How Cleopatra died is a story that has had some controversy. Since the theory of her suicide was spread by Plutarch practically a century after the queen of the Nile died. Therefore, to this day this fact remains an enigma.
The story of how Cleopatra died has been marked by the multiple events that have to do with her lovers. Being the story of her with Marco Antonio the best known among all. But we must also remember that she is a woman with great intelligence and cunning, which led her to remain for several years as queen of Egypt.
How did Cleopatra VII die?
When soldiers broke into the chambers of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, on August 12, 30 BC, they were met with a terrifying sight. According to the story, Cleopatra was lifeless on her royal bed, with one of her deceased maidens at her feet and another of hers, about to fall from her, retouching her diadem. Multiple attempts by the soldiers to revive the queen were in vain, since the three women had just committed suicide.
As regards how Cleopatra died, it is said that the soldiers observed two slight stitches in the queen’s arm. Which made him think immediately that the cause of her death had been the bite of an asp or Egyptian cobra. However, others suggest that Cleopatra ingested poison.
However it may have been, this suicide was ultimately a victory for Cleopatra, as it meant that Octavian would not be able to bring her alive to Rome for humble display. Act that would occur in the triumphal procession, with which she thought to celebrate the conquest of Egypt. Likewise, the queen’s lover, Marco Antonio, had been spared the same fate by committing suicide a few days earlier.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony
To learn about how Cleopatra died is to take into account her affair with Mark Antony. According to history, Cleopatra and Marco Antonio had a destiny that had been marked a year ago, in the month of September of the year 31 BC At the time that their fleet had been defeated in what was the battle of Actium, by from the ingenuity of Marcus Agrippa, a general and also Octavio’s right-hand man. Cleopatra had returned to Alexandria, and Mark Antony later met with his queen.
That courtly atmosphere that had appeared around the couple decayed very quickly, due to the fear of their imminent fall from grace. Gone are the days of feasting and graces, among the merry company of sycophants and drinkers in the sensuality of Alexandria. When they called themselves the inimitables. His supporters and troops deserted en masse. Left alone with Antonio, a circle of faithful friends who were willing to share his fate.
And who had changed their name to a more appropriate one, companions in death. Indeed, as Octavian approached Alexandria, Cleopatra and Mark Antony began to think about their next move. Which was to take their own lives before they were captured.
the end of alexandria
The fall of Alexandria also has to do with how Cleopatra died. Despite the disheartening atmosphere, Cleopatra instantly believed that she could strike a deal with Octavian. Evidently this would demand Antony’s death, since he was the only rival who threatened his rule in Rome. But that he maybe he could do a magnanimous act and spare Cleopatra and her children.
However, we must remember the obstacle of Caesarion, who was very dangerous as Octavio’s rival in the future. Therefore, the new strongman of Rome was limited to responding ambiguously to the embassies sent by the queen. As his army advances on Alexandria. By the summer of 30 BC, the Egyptian capital was completely surrounded by Roman troops.
Cleopatra, who was surrounded by her most intimate and faithful followers, hid in the most impenetrable building of her palace. Most likely it was the mausoleum of the lagid kings. Place where she also kept each of her treasures, jewelry, gems, gold chests, works of art, among other things. Meanwhile, Marco Antonio decided to appear in battle.
He fought bravely alongside his faithful at the gates of the city, both to repel Octvian’s cavalry raid, and also to maintain the siege and the illusion of resistance. Even so, Antony had to see the performance of his fleet, or rather how he went over to Octavian’s side, causing the cavalry to desert immediately.
The death of Mark Antony
Overwhelmed by the circumstance and impressed by the rumor about the queen’s suicide, Antonio decided to take his own life with his own sword. Being accompanied by a highly trusted slave. By the time Octavian entered a surrendered and silent Alexandria, his main concern was, according to the story, Cleopatra. Who had locked himself in the mausoleum, keeping the massive doors shut, and with a supply of wood. Which she would use to set fire to the building and her treasures after her suicide.
That was precisely Octavio’s fear. Sending a trusted man, Gaius Proculeius, to try to persuade Cleopatra to forget the confinement, but to no avail. The legacy could not grant what the queen wanted most, save her children and especially Caesarion.
In the hands of Octavio
After a day, a new interview was held. While one of the envoys was in charge of talking to the queen through the gate, Proculeius scaled the building with two servants, to access the room where Cleopatra was. When he received notice from one of her women, Cleopatra plunged a dagger into her chest. But this wound was not fatal, allowing Proculeius to easily disarm her.
The queen was taken to the palace of Alexandria, where she was left in the custody of a trusted enuco by Octavio, being subjected to close surveillance. Apparently Cleopatra became ill with grief and stopped eating, trying to hasten her death. Octavio only managed to convince her to feed on her with the certainty that she would kill her children.
Days later, the queen requested an interview with Octavio. In this respect the sources differ about what happened on that occasion. According to the story of how Cleopatra died told by Plutarch, Octavian observed an emaciated Cleopatra. Praying for her life and also for her children’s, while she tried to free herself from her guilt.
Cassius Dio, on the other hand, recounts a queen worthy of mourning, yet irresistibly beautiful, who had tried to seduce Octavian, as she had already done with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Regardless of how the facts were, the result was always the same. Cleopatra knew that Octavian’s idea was to take her and her children to Rome, for the greater triumph and glory of the future Augustus.
What finally happened to Cleopatra?
It is assumed that she would be locked in a dungeon, in which she would go crazy or decide to commit suicide, as had happened to other Hellenistic monarchs. This was an unbearable prospect for the proud limp queen. Who preferred to commit suicide herself. Two days after visiting the remains of her beloved Mark Antony, Cleopatra returned to her chambers, took a bath, and ate dinner.
At the same time, she delivered a sealed message for Octavio, in which she requested as her last wish to be buried next to Marco Antonio, staying with her two trusted maids. Some authors mention the queen’s last words dedicated to her beloved Antonio de la, or also recount the mysterious scene of her suicide.
However, what happened in the sovereign’s private chamber is more than history and belongs to the myth of how Cleopatra died. With respect to Octavio, the death of the queen prevented her from having a more notorious triumph. But it not only gave him dominion in Egypt, which became a Roman province, it also prompted him to become Augustus, who is the first emperor of Rome.
What is considered a sustainable death?
In ancient Egypt, mummification of the body was practiced as a procedure that conditioned for eternal life. Having a house or tomb to house the mummies. The Egyptians considered earthly death as something temporary, since the human being had the possibility of living eternally.
Now, some ideas have emerged to allow the death of people to be sustainable. Bearing in mind that an ecological or sustainable burial is one that does not involve cement, including only materials that are biodegradable. Therefore, the bodies are not embalmed nor are toxic products added.
The idea is to prevent toxic products from being used in the soil, from the body to the container where it is introduced. One of the burial alternatives for a sustainable death is to use a coffin made of mushrooms, which speeds up the decomposition process. While nurturing the earth around you.
Font:
National geographic, ABC, Expoknews.