legendary king of Assyria. He apparently represents an amalgamation of the characters and tragic fates of three Assyrian rulers: Ashurbanipal (q.v.; ruled 668–627 BC); his brother, Shamash-shum-ukin; and the last Assyrian king, Sin-shar-ishkun.

According to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Sardanapalus was the last of a line of 30 kings of Assyria, who exceeded all his predecessors in his sybaritic way of life. He emulated women in dress, voice, and mannerisms, passing his days spinning and making clothing. According to legend, he was responsible for the downfall of Assyria at the hands of an army of Medes, Persians, and Babylonians headed by Arbaces, a Median chief. Sardanapalus defeated the rebels thrice only to abandon the fight when his besieged royal capital of Ninus was flooded by the Euphrates River in apparent fulfillment of a prophecy. Sardanapalus built a huge pyre of his palace treasures, in which he ordered himself burned to death along with his servants and concubines.