The Mysterious Death of Cleopatra

            The death of Cleopatra has been widely discussed for many years. The main theory regarding the end of her life was that she killed herself and all of her servants using a snake local to the area (“Death of Cleopatra”).  But, the question is: how could one snake have killed her so quickly?  More research has come out to say that the snake she had used, the asp, could not possibly have been able to kill her that fast and could not have killed her servants, as well. Another more plausible theory is that Octavian, Cleopatra’s rival at the time, had killed her himself or had sent someone to kill her in order to take over Alexandria after he had won the war against her and Mark Antony.  

            Up until recently, people have believed that Cleopatra’s life was taken by a snake bite and taking her servants lives with her (“Death of Cleopatra”).  The asp snake is a breed native to the Nile River area, where Alexandria is located.  The snake is a type of cobra, known to be around 5 feet long and very venomous, and it symbolizes royalty in ancient Egypt (Zug).  The theory is that Cleopatra had this snake sent into her mausoleum inside a basket of figs, where she then let the snake bite her on the breast.  It is unknown whether or not the snake was then used to kill her servants as well, but some of the reports about what had happened that day also described the servants in the room dead with her – leading them to believe that the “two…handmaidens committed suicide with her” (“Death of Cleopatra”).  According to researchers, though, this kind of snake would not have had the ability to do all of this (Zug).

            The first problem with this theory is that the snake would not have been able to get into the building in a basket of figs.  Although this is a small detail, it is important to note how the snake had gotten into Cleopatra’s possession in the first place.  Since the snake is usually around 5 feet long, it is very unlikely that the snake would have been able to fit into a fig basket.  The second issue with this theory is that the snake, like most venomous snakes, would not be able to inject enough venom in one person to be lethal.  Given this information, the snake would not be able to kill Cleopatra plus the other servants in the room with her.  When snakes do inject enough venom to be lethal, the death is usually slow and painful, while Cleopatra’s death seemed to be quick and painless.  If Cleopatra had died by an injection, people might say it must have been some kind of poison she injected herself rather than letting herself get bitten by a venomous snake (“Death of Cleopatra”).

            More evidence has started showing up that Cleopatra might have died by Octavian’s hand.  Cleopatra died after the war between her kingdom and Octavian’s kingdom had ended.  Octavian’s sister, Octavia, was in a relationship with Mark Antony at the time that Antony had left her to grow closer to Cleopatra (Tyldesley).  This could have hinted at a personal vendetta that Octavian had against Cleopatra and Mark Antony.  The Naval Battle of Actium was the battle between Octavian and both Cleopatra and Mark Antony, in which Octavian was victorious.  In Octavian’s mind, as long as Cleopatra was alive, she was a threat to his dominance in Egypt (Pruitt).  After Egypt’s defeat, Antony received a notice that Cleopatra was dead.  Believing the letter, Antony took his life by his own sword – where he was then carried to Cleopatra, and he died in her arms (1).  Supposedly, Octavian had received a letter from Cleopatra asking for her to be buried together with Mark Antony, where he “…immediately sent his men to investigate…(and) found Cleopatra lying lifeless on a golden couch, her two servants dead and dying beside her” (Pruitt).  This is why many people believe that Cleopatra had taken her own life via the bite of an asp because she no longer wanted to live without Antony and in fear of Octavian. 

            After Antony’s death, Cleopatra was put under house arrest in her mausoleum under the orders of Octavian.  There are many different reports of what had happened the night that Cleopatra died.  Some historians believe that Octavian’s men had allegedly found her, furthering the theory that they had killed her (“Death of Cleopatra”).  Other historians believe that Octavian killed her himself (1).  After Cleopatra died, Octavian’s men were sent to murder Cesarean after threatening to hurt him many times when the queen was alive.