The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-03-22
The Napoleon Of Women.

Mr.. EDITOR: As the 'legend of
Semiramis" appeared in the HERALD
of the Sth, probably the History" of
that lady would not be unipter-
esting TO your readers. The following
account is copied from Rawlinson's
"AHcient MOnarchies;" vol. chap. Q,
pages 1921.
"If these statues, however, are valu-
able as works of art, they have yet
peculiar interest for the historian, as
containing the only mention which
the disentombed remains have fur
nished of one of the most celebrated
names of antiquity-a name which
for many ages Vindicated to itself a
leading place, not only in the history
of ASSyria, but in that of the world.
To the Greeks and Romans Semira.
mis- was the foremost woman; the
greatest queen who ever welded a
Sceptre, the most extraordinary con-
querOr that tho Fast ever produced.
Beautiful as Helen or Cleopatra,
brave rs LOmris, lustful as Messalina;
she had the virtue and vices of man
rather than a woman; and performed
deeds scarcely inferior to those per-
formed by Cyrus or Alexander the
Great. 1T is an ungrateful task to dis
pei Illusions, more especially such as
are harmless, and venerable for their
antiquity; but truth requires the his
tUrian to obliterate from the pages of
the past this well known image, and
to substitute in its place a very dull
and prOSaic tigure-a Semiramis, no
longer decked with the prismatic hues
uf fancy, but clothed, instead, in the
sober garments of fact. The NebO
idols are dedicated by the Assyrian
officer, who had them executed, to
''his lord NuI-lush and his lady Sane
| HIHruHlf;' from whence it would ap-
pear to be certain, III the first place,
| that that Monarch was married to a
princess who bore this Wnrld renowned
name, and seo0ddly, that she held Il
position superior to that which is usu-
| ally allow ell in the Fast to queen
consort. An inveterate, oriental pref
udice, requires the seclusion of wo-
men, and the AssYFlan monuments,
thoroughly in accord with the predom-
| inant tone of the Eastern manners,
| throw a veil i'm general over all that
| concerns the weaker sex, neither rep
resentlng lhe forms OF the Assy
rian women in the sculptures, nor so
much as mentioning their existence in
i the Inscriptions. Very rarely is there
an exception TO this all but universal
| reticence, III the present instance,
4
| usually kept is broken; and native
| woman comes upon the scene to tam
talize us by her mOmentary appari-
tiQn. The glimpse we have obtained
does not rertal lauch, LeyQna the fapt
that the principal queen of Nul-lush
III was named Semiranlis, and the
further fact, implied in her being men,
toned at all, that she had a Recognized
position of authority in the country;
we can ouly conclude, cOnjecturally,
/ FROM the e&act RaFaIlslHiq Of the
phrases used, that She bore sway con.
Jointly with her husband, either over
the whole or over part Of his d0min-
ions.
Such a view explains TO some eX-
tent the wonderful tale of the Ninian
Semiranlis, which was foisted into
history by Cterias; for it shows that be
had u slight basis of fast to go upon.
1t also harmOnizes, or may be made
to harmonic, with the story told OF
Semiramis by Herodotus, who says
that she was BablOnian queen, and
. reigned five generations before Nito-
erios or about B. &. 755; for it IS quite
J | POSSIBLE that tho ,NdBgplUr0mH mar
ried to- Vui-lush III, was q Babylonjan
princess, the last descendant of a long
: line of kings, whom the AssyriaI
Monarch, to confirm through her lis
, title to the Southern provinces, il
l which case portion of his subject:
would regard her as their Legitimate
sovereign, and only recognize his au
: thority "a secondary, and dependen
: on neF's.
I The eXaggeration ip WHICH the ori
' entails indulge, with a freedom tina
astonishes the sober nations Of th'