''Io Semiramide'' (AKA: ''I Am Semiramis'', AKA: ''Slave Queen of Babylon'', AKA: ''Duelo de Reyes'') is a 1963 film about

Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...

, a queen of the

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...

. It was directed by

Primo Zeglio Primo Zeglio (8 July 1906 – 30 October 1984) was an Italian film director and writer. Selected filmography * ''The Mask of Cesare Borgia'' (1941) *'' Accadde a Damasco'' (1943) *''Febbre'' (1943) *'' Genoveffa di Brabante'' (1947) *'' Nero ...

. The legends are in part based on the historical

Shammuramat Shammuramat (Akkadian: ''Sammu-rāmat'' or ''Sammu-ramāt''), also known as Sammuramat or Shamiram, was a powerful queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Beginning her career as the primary consort of the king Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 BC), Shammura ...

, queen consort of

Shamshi-Adad V Shamshi-Adad V ( akk, Šamši-Adad) was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad. Family Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by ...

and regent for her son

Adad-nirari III Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...

Plot

During the reign of Semiramis, the beautiful queen of the Assyrian people,

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

reaches one of the periods of greatest splendour, and to crown her successes she gives the order to build the great city of Babylon. A young woman of the court of great political ambition, Semiramis falls in love with Kir, a prince enslaved who reciprocates. Kir, king of the Dardanians, is defeated in combat by General Onnos during a military campaign launched by the latter against Nineveh in Assyria. Reduced to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, Kir is taken with other slaves to the capital where the general presents his prizes to King Minurte. Semiramis persuades Minurte to offer him Kir and also obtains a domain. She employs her slaves, including Kir, to build a city that becomes Babylon. Meanwhile, she leads political machinations and alliances with Kir and Onnos in order to overthrow Minurte and take her place on the throne. The conspirators manage to take Kir from the queen and convince him that he has been betrayed by Semiramis with another man. Furious, Kir takes charge of the conspiracy against his beloved. Discovering the truth, Semiramis

poisons Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

Kir by making him drink from a poisoned cup. Later, during the funeral, the queen is

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

by an arrow thrown by the conspirators. The bodies of the two lovers are then burned together, united in death.Io Semiramide (I Am Semiramis)
by

FilmAffinity FilmAffinity is a movie recommendations website created in 2002 in Madrid, Spain by the film critic Pablo Kurt Verdú Schumann and the programmer Daniel Nicolás. As of 2016, the site listed 125,000 movies and series and had 556,000 reviews wr ...

.com

Cast

Yvonne Furneaux Yvonne Furneaux (born Elisabeth Yvonne Scatcherd; 11 May 1928) is a French-British retired actress. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she worked with notable filmmakers like Peter Brook, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, Michelan ...

as "

" *

John Ericson John Ericson (sometimes spelled Erickson; September 25, 1926 – May 3, 2020) was a German-American film and television actor known primarily for his co-star role with actress Anne Francis on the ABC television series '' Honey West'' in the 196 ...

as "Kir" *

Renzo Ricci Renzo Ricci (27 September 1899 – 20 October 1978) was an Italian stage and film actor. He was also a noted theatre director. Ricci played the title role in Roberto Rossellini's 1961 film ''Garibaldi''.Bondanella, Peter. ''The Films of Roberto ...

as "Minurte" * Germano Longo as "Onnos" *

Gianni Rizzo Gianni Rizzo (1925–1992) was an Italian film actor. Between 1944 and 1986 he appeared in over seventy films and television productions, in a variety of supporting roles. His screen roles included parts in a number of Peplum film, peplum films, ...

as "Ghelas" *

John Bartha János Bartha (6 February 1915 – 1991), better known as John Bartha, was a Hungarian film actor who appeared primarily in Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s and 1970s. He is probably most recognizable in western cinema for his role as the Sheriff ...

as "Althar" * Nino di Napoli as "Adath"

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0056088, I Am Semiramis 1960s historical films 1960s historical drama films 1963 films 1963 drama films 1960s adventure drama films 1960s action adventure films Sword and sandal films Historical epic films Romantic epic films Italian historical romance films 1960s historical romance films Italian romantic drama films Italian historical adventure films Italian action adventure films 1960s Italian-language films English-language Italian films Films set in ancient Mesopotamia Films about royalty Films based on mythology Films set in the 7th century BC Films set in Babylon Peplum films Films directed by Primo Zeglio Films scored by Carlo Savina Films about conspiracy theories Neo-Assyrian Empire Assyrian culture 1960s Italian films Semiramis

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links