Final answer:
Xerxes wanted to burn Athens to the ground, and during his invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, he achieved this by destroying and burning the city, including the Acropolis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Greek city-state that Xerxes wanted to burn to the ground was Athens. During the Persian invasions of Greece in the early fifth century BCE, Xerxes, after succeeding his father Darius, led a vast army and navy against the Greek city-states in an effort to conquer and avenge previous Persian defeats. In 480 BCE, his forces captured and destroyed, looted, and burnt the city of Athens, including the iconic Acropolis. This destruction was part of a larger campaign that sought to subdue and absorb the famously independent Greek poleis into the Persian Empire. The Athenians, before the decisive battle of Plataea, swore an oath to leave the Acropolis in ruins as a monument to the wars if they were victorious, which they were, and so the ruins remained untouched for thirty years.