Sardanapalus
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Sardanapalus. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
The last king of Assyria , celebrated for his luxury and indolence. His effeminacy induced his subjects to conspire against him with success, on which he set fire to his palace and perished in the flames, B. C. 820. Lord Byron has made his history the subject of a tragedy, in which he introduces as the heroine Myrrha, a Greek slave, who sets fire to a pile of inflammable materials which had been raised, and perished with Sardanapalus, exclaiming as she applies the torch: "Lo! I've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars." The play of Sardanapalus is still occasionally produced on the stage. Sardinia (Sardi: Sardinia). A large island in the Mediterranean. Sardis or Sardes (Sardiani: Sart, Ru.). One of د 256 IOOO CLASSICAL CHARACTERS the most ancient and famous cities of Asia Minor, and the capital of the great Lydian monarchy. Saturninus, L. Appuleius. The celebrated demagogue, who was quaestor B. C. 104, and tribune of the plebs for the first time in 102. He proposed several popular measures, such as a Lex Frumentaria, and a law for founding new colonies in Sicily, Achaia, and Macedonia. 2026 Editor's Note: While Greek sources identify Sardanapalus as the final Assyrian ruler, the actual last king was Aššur-uballiṭ II, who reigned from 612 to 605 BC. The legendary figure is likely a corruption of the scholarly emperor Ashurbanipal , whose real-life military power bore little resemblance to the decadent character portrayed in Romantic-era art and music. This myth later inspired Eugène Delacroix 's 1827 painting and musical works by composers such as Berlioz and Liszt. (Ed: BR 2026-06-23)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the name of several princes of Assyria, the most celebrated of whom was the last sovereign of the first Assyrian empire. His reign dates from 836 to 817 B. C., when he was dethroned by Arbaces and Belesis, at the head of a revolt of the Medes, Persians, and Babylonians. In the last extremity, Sardanapalus, who had withstood a siege for three years in Nineveh, placed himself, his treasures, his wives, and his eunuchs on a funeral pile, which he fired with his own hand. He had ceased to exist when the city was taken, and that event was followed by the dismemberment of the Assyrian empire. The above is a Greek legend (dates uncertain) of the reign of Asshur-banipal. See ASSYRIA.