Cleopatra VII

Conspiracies Surrounding Cleopatra VII's Death
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When holding such a large amount of power just in the palm of one’s hand, the person easily has the authority to use it in barbaric way. But, the last ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra VII is one of the best examples of a woman who used her power in the best of ways. She dominated a predominantly male domain through her seductive tricks in order to get other male rulers on her side, striving for success. And did so with such grace in order to remain classy under the microscope of so many. Despite the power she held, Cleopatra’s life came to a tragic end. Though, there are multiple conspiracies surrounding her death that researchers have yet to pin down, three stick out: Either the queen of Egypt took her own life alongside of her husband by cobra venom or poison or, she could have been murdered by one of her affairs. Following is the examination of conspiracy theories surrounding Queen Cleopatra’s death. 

The first theory of Cleopatra taking her own life is the one most popular. Most people believe that this was the true cause of her death because she found her husband had killed himself after thinking she was dead--a true “Romeo and Juliet” tragedy. Certainly, one could speculate that the reason why this cause of death is the most popular is because it is the most romantic. This cause has heart to it, two lovers taking their life because they believe the other is dead. Many, many times over it has been said that she died of poison. Cleopatra drank a bottle of poison from a potion made by either someone she knows, or she was gifted this murderous weapon. The queen was under a lot of pressure by her country and other rulers who allied with her. Before her death, she was in a civil war with her little brother that “ultimately destroyed the nation they lived in, (Chen). She was also in a position of enormous power, a title that is not just given to anyone. And because of her role, she quickly became overwhelmed with what to do. She simply wanted too much and, in the process, lost land and riches as well as soldiers and other valuable goods. Having this much power is seen to be unhealthy, leading historians to believe that Cleopatra was “suicidal and took her own life”, (Chen). “Cleopatra dies of suicide on August 12th, 30 BC” with the remains of her husband on one side of her and bottles of poison on the other, (History). Also near the two bodies was a poisonous Egyptian cobra, which leads us to the second theory.

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The second theory surrounds a poisonous cobra that is believed the have bitten Cleopatra with her own force. This theory is that Cleopatra bothered the cobra to the point of it attacking her. Thinking about this theory down to its ends is hard to come by. If she did coerce this cobra to kill her by a venomous bit, she would have died in the matter of a few hours rather than seconds. Cobra bites lead to a very slow death since it “takes hours of pain for the poison to really get inside of the person,” and it has been proved that the queen of Egypt died in only a matter of seconds, (Chen). This theory of her dying by a cobra bite makes for an incorrect theory because even if the “snake were to bite your eyes”, she again, died quickly. And so, this theory can easily be shut down and proven wrong just by the study of cobras and their venom and how the death of venom effects a person’s physical appearance and the time of death. 

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The third and last theory about Cleopatra’s death is a homicide. Many researchers believe that there is enough evidence to prove that Cleopatra was killed. And her murder would be Caesar Augustus, or better as we know him, Octavian. Octavian was the first ruler of Rome, and he was one of Cleopatra’s lovers. It took a while for the two to warm up to each other since they both were not fond of the other for years. Octavian wanted Cleopatra’s land and rulings. And this was obvious since the two did go into war and this war only stopped from the death of Cleopatra and her son. It has been said multiple times that she feared that Octavian would kill all her children, and maybe even herself. This threat is one of the main reasons why people believe he killed her. Because following Cleopatra’s death and the end of the war, he had all that he had ever wanted. The death of Cleopatra and her son “brought an end to Ptolemaic rule in Egypt”, (Klimczak). And so, the reasoning why philosophers believe so strongly that this conspiracy could be the truth to her death is because of all of the reasons why Octavian disliked Cleopatra. He wanted her land, her regions that she ruled, and the power that she had over people. And with her dying, he would be able to receive all of it. 

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The theories surrounding Cleopatra VII’s death are still unwritten. The truth about the way her life was taken is almost impossible to discover considering that it happened so long ago. But she was such a popular figure, people made sure to always keep her death relevant. The first, being the most popular was that Cleopatra took her own life by poison. The second is that she was bitten by an Egyptian cobra and the venom killed her. And the last, is her getting murdered by her lover/ hater, Octavian who wanted more than his kingdom. Each of these have stayed popular because of the evidence surrounding them, making them almost true. But until Cleopatra can tell the world herself the ways she died, it may forever stay a mystery. 

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WORKS CITED:

Hammett, Prof. “1301 Conspiracy Theories: Cleopatra by Henry Chen.” 1301 Conspiracy Theories, 11 Dec. 2019, hammettenglish1301.blogspot.com/2019/12/cleopatra-henry-chen.html. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.

History.com Editors. “Cleopatra Dies by Suicide.” HISTORY, 7 May 2019, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cleopatra-commits-suicide. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.

Klimczak, Natalia. “What If Cleopatra and Octavian Had Been Friends?” Www.ancient-Origins.net, www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/what-if-cleopatra-and-octavian-had-been-friends-005724. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.

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