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Sama Tanveer
2016-02-0307
Bushra Butt
SS100 Section 15
17 December 2012
Was Cleopatra killed by a snake?
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born in Egypt in October 69 BC. In 51BC Ptolemy
XII, Cleopatra’s father, died leaving the throne to 18 year old Cleopatra and her 10 year old
brother Ptolemy XIII. She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that
ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great’s death. (Wikipedia).She was a very intelligent women
and an astutate politician who used her leadership skills to effectively govern a bankrupt country.
She had an ambition that would lead her to the edge of the world power and a vision to create an
empire unlike the world has ever seen before. She was categorized as the most dangerous
seductors by the Romans. (Video).She used her seductive techniques successfully on Ceasor and
Mark Anthony, however, they failed when she tried them on Octavian. Ptolemy XIII was
Cleopatra’s first husband; marrying brothers was an old Egyptian culture at that time. He killed
Pompey, who was in a fight with Caesar at that time, in Egypt. Caesar, on his visit to Egypt, got
seduced by Cleopatra who was brought to him in a carpet at night. Cleopatra dethroned her own
brother, married Caesar and bore him a son Caesarion (Cleopatra (c.69 BC - 30 BC)).After
Caesar’s assassination in 44BC, she married Mark Anthony who was the ruler of Rome at that
time. Mark Anthony and Cleopatra’s love story was such that it became inspiration for
Shakespeare for his play ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ (Shakespeare).Anthony died in a battle of
Actium against Octavian where he stabbed himself on receiving a fake news that Cleopatra is
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dead. He was brought to Cleopatra, drawn up by cords through the window where he breathed
his last breath leaving Cleopatra in despair. After Mark Anthony’s death, Queen Cleopatra soon
died a mysterious death as well.
The great queen Cleopatra was taken as a captive by Octavian at the time of her death
(Mengs).It is believed that Octavian had plans to degrade Cleopatra by making her walk as a
captive in his triumph but could not accomplish this as Cleopatra died before this could happen.
Plutarch narrates the incident of her death in his book:
"But when they opened the doors they found Cleopatra stark dead, laid
upon a bed of gold, attired and arrayed in her royal robes, and one of her
two women, who was called Iris, dead at her feet, and the other woman
(called Charmion) half dead, and trembling, trimming the diadem which
Cleopatra wore upon her head.” (Plutarch)
It is believed that Cleopatra send a suicide note to Octavian’s guard for Octavian, before her
death. After sending the letter, Isis and Charmian, Cleopatra’s two loyal maidens brought a
Cobra hidden in a fruits basket for Cleopatra. Cleopatra placed the snake on her breast which
poisoned her to death. Then Isis, followed by Charmion allowed the snake to bite them.
Charmion was the last to die, she was found fixing Cleopatra’s diadem. When Octavian’s men
came to get Cleopatra, she was found dead. Plutarch describes this as “One of the soldiers,
seeing her, angrily said to her, 'Is that well done, Charmion?' 'Very well,' said she again, 'and
meet for a princess descended from the race of so many noble kings.' She said no more, but fell
down dead, hard by the bed.” (Plutarch)
This scene has been portrayed in many paintings such as that by Jean Andre Rixens which shows
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Cleopatra on her Gold bed dead, Isis on the floor and Charmian about to fall with a fruit basket
on the bedside. (Rixens). Hence, Cleopatra died on August 12, 30BC and was buried beside
Mark Anthony according to Anthony’s last wish.Cleopatra’s death marked the end to her reign
and the change of the calendar.Although people believe that Cleopatra send a suicide note to
Octavian and committed suicide by letting an Asp bite her, however, she was killed by Octavian
as he had the ability to kill her and a desire for her position as a God and her power.
