Editing Xerxes I (section)

=== Upbringing and education ===
[[File:Caylus_vase_1762.jpg|thumb|upright|The "[[Caylus vase]]", a quadrilingual [[alabaster jar]] with cuneiform and hieroglyphic inscriptions in the name of "Xerxes, the Great King". [[Cabinet des Médailles]], [[Paris]]<ref name="RMN">{{cite web |title=vase (inv.65.4695) - inv.65.4695, BnF |url=http://medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr/ws/catalogue/app/collection/record/ark:/12148/c33gbts1b |website=medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr |language=fr}}</ref>]]
According to the Greek dialogue [[First Alcibiades]], which describes typical upbringing and education of Persian princes, they were raised by [[eunuchs]]. Starting at the age of seven, they learned how to ride and hunt; after reaching the age of fourteen, they were each taught by four teachers from aristocratic backgrounds, who taught them how to be "wise, just, prudent, and brave."{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=27}} Persian princes also learned the basics of the [[Zoroastrian]] religion, and were taught to be truthful, to be courageous, and to have self-restraint.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=27}} The dialogue further added that "fear, for a Persian, is the equivalent of slavery."{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=27}} At the age of 16 or 17, they began their mandatory 10 years of national service, which included practicing archery and javelin, competing for prizes, and hunting.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=28}} Afterwards, they served in the military for around 25 years, after which they were elevated to the status of elders and advisers to the king. Families{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=28}} in this time, including Xerxes', would intermarry.

This account of education among the Persian elite is supported by [[Xenophon]]'s description of the 5th-century BC Achaemenid prince [[Cyrus the Younger]], with whom he was well-acquainted.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=28}} Stoneman suggests that this was the type of upbringing and education that Xerxes experienced.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=29}} It is unknown if Xerxes ever learned to read or write, with the Persians favoring oral history over written literature.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=29}} Stoneman suggests that Xerxes' upbringing and education was possibly not much different from that of the later Iranian kings, such as [[Abbas the Great]], king of the [[Safavid Empire]] in the 17th-century AD.{{sfn|Stoneman|2015|p=29}} Starting from 498 BC, Xerxes resided in the royal palace of [[Babylon]].{{sfn|Dandamayev|1989|p=183}}