On Famous Women

...she besieged a very strong city with her forces. Nor did she settle the remnants of the disordered uprisings original: "inordinatorum criminum." In this context, it refers to the rebellions and political chaos that followed the death of the King. until she had forced that most powerful city—previously untouched by any siege—into surrender, bringing it back under her dominion with hostile arms original: "infestis... armis.".

A massive statue, cast in bronze and erected in Babylon, stood for a long time as a testament to this bold deed original: "animosi facinoris." The term suggests not just courage, but a spirited, almost aggressive determination.. It depicted the woman with her hair flowing loose on one side and braided on the other This refers to a famous legend: while Semiramis was having her hair styled, news reached her of a revolt in Babylon. She supposedly rushed to the battlefield immediately, refusing to finish braiding her hair until the city was reconquered..

Furthermore, she founded many new cities and performed great deeds which antiquity has so swallowed up that almost nothing survives to our time except the praises already mentioned. Indeed, all these achievements would be considered wonderful, praiseworthy, and worthy of perpetual memory not only in a woman but in any strenuous man In Latin, vir strenuus refers to a man of action, vigor, and military prowess—the Roman ideal of masculine virtue.. However, one obscene enticement original: "obscena... illecebra." This marks a thematic shift in the biography from her public triumphs to her private moral failings, specifically her legendary reputation for unbridled lust. defiled them all. For when among...