Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)
Also known as: Mardani
Mardonius was a Persian military commander during the Greco-Persian Wars.
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Mardonius (nephew of Darius I): Xerxes I
Though he secured initial victories in the first Persian invasion of Greece, he was ultimately forced to retreat into Anatolia after suffering catastrophic losses in both men and material due to a storm off the coast of Mount Athos, following which he was relieved of his command by Darius the Great. He was later re-appointed by Xerxes I and took part in the second Persian invasion of Greece.
Mardonius (nephew of Darius I): Thermopylae, 480 BCE
Herodotus relates of the Spartan leader Pausanias’ response when an Aeginetan suggests mounting on a pole the head of the slain Persian general Mardonius, as Xerxes had wanted to do to Leonidas after the battle of Thermopylae—a suggestion taken by Pausanias to threaten the very root of civilization: "Such doings befit barbarians rather than Greeks, and even in barbarians we detest them...