1. This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush :
2. At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa,
3. and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.