- 

 fore the Christian era. The personal accomplish- 

 ments of Xerxes have been commended by ancient 

 authors ; and Herodotus observes, that there was 

 not one man among the millions of bis army, that 

 was equal to the monarch in comeliness or stature. 



