SEMIRAMIS, in fabulous history, a celebrated queen
of Assyria, daughter of the goddess Derceto, by a young
Assyrian. She was exposed in a desert; but her life
was preserved by doves for one whole year, till Simmas,
one of the shepherds of Ninus, found her and brought
her up as his own child. Semiramis, when grown up,
married Menones, the governor of Nineveh, and accom-
panied him to the siege of Bactria; where, by her ad-
vice and prudent directions, she hastened the king's op-
erations, and took the city. These eminent services, to-
gether with her uncommon beauty, endeared her to Ni-
nus. The monarch asked her of her husband, and offer-
ed him his daughter Sofana in her stead; but Menones,
who tenderly loved Semiramis, refused; and when Ni-
nus had added threats to entreaties, he hanged himself.
No sooner was Menones dead, than Semiramis, who was
of an aspiring soul, married Ninus, by whom she had a
son called Ninyas. Ninus was so fond of Semiramis, that
at her request she resigned the crown, and commanded
her to be proclaimed queen and sole empress of Assyria.
Of this, however, he had cause to repent: Semiramis
put him to death, the better to establish herself on the
throne; and when she had no enemies to fear at home,
she began to repair the capital of her empire, and by
her means Babylon became the most superb and mag-
nificent city in the world. She visited every part of
her dominions, and left everywhere immortal monuments
of her greatness and benevolence. To render the roads
passable and communication easy, she hollowed moun-
tains and filled up valleys, and water was conveyed at a
great expence by large and convenient aqueducts to
barren deserts and unfruitful plains. She was not less
distinguished as a warrior: Many of the neighbouring
nations were conquered; and when Semiramis was once
told as she was dressing her hair, that Babylon had re-
volted, she left her toilette with precipitation, and though
only half dressed, she refused to have the rest of her
head adorned before the sedition was quelled and tran-
quillity re-established. Semiramis has been accused of
licentiousness; and some authors have observed that she
regularly called the strongest and stoutest men in her Semiramis
army to her arms, and afterwards put them to death, Senate.
that they might not be living witnesses of her inconti-
nence. Her passion for her son was also unnatural; and
it was this criminal propensity which induced Ninus to
destroy his mother with his own hands. Some say that
Semiramis was changed into a dove after death, and re-
ceived immortal honours in Assyria. It is supposed that
she lived about 11 centuries before the Christian era,
and that she died in the 62d year of her age and the
25th of her reign. Many fabulous reports have been pro-
pagated about Semiramis, and some have declared that
for some time she disguised herself and passed for her son
Ninyas. Lempriere's Bibliotheca Classica.