Everyone is familiar with the story of the final moments of Queen Cleopatra. The distraught queen, overwhelmed by the collapse of her kingdom and the death of her lover, reportedly smuggled a venomous snake into her locked chamber and committed suicide, alongside her two handmaidens.
Searching for the Truth Behind the Death of Queen Cleopatra
According to Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley, this narrative seems far-fetched. In her newly published book, Cleopatra: The Last Queen of Egypt, which has just been released in Europe and is set to be published in the U.S., Tyldesley debunks the legend of the “snake bite suicide”.
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Tyldesley, a lecturer at the University of Manchester in the UK, told Discovery News that “It seems to me that the venomous snake hypothesis is hard to sustain, as there are too many gaps in the story.” She raised questions such as: Did one snake kill all three, or were there three snakes brought in? How did the snakes enter the room, and where did they go afterward? Since not all snakes are venomous, how could these individuals be sure they would die?
“Fundamentally, I believe there are better and more certain ways if someone truly wanted to end their life.” She added that part of the story could be true. According to some historical records, Cleopatra indeed passed away in Alexandria around 30 B.C., and there is no historical evidence suggesting she exhibited symptoms of illness. For Tyldesley, the moments before the queen’s death could be real, especially the part where Cleopatra dismissed her slaves, except for her two handmaidens, Charmian and Eiras.
She explained that “Choosing to die in front of her two handmaidens was practical, as according to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the dead required servants. One of the fears of a woman committing suicide is that her body will be exposed in some way to strangers.” Therefore, the queen protected her dignity in life and death by retaining a few handmaidens.
In accounts by Greek historian Plutarch and Roman historian Cassius Dio, Cleopatra supposedly brought a snake into her chamber inside a fig or water vessel, but both historians expressed skepticism about this story. “An adult cobra, or three of them, would likely require a very large fig or water vessel.”
She believes that instead, Cleopatra and her handmaidens may have died from a type of self-made poison, which could have been secretly brought into the room or concealed on the queen in a hairpin or comb. One of Cleopatra’s uncles committed suicide by ingesting poison; suicide was considered a noble act in the Greek tradition that her family adhered to.
“The Death of Queen Cleopatra” – Painting “The Death of Queen Cleopatra” by Reginald Arthur, painted in 1892. Cleopatra’s suicide is often depicted in artworks similarly to how folklore tells the tale – with a venomous snake. A new book has questioned the validity of this story, suggesting that Cleopatra died for other reasons, even possibly being assassinated. (Image: Reginald Arthur/Getty Images)
Cleopatra may have “chosen her own death rather than wait for Octavian to kill or humiliate her.” Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium and later became Emperor Augustus of Rome. Some researchers even believe that Octavian assassinated Cleopatra. American criminologist Pat Brown took on this case in 2004, studying it in a manner akin to how she would approach a case from the 21st century.
Brown also uncovered inconsistencies in the snake bite story. With the help of Egyptologist Nicole Douek from the University of London and lecturer David Warrrell from the University of Oxford, she concluded that Octavian “sent someone to carry out the task” and staged it as a suicide.
Tyldesley agrees that Octavian “wanted Cleopatra to die, although the hypothesis that he wanted to eradicate the troublesome Ptolemaic line is unconvincing when we consider that he spared three of Cleopatra’s children and allowed her daughter to marry and have children.”
Regarding the snake legend, Tyldesley believes it may stem from the ancient Egyptians’ fear and reverence for snakes. Cleopatra, therefore, wore a crown shaped like a snake created by artisans with great reverence, “Later artists were fascinated by the idea of the royal Egyptian snake and developed it further, reinforcing the speculation that the queen died from a snake bite.”
In August 2009, Greek archaeologists announced the discovery of skull bones and remains believed to be those of Cleopatra and Roman general Antonius. This offers hope of uncovering the secrets behind the death of Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen who has inspired poetry, music, art, film, and whose captivating image has left a lasting impression on people around the world.
