Darius, the king of Persia, had a son, Xerxes, who was determined to conquer the Greeks after his father failed to. According to Herodotus, Xerxes had an army of 2,641,610 men, 1,207 war ships, and 3,000 smaller vessels. Historians believe that these numbers were exaggerated. There were probably 150,000 to 200,000 combat troops and 700-800 war ships.

	To enter Greece, Xerxes had to cross a narrow strait called Hellespont which is between modern day Turkey and Egypt. So Xerxes ordered a bridge to be built over Hellespont for the troops to cross over on.
This was the type of warships that the Ancient Greeks used in battle.

Once, there was a storm, which knocked out the bridge. Xerxes demanded the land to be whipped 300 hundred times and ordered the land to wear castings and shackles. He also ordered the building of a new bridge. The new bridge was over a mile long, made out of around 314 boats lashed together, the troops and horses crossed over on this.