2:1 After these things. The succeeding account was probably at least two years “after these things,” for the king and all his officers embarked on their projected invasion of Greece immediately following the great assemblage. As history shows, however, the great fleet of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) suffered bitter defeats at the naval battles of Thermophylae and Salamis, and returned home sadder and wiser. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the king went back to “comfort himself” with his harem. At this time he “remembered Vashti,” and proceeded with his comforting mission of examining many “young virgins” (Esther 2:2) from all parts of his kingdom to find a new queen.