Ashurbanipal [TOP]

He picked up a reed stylus, his mind drifting from the administrative tallies of grain and captured gold. He wanted to record something that would outlast the stone walls of his palace. He began to write the story of his own secret education.

He set down his stylus and smiled at the messenger. He would march to war at dawn, but he would win the war tonight, right here among his books. He was not just a king of men, but the first true king of information. ashurbanipal

Suddenly, a heavy curtain parted. A breathless messenger knelt on the floor, breaking the King's reverie. The messenger delivered news of another rebellion stirring in the south, in the ancient city of Babylon. He picked up a reed stylus, his mind

Ashurbanipal did not rage or call for his generals. Instead, he looked down at the tablet in his hand. He realized that his true power did not lie in the iron tips of his army's spears, but in the vast, accumulated knowledge surrounding him in the dark. He knew the history of Babylon's past rebellions, the strategies of their former kings, and the psychological fractures of their people. He set down his stylus and smiled at the messenger