Octavian is responsible for Cleopatra’s death as he had the ability to control the crime
scene and to alter people’s judgement.Pat Brown, a criminal profiler, consulted Yves Emperur,
an underwater archeologist from French National Research Centre, Jean.He had spend almost a
decade exploring Cleopatra’s city and was able to help Pat Brown locate the exact place where
the mausoleum was located and she was taken as a captive at the time of her death. Pat Brown
herself explored the area underwater which is shown in her documentary ‘Mysterious Death of
Cleopatra’. She collected and passed on the information to graphic experts who recreated the city
in 3-D. The 3-D visualization helped Pat Brown in investigation and she was able to conclude
that ‘The mausoleum and palace are only a several 100 metres apart, that’s a very short walk’
(Harney).Since the mausoleum had no gates and the guards, who were there on duty, belonged to
Octavian himself, it was a very easy for him to walk to the mausoleum to kill Cleopatra and then
walk back to his palace unnoticed. Pat Brown also supports this by saying ‘He had Cleopatra’s
Mausoleum under control; he is going to make happen what he wants to happen’ (Harney).
Octavian was a very cunning man who knew how to influence people’s judgements. He had a
proper planning to ensure that people do not suspect him for Cleopatra’s murder. Examples of
how he did this can be seen through the memoirs and sculptures which he knew would stay for
centuries to be the source of information for Cleopatra’s death. The only sources available from
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that era are those of the Greek historian Plutarch and Cassius Dio and both of them expressed
doubts about Cleopatra’s death. None of these sources and the art work found from that era hint
of Octavian being the murderer. Since Plutarch and Cassius had their publication years after
Cleopatra’s death, it is possible that they got their accounts from Octavian’s memoirs which only
contained what Octavian wanted people to believe.Since,at that time Octavian had changed to
the God Augustus, his divinity could influence the work of the writers. Professor Mostafa ElAbbadi,Egypts leading classist and an expert on Cleopatra’s dynasty confirmed Cassius Dio and
Plutarch as secondary sources (Harney).Octavian had a Golden Statue made that presented
Cleopatra with an Asp that served as a token and trophy of the final downfall of the unhappy
Egyptian Queen (Abbott).Thus, Octavian had the strength to control the crime scene and the
history securing his own position.
Octavian tried to take Cleopatra’s position as a God for Rome by creating myths about
her and finally killing her so people look upon him as the new God. Gods held a significant
importance in Rome,at that era, as people used to worship them and act as a slave for them.
Cleopatra was known as “Thea Muse Ourania” meaning the Goddess of the Heavens; and as
“Theo Aphrodite” meaning Goddess of love (Ellis). She was seen as a living carnation of the
God Isis. In Egyptian culture the God Isis was the universal mother Goddess, symbol for which
was the same as the Egyptian cobra on Cleopatra’s diadem (Harney).Octavian made attempts to
ruin Cleopatra’s image by creating myths during Cleopatra’s reign that she is a murderess who
murdered her brother husbands and a prostitute who uses sex to seduce people to have control
over them. The purposes of these myths were to ruin the noble image a Goddess is supposed to
maintain. The following speech was given by Octavian to his troops before the Battle of
Actium, this was quoted by Cassius Dio in Roman History:
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We Romans are the rulers of the greatest and best parts of the world, and we
find ourselves trampled on by a woman from Egypt... Egyptians worship
reptiles and beasts as gods, they embalm dead bodies... Worst of all, they are
not ruled by a man, but are slaves to a woman. (Dio)
This clearly shows that Octavian was against Cleopatra being the Goddess. His attempt to make
women inferior to men and not worthy of being the God is clearly evident in his speech that
indirectly points out that he wants to be the God himself.Since there can be only one God at a
time, he had to remove the hindrance that blocked his way from fulfilling his desire. When
Cleopatra was taken as a captive by Octavian, she was still considered a Goddess by the Romans,
humiliating her in public could have offended many people which Octavian could not afford. Pat
Brown puts forward the same argument asserting “If Cleopatra lived to go through the torture in
Rome, who knew what could have happened.” (Harney).After the death of Cleopatra, Octavian
was able to create his image as the Savior of Rome and was then known as ‘De-Ve-Feleus’
meaning the son of the divine (Ellis). Only Cleopatra’s death proved to help Octavian succeed in
portraying himself as the God of Rome.
