Babylonia

‘This is the end of Babylon. Their kingdom falls, but a new one is born. We will take control of the south.’ A surprised and angered Assyrian General astonishes at the disrespect shown to the defeated King of Babylon by the new Queen. When challenged, she responds, ‘You think because I am common-born, and a woman, I cannot touch a King?’ A remarkable exchange from a remarkable figure, Semiramis, one of the ancient world’s most compelling characters unveiled for your next summer read. Babylonia by Costanza Casati offers to take you into the world of the Assyrian Queen who came from the edge of empire and from the margins to the centre of imperial power and intrigue. A fictionalised account based on historical documentation, Babylonia is part of a growing and exciting genre of the classics in fiction. Unlike many of the others that focus on Greco-Roman tales, Babylonia explores the world of the Near East and places a Middle Eastern woman at the helm of the narrative, but other viewpoints, including from slaves, are also present.

The novel focuses on the rise of Queen Semiramis, which is an interesting choice, while not a household name like other queens such as Cleopatra, Semiramis has nonetheless mesmerised, mystified and fascinating audiences for over a millennia. Likely born in present-day Syria and under her Akkadian name, Shammuramat – although better known from her Hellenised name, Semiramis – she is possibly the only Assyrian queen to retain her rank as Queen after her husband’s death.

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A marginalised figure, Semiramis was identified by some Christian writers as the whore of Babylon mentioned in the Book of Revelations, despite the Bible never making this connection. Dante put Semiramis in the Circle of Lust level of hell in the Inferno, next to Helen of Troy, Cleopatra and Dido. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about her, too, but the most important ancient account, which Casati draws upon is Greek historian, Didodorus Siculus. Aside from the historical record and accounts of Semiramis’ life, the Mesopotamian epic, Gilgamesh, is strongly present throughout the novel. Indeed, as Casati notes, the theme of Gilgamesh, of one not being able to escape one’s own death but desperately seeking to pursue immortality, is something that plays out among elites in Assyria throughout the novel: seeking to keep hierarchy and the order of things in an ever-changing world.

We meet Semiramis in the novel in her village, a world away from the great politics of Empire and a place which is barely part of the Assyrian imperial orbit. Her life is tough. Both her parents are dead and she knew very little about them growing up. Despite feeling different from those around her, Semiramis seemed destined for a life in obscurity, until she met a Governor who was intrigued by her. He praises her and when she tells him the locals think of her as a demoness, he responds, ‘Common people are always unkind to those who are different. They insult them because they do not understand them.’ This encounter would prove to be a turning point, a turning point sealed on the same evening after she speaks to a diviner who tells Semiramis, her future is shrouded in darkness, but ‘The woman arrayed in purple and gold, with a cup in her hand full of lust and faults, will be as great as Babylon, the glowing city which reigns over the kings of the earth.’ Not only does this prophecy predict her rise, it also seems to anticipate her reputation both during her lifetime and throughout the ages, both as a great ruler and condemned by her perceived vices.  She goes on to marry Ones, Governor and General. However, after the Assyrian conquest of Bactra, of which Semiramis took command of troops, the King himself fell in love with her. King Ninus would marry Semiramis and, after his death, Semiramis would reign.

Semiramis does things her own way and challenges convention. Nothing captures just how differently and independently Semiramis thinks quite like her telling a slave that Gilgamesh was wrong. The archetypal story that serves as a key text in the Assyrian world, a bold move to challenge it, ‘He was wrong … Immortality doesn’t mean living for ever. It means surviving even after your heart stops beating and your body is burned. It means living in myth, in stories.’ Those quotes capture Semiramis’ personality and developing consciousness throughout the novel. More than a rags to riches story, it is about a woman who has inserted her personality onto history that arose from nothing and came to have everything. Babylonia is a myth in its own right, not in the sense that it is untrue, but in the sense the ancients used it to mean a great story. Semiramis is not as widely known today as she should be and this novel will do more than raise awareness about her place in history. It will inject her voice into the conversation, too. Costanza Casati’s Babylonia is a charming, delightful, thoughtful and engrossing read that will entertain and educate anyone who picks up this book.

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