General Onnos (Germano Longo) goes back to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh from successful campaigns he waged war against enemy countries . He presents King Minurte (Renzo Rizzi) after his military campaign with a number of newly-captured slaves including Kir (John Ericson) , vanquished king of the Dardanians who is made a prisoner and going on fighting for rebellion . Kir attracts the attention of Semiramis (Yvonne Furneaux) , a gorgeous young woman who's a member of Minurte's court and who has imperial ambitions. She persuades Minurte to give her a province and then uses slave labor, including Kir, to build herself a city which becomes Babylon. All this time Semiramis -helped by Ghelas (Gianni Rizzo)- plans to overthrow Minurte using shifting alliances with both Kir and General Onnos . Shortly after , she becomes the King's favorite , but Semiramis schemes a plot to depose the king and seize power for herself . And she is soon made queen with the novelty of a woman ruling such an empire . Later on , Kir and his people, toiling as slaves in a nearby quarry, to build the impressive city of Babylon and he refuses to submit to her rule.
This sword and sandals movie contains drama , thrills , betrayals , impressive battles and hokey historical events . Dealing with the famous queen Semiramis who ruled Syria , Mesopotamia and Babylon .However , the movie has not mythological accuracy , neither expecting historical .Produced by Aldo Pomilia (Chelo Alonso's husband) who also financed ¨War Gods of Babylon¨ (1963) building same sets for two similar films . it contains a colorful and brilliant cinematography by Alvaro Mancori . And the typically sturdy score, being the work of a distinguished composer , Carlo Savina , who was usual collaborator to Ennio Morricone . The picture was professionally directed by Primo Zeglio . Primo was married to Paola Barbara who usually plays his films in secondary roles . He was a good filmmaker , a craftsman who wrote and directed all kind of genres as Adventure : "Seven Seas to Calais" , ¨Genoneva De Bravante¨ , "Revenge of the Pirates", "Son of the Red Corsair" ¨, ¨Captain Ghost¨, ¨Morgan the pirate¨ , Sci-Fi : "Mission Stardust" , Peplum : "I Am Semiramis" , ¨Nero and Messalina¨ , ¨Rosmunda e Alboino¨ and Spaghetti : "Texas Ranger" , ¨Winchester One of One Thousand¨ also titled ¨Winchester Justice¨ and "The Relentless Four¨, among others.
Other versions about the Mesopotamian sub-genre are the following ones : ¨The Queen of Babylone¨ 1954 by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia with Rhonda Fleming , Ricardo Montalban , Roldano Lupi ; ¨War Gods of Babylon¨ 1962 by Silvio Amadio with Howard Duff , Jocelyn Lane , Luciano Marin ¨,¨II'eroe di Babilonaia¨ or ¨The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules¨ (1963) with Gordon Scott , Genevieve Grad , Mario Petri ,cMoira Orfei and Folco Lulli . And the silent classic ¨Intolerance¨ (1916) by D.W. Griffith that is another version of the conquest of Babylonia by the Persians .
The flick is partially based on facts , the actual events are as follows : While the achievements of Semiramis are clearly in the realm of mythical Persian, Armenian and Greek historiography, the historical Shammuramat certainly existed. After her husband's death, she served as regent from 811-806 BC for her son, Adad-nirari III. Shammuramat would have thus been briefly in control of the vast Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), which stretched from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and western Iran in the east to Cyprus in the west. In the city of Assur on the Tigris, she had an obelisk built and inscribed that read, "Stele of Shammuramat, queen of Shamshi-Adad, King of the Universe, King of Assyria, King of the Four Regions of the World¨.Legends describing Semiramis have been recorded by writers including Plutarch, Eusebius, Polyaenus, and Justinus. She was associated with Ishtar and Astarte since the time before Diodorus. The name of Semiramis came to be applied to various monuments in Western Asia and Anatolia, the origin of which was forgotten or unknown. Various places in Assyria and throughout Mesopotamia as a whole, Media, Persia, the Levant, Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Caucasus bore the name of Semiramis, but slightly changed, even in the Middle Ages. She is credited with founding the city of Van in order to have a summer residence, and the city may also be referred to as Shamiramagerd (city of Semiramis). Strabo credits her with building earthworks and other structures "throughout almost the whole continent."Nearly every stupendous work of antiquity by the Euphrates or in Iran seems to have ultimately been ascribed to her, even the Behistun Inscription of Darius. Herodotus ascribes to her the artificial banks that confined the Euphrates and knows her name as borne by a gate of Babylon.Armenian tradition portrays Semiramis negatively, possibly because of a victorious military campaign she prosecuted against them. One of the most popular legends in Armenian tradition involves Semiramis and an Armenian king, Ara the Handsome. According to the legend, Semiramis had fallen in love with the handsome Armenian king Ara and asked him to marry her. When he refused, in her passion she gathered the armies of Assyria and marched against Armenia. During the battle Semiramis was victorious, but Ara was slain despite her orders to capture him alive. To avoid continuous warfare with the Armenians, Semiramis, reputed to be a sorceress, took his body and prayed to the gods to raise Ara from the dead. When the Armenians advanced to avenge their leader, she disguised one of her lovers as Ara and spread the rumor that the gods had brought Ara back to life, convincing the Armenians not to continue the war.