The suicide note written by Cleopatra for Octavian was actually written by Octavian
himself so people believe she committed suicide. The suicide note is believed to be written by
Cleopatra for Octavian on a small tablet made of metal, it was as follows:
…are the last tributes of affection that I can ever pay thee, my dearest, dearest
lord. I can not join thee, for I am a captive and a prisoner, and they will not let
me die. They watch me every hour, and are going to bear me far away, to exhibit
me to thine enemies, as a badge and trophy of their triumph over thee. Oh
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intercede, dearest Antony, with the gods where thou art now, since those that
reign here on earth have utterly forsaken me; implore them to save me from this
fate, and let me die here in my native land, and be buried by thy side in this
tomb. (Abbott)
It is known that Cleopatra send this note to Octavian through a guard ,who hurried back to the
mausoleum and found her dead along with both her maidens. Consequently, people fail to realize
that Octavian’s palace was at only a few minutes distance from Cleopatra’s mausoleum and it
would not take more than ten to fifteen minutes for the guard to deliver the note and then come
back to the mausoleum. If she would have died because of a snake bite, she should have been
found alive according to Dr. David Warrell,a professor at University of Oxford, as snake poison
takes 2 hours to kill. So the suicide note does not make connection to the snake poison story and
the letter may not be a suicide letter written by Cleopatra. The letter could have been written by
Octavian himself as he wanted the people to get the impression that Octavian did not want
Cleopatra to die and it was Cleopatra herself who wanted to end her life and go near her lover
Mark Anthony. The wish of being buried beside Mark Anthony was an origin of Mark
Anthony’s last wish. Octavian gave people the impression that he fulfilled Cleopatra and
Anthony’s wish of getting buried together, on the contrary, the tombs of either of them have
never been found (E-turbo News).Pat Brown, a criminal profiler added on to the argument by
saying that “ People don’t usually write suicide notes and give them to other people,they usually
leave them by their body” (Harney). These arguments show that the suicide note was not written
by Cleopatra but was written by Octavian himself as it supported the myth he had planned.
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People believe Cleopatra died by a snake bite which can be proved to be a myth as the
sources which inform us are not reliable and modern investigation results have put forward
plausible explanations to prove that this was not the case. People have been made to believe in
the snake myth because it has been mentioned in the books by Plutarch, the paintings and the
sculptures concerning Cleopatra’s death. Are these sources reliable enough to trust the snake
myth? Plutarch has been considered a second hand source by Professor Mostafa El-Abbadi , who
claims that Octavian influenced the writers and artists of his time Plutarch and other people who
provide people with information about Cleopatra’s death, did not live during Cleopatra’s era and
are known to have Octavian’s memoirs as the source for their accounts. Furthermore, Octavian
being considered as a God gave him more authority over people and they did what he wanted
them to do. On narrating the snake incident , Plutarch himself says that ‘The matter of Truth, no
one knows” (Plutarch).This shows that the sources that tell us about Cleopatra’s death by snake
bite can not be trusted as they are in accordance with what Octavian desires. Investigation by
criminal profiler, Pat Brown further opposes the view as she evaluates Cleopatra to be a very
clever woman who would not rely on such a source to do the job, if she wanted to commit
suicide. Pat Brown stressed that whenever a suicide takes place, the body and the instrument
used to kill are always present at the death place as the dead body can not remove it. The book
Cleopatra mentioned “…they examined the body but no marks of violence were to be
discovered” (Abbott).The body was found but the instrument used for suicide was not present
which weakens the possibility of a suicide. The time span between the sending of letter to
Octavian and the guards returning back to the mausoleum would be a maximum of fifteen
minutes. Is it possible for a single snake to kill 3 women? The answer to this question is given by
David Warrell, worlds leading clinical toxinologist and a professor at the University of Oxford.
