ABSTRACT
ASSURBANIPAL was young when he ascended the throne. He was not yet thirty years old when Esarhaddon, his father, chose him from amongst his sons, and proclaimed him as his successor at Nineveh in the presence of the nobles and of the army: the following year he became king. He is tall, vigorous, and well made; his face is wide, the eyes are boldly opened, the nose straight, the mouth hard and proud, the hair long and wavy. His predecessors were passionately fond of war and of conquest; they lived, and sometimes, like Esarhaddon, they died in camp. Assurbanipal does not care to put himself into harness. He usually leaves to his generals the management of all military operations, and as they ha ve been trained in a good school, the affairs of the country do not suffer. It is not that he is incapable of commanding and fighting like anyone else, if necessary, but he is naturally indolent, voluptuous, devout, fond of luxury and the arts, still a bold rider and mighty hunter before the gods.
