Quick questions on Xerxes and the administration of the Persian Empire - HSC Ancient History

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What is the system Xerxes inherited?

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When Xerxes came to the throne in 486 BC on the death of his father Darius I, he took over one of the most sophisticated administrative systems of the ancient world, and he changed remarkably little of it. Darius had reorganised the empire into about 20 satrapies (Herodotus, Histories 3.89), each governed by a satrap (usually a Persian noble, often royal kin) responsible for civil administration, justice, tribute collection and local levies, but deliberately checked by the hazarapatis (commander of the royal guard and gatekeeper to the king), the King's Eye (royal inspectors reporting straight to the crown, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.2.10-12), and separate royal garrison commanders. Xerxes kept this structure intact.

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