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Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, died on either 10 or 12 August, 30 BC, in Alexandria, when she was 39 years old.According to popular belief, Cleopatra killed herself by allowing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite her, but according to the Roman-era writers Strabo, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio, Cleopatra poisoned herself using either a toxic ointment or by introducing the poison ...
European asp, Vipera aspis "Asp" is the modern anglicisation of the word "aspis", which in antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region. [1] The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper". [2] It is believed that aspis referred to what is now known as the Egyptian cobra. [3]
Cleopatra, Iras, and Charmion: August 30 BC Although there exist several accounts of how the 39-year-old last queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom died, the most widespread one is that she killed herself with an asp (a viper), alongside two of her handmaidens. [6] [45] Tiberius Claudius Drusus: c. 20 AD
The snake which supposedly killed the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra is named by Velleius Paterculus as an asp, and by Martial as a viper. Virgil mentions two snakes but does not name their species, while Plutarch mentions twin prick marks on her arm but does not state that these were toothmarks, so they could also have been from a poisoned hair pin.
The suicide of Cleopatra: the asp is wriggling up the left arm of the sleeping Cleopatra. Line engraving by J.B. de Poilly after a statue in the Vatican. Iconographic Collections Keywords: Jean-Baptiste de Poilly
A common theme for artists of the period, the artist may have drawn upon Plutarch's account which described her death from the bite of an asp. [2] The pose is based upon that of an ancient statue now known as Sleeping Ariadne, which had been thought to represent Cleopatra wearing a snake-like piece of jewelry on her arm. [2]
Snakes like this Western rat snake are often killed, accidentally or intentionally, on roads. Cultural attitudes to reptiles include a widespread fear, sometimes extending to phobia , especially of snakes; [ 2 ] Carl Sagan suggested that the fear may be ancestral, [ 85 ] [ 2 ] and it is indeed shared by other primates . [ 2 ]
Cleopatra killed herself on 12 August 30 BC. Most accounts say she put an end to her life by the bite of an asp conveyed to her in a basket of figs. [16] Octavian had Caesarion killed later that month, finally securing his legacy as Caesar's only 'son', while sparing Cleopatra's children by Antony, with the exception of Antony's older son.