Semiramis: A Tale of Battle and of Love

The day waxed old. The sun plunged down into a fiery death, as though a Moloch swallowed it, to breathe back flames from his brazen throat; then the crimson glow grew faint and...

King Ninus, grandson of the mighty Shalmaneser, mounted his throne in youth, a throne which ruled a kingdom run to seed through the slothful reign of Shamashi-Raman; yet as his...

From the walls of Zariaspa the Bactrians watched a besieging host descend into the plains. First came mounted warriors who paused at the mountain's foot, one half to pitch their...

The throne-hall of the palace was of lofty pitch--and of spacious depth and width. In its rear, through arches, lay an open portico, while beyond could be seen the Valley of the...

With Kishra it came to pass as Semiramis had prophesied, for a poison worked within his veins till he sickened and knew no peace. Hour by hour he squatted upon the earth, while...

"Ho, Huzim!" called Semiramis, as she gained a footing on the river mud and splashed through the shallows where the lilies grew; and Huzim, with a cry of greeting, stretched for...

Through the hot brown streets of Nineveh a merchant of Phoenicia hawked his wares. His frame, once huge and splendid in its strength, was bent with seeming age, and a grey beard...

King Ninus took council within himself, and was afraid. Menon, he knew full well, was a seasoned warrior, one who even from the ashes of defeat would oft' times snatch a brand o...

A coppery sun climbed upward on his hill of cloud; the south-wind ceased, and the lake drowsed lazily in the morning sun. The Assyrian still reclined with his head upon the lap...

King Ninus now rested from his war and disposed of the affairs of state. He sealed a treaty with Oxyartes whereby all Bactria lay subject to Assyria's rule, each city paying yea...

King Ninus, lord of all Assyria, lay cursing in his royal litter, while slaves and attendants bore him northward on the banks of the Euphrates. Presently they left their course,...

King Ninus sat his war horse, gazing sadly out across the walls of Zariaspa. His cheek was bronzed by the brush of many winds, his muscles hardened by the toil of battle in a hu...

Semiramis in her chariot drove slowly round the wall of Zariaspa, scanning it from every vantage point; impenetrable, grim, it towered above her in the dignity of strength--the...

For a year, since his appointment, the Governor of Syria had dwelt at Azapah, a central point where his army camped, and whence his agents and his spies went forth to every trib...

In the palace of the King there was revelry unstinted, for a change had come upon Semiramis. Through the score of years when she reigned with Ninus, she had paid the tribute of...

A sumptuous feast was held, whereat the greater and lesser chiefs of every camp assembled, each in his appointed place; moreover, throughout the army of Assyria no soldier went...

Her parting with Menon had been strange indeed, for while his lips spoke bravely of the days to come, in his eyes lurked shadows of a troubled soul. Some secret preyed upon him...

In troublous times the government of Syria was not a game at which a child might play; and, albeit Menon dwelt with his wife at Azapah, he needs must circle round about through...

On the rim of Arabia's desert Semiramis and her army sat down to rest, for well she knew this pitiless, burning waste would offer a sterner barrier than the points of a million...

The army marched swiftly back to Azapah, for the place was sore in need of the Governor's fist. In his absence the people, growing bold, had stoned his agents, slaying many in t...

With the army of Ninus the night had passed without alarm, for in the lead crept a force of spies who watched the way and made report by signals that the road was clear of enemi...

As the young Assyrian sank, the maid smiled cunningly and edged away, fearing to be snared in a trap of her own device; yet when the moments melted one by one, her merriment gav...

For many days the mind of the King was troubled by a fractious mood. He strove to nurse an anger against Semiramis, yet, even as he brooded, his thought would trail away from th...

Menon, Governor of Syria, was troubled in his soul. Throughout the night he had courted sleep, yet rest came not to body or to mind, for the air was close, and vexious thought s...

Along the subterranean river course, cautiously and without a light, groped Kedha, Semiramis and Asharal, while at their heels walked Huzim bearing on his shoulder a mighty hamm...

And now came a day when Nineveh was Nineveh at last, and Ninus stood upon his palace roof and was glad because of the Opal of the East. At his feet a vast brown city lay--a city...

The High Priest Nakir-Kish was summoned to an audience with the King, and was bade to bear a sacred fowl for the manifestation of an augury; so he went forthwith and came upon h...

Semiramis, Queen of all Assyria, sat in the royal gardens, in the light of a great round moon which swung above the walls of Nineveh. About her were grouped her maidens, lolling...

The Assyrian host dragged westward till it wormed its way through notches in the mountain range, descended the further slopes, then fared upon its way. It split at last into les...

Prince Ninyas, when he had brought his warnings to the King, fled not with him into Arabia, for he had no thought to risk his slothful bones in the peril of a war; therefore he...

Simmas, chief warden of the royal flocks and herds, was a venerable man both wise and strong, yet his heart was as water running before the will of his foster-child. Unto him th...

Once more the priests and the chiefs of war foregathered at the mandate of the Queen; and now they waited not on the palace steps, but assembled in the council hall, that spacio...