Item: Babylonia
Rating: 4
Author: Catherine

Babylonia by Costanza Casati
Published by Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication date: January 14, 2025
Genres: Fiction, Historical

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Orphaned as a baby after her mother killed herself, Semiramis has been believed to be cursed or a witch her entire young life. But she doesn’t care what the ignorant people of her tiny Assyrian village think. She knows she’s destined for greatness and when the opportunity arises, she grabs it. This is Babylonia, historical fiction blended with myth from the ancient world about one woman who refused to be defined by the times around her and instead defined the times herself.

When the new king’s army descends on their village, Semiramis attracts the attention of the new governor of the state and goes back to the capital with him as his wife. Onnes is his closest advisor and friend and one of the kingdom’s fiercest warriors. She finds it a hostile place of hidden agendas, snobbery, and thinly veiled dislike from the king himself. Rather than kowtow to the court to get them to like her, she befriends a slave, Rabit. A common man with an uncommon secret: he can read and write. In hiring him and treating him well, she creates an ally who not only teaches her to read and write, but brings her all the secrets slaves, with their invisibility, are privy to. This is just the beginning of her rise to the highest echelons of power.

The desire to attack nearby Babylonia arises and Onnes leaves with the rest of the troops. The war is devastating, and Samira takes part in it in a role that elevates her station from reviled commoner upstart to a woman who must be reckoned with. But at this time, she starts to see she may have chosen badly, and despite her deep affection for her husband, she realizes he’s haunted by ghosts and demons she can’t exorcise. Her thirst for power and belief in herself is such she has a difficult choice to make.

Set in the 8oos BC, the Assyrian Empire (what is now Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria) was formidable. Widely known for their gruesome brutality they had no interest in diplomacy, allies, or negotiations. Land and people were to be conquered without mercy. Semiramis can fight as well as any man, but Casati goes beyond her physicality and illuminates her perspective as a woman when it comes to mercy and the taking of life. Even more so, is her own fear of death, its nothingness, but the fear drives and propels her rather than paralyzing her. The more power and greatness she can accrue the more it will protect her from death.

At the other end of the spectrum is Rabit. He has his own sections in Babylonia, but from the lowliest perspective—a branded slave who is neither seen or heard by those he serves. It’s only as the pages pass that his intelligence and shrewd understanding of palace politics comes to light. Only Semiramis sees his value and rewards him accordingly. Like her, the time will come when he has to make a momentous choice.

Historical fiction has been a staple for my reading for as long as I can remember. I love being entertained and educated about times, places, and people I never knew about. It’s even better when an author unearths a female from ancient history (all right, any point in history) who despite their achievements has been ignored, forgotten, or overwritten. Casati brings Semiramis to vivid life with her details of every aspect of Assyrian life from the luxuries of the palaces to the slave quarters to the foods and spices of the times. All of this comes together to make Babylonia an intriguing look at an ancient society from the perspective of its most ignored citizens.

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