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According to him even ten strikes in a row cannot eject poison to kill 3 women and an average
Cobra’s poison takes a minimum of 2 hours to spread the venom. The venom results in a
progressive paralysis that starts from the eyes, then goes from the chest to the stomach. If
Cleopatra and her maidens really were bit by a snake, they should have been found alive by
Octavian and his guards as the poison spreading rate is low. Another question that requires a
thinking process is that can a 6 feet Cobra fit in a fruits basket and go unnoticed by Octavian’s
guards? Joyce Tyldesley, an Egyptologist confirmed that the snake myth arose because the
Egyptian cobra on Cleopatra’s diadem holds a significant importance in Egyptian culture, an
example of which can the carvings on the walls of Temple of File that show Isis, the God,
surrounded by snakes. Tyldesley concluded that “Later artists picked up on the royal Egyptian
snake and ran with it…fuelling speculation that she died by a snake bite” (Cleopatra's Suicide by
Snake a Myth?).Thus, the snake myth on evaluation can be proved to be Octavian’s conspiracy
who wanted people to believe it was the snake that killed Cleopatra.
Octavian’s motive was to gain sole power over both Rome and Egypt. Dr Lori-Ann
Touchette, a classical archeologist research fellow in Ancient Art history at the British school at
Rome asserts “His plan was to gain sole power, he wanted to gain all the honors and position he
was entitled to”. Octavian, Caesar’s nephew, had made himself the heir after Caesar’s death
although Caesarian, Cleopatra and Caesar’s son, was the worthy heir. In response Cleopatra
married Octavian’s rival Mark Anthony (Cleopatra (c.69 BC - 30 BC)).Since Octavian could not
kill Mark Anthony, he decided a war against Cleopatra. Octavian displayed his hatred for
Cleopatra in many ways, such as by humiliating her sister in public and by killing
Sosigenes(Hume Cronyn) , the Egyptian ambassador and her tutor. He also forced Mark
Anthony to leave Cleopatra and marry his sister Octavia(Jean Marsh) and used his help to fight
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the foes in Rome. The intention behind such acts was to weaken and harm Cleopatra (Morris).
However, Cleopatra was a person who always got what she wanted and would never give up.
She quoted “I will not be Triumphed over”. Money Is power; after the defeat at Battle of Actium,
Cleopatra hurried to Egypt and proceeded to gather vast wealth from their estates and from
various other sources both profane and sacred, sparing not even the most holy shrines. (Dio)
(Penelope).Octavian had to get control over her to be able to get back his treasure so he could
pay his soldiers. Cleopatra had plans to pass the throne to her son Caesarian and not let Octavian
get any control. Cleopatra’s desire can be seen in the Egyptian carvings in the temple of
Denderah , where Professor Grohar interpreted the pictures for Pat Brown which demonstrated
Cleopatra as presenting a gift to a male standing next to her. The male here is Caesarian and the
gift is the throne itself (Harney). Cleopatra send the 14 year old Caesarian to Ethiopia, as she was
aware of Octavian’s greed for power. However, the unlucky child was soon hunted by Octavian
after Cleopatra’s death; Octavian stated that “Two Caesars are one to many” (Mark).Only after
Caesar’s and Cleopatra’s death was Octavian able to achieve his motive of getting the power
over Rome.
Cleopatra was killed by Octavian, which is a contradictory view to the generally accepted
myth of her dying due to a snakebite ,which people have believed from centuries. Pat Brown,
Nicole Dorek and David Warrell came to a conclusion that ‘Octavian send his men to do the job
and then made it look like suicide’ (Harney).It was important for Octavian to have Cleopatra
dead according to Pat Brown, who insisted that the best enemy is the dead enemy. Cleopatra
staying alive would deprive Octavian of his desire to be considered the God and have power over
Rome. Since he had the ability to help himself, he did succeed in a way he didn’t get disposed
for the murder. Winston Churchill has a quote that “History is written by the victor”, the victor
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here being Octavian himself as his memoirs served to the source of inspiration for the writers and
artists to develop the snake myth and not suspect Octavian for the murder. After Cleopatra
Octavian became the emperor of the new Era and changed his name to Augustus (the illustrious
one).Although people believe Cleopatra died through a snake bite, criminal profilers like Pat
Brown have reopened the case treating it as a 21st century crime.
Word Count: 3086 words
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