Kallisthenes in [book] 2 of Persian Histories[1] says that there were two men [named] Sardanapalos, one active and well-born but the other a fop. In Nineveh this is written on his memorial: "The son of Anakyndaraxes built Tarsus and Anchiale in one day. Eat, drink, copulate, for other things are not worth this." That is, a snap of the fingers: for he made and set up a statue in his remembrance which had its hands over its head, so that it was snapping with its fingers.[2] The same thing was written, too, in Anchiale, near Tarsus, which is now called Zephyrion.
And [there is] a proverb: "may you grow old more profound than Tithonos, more rich than Kinyras, and more fastidious than Sardanapalos, so that what the proverb says can be fulfilled in you: the old are twice children.[3] In reference to the very old. For Tithonos, by prayer, put off old age and changed into a cicada. Kinyras, descended from Pharnakes a king of [the] Cypriots, excelled in wealth. Sardanapalos, king of [the] Assyrians, living in luxury and intemperance, lost his own kingdom.[4]
This Sardanapalos was the son of Anakyndaraxes, a king of Nineveh, a Persian territory; he founded Tarsus and Anchiale in a single day. It is said that he prided himself shamefully not to be seen by his servants, unless by eunuchs and maidens. Ruined by wine, he was found dead indoors. It was written on his tomb in Assyrian letters: "Sardanapalos, son of Anakyndaraxes, etc.".[5]