How Did Cleopatra VII Die? - Page 2 - Historum

**kbear** · September 11th, 2011, 01:21 AM

i tend to believe the snake/suicide story. cleopatra was too proud to let octavian parade her thru rome as his prize. and well, it makes a better story

i've always been fascinated by cleopatra--such a strong intelligent woman. didn't she speak about 8 languages? i can't imagine having twins without an epidural, yikes!

Caracalla · September 11th, 2011, 01:57 AM

Is that the documentary that said it was difficult to get an Asp to bite on command? They tried an experiment and the snake just wasn't interested. I saw it awhile ago so deatails are vague.

I thikn she did kill herself and Roman writers embellished it with romanticism. It wouldn't be the first time Romen writers had done such a thing

**Brisieis** · September 11th, 2011, 02:07 AM

I believe it was suicide. One apathetic snake does not prove that Cleopatra didn't use one for suicide... Anyway can you imagine.... Anthony and Cleopatra defeated, Anthony is dead, Octavian is on his way with his forces to come and take her back to Rome in her ultimate humiliation... Plus this was a common practice used for honour.

**davu** · September 11th, 2011, 07:52 PM

but doesn't it just sound so "romantic" -- death by hidden snake bite in a fruit basket and the drama -- vs just having someone cut your throat and just making a huge mess on the floor --

HadleyH · September 11th, 2011, 09:08 PM

I tend to agree too ,with the Ancient sources, and with people here

.... a cobra .... an asp... a poisonous snake ... they liked these kind of eccentric things in the past ...

sylla1 · September 11th, 2011, 09:45 PM

Admittedly, real-life cobra bites seem to be anything but "romantic".

HadleyH · September 11th, 2011, 10:44 PM

who said it's romantic?

**Louise C** · September 11th, 2011, 11:36 PM

I have always heard it was suicide. I thought Octavian wanted her alive so he could exhibit her in Rome.

**davu** · September 12th, 2011, 07:24 AM

Quote:

seem to be anything but "romantic".

i'm really trying to be just a little more then "sarcastic" with the "accepted" version of history -- cobra bits are not the way to go -- hemlock -- probably -- but if she was going to choose a "painless" way -- snake bits are not the way -- snake vemon is generally a "decomposition" method --- dissolve as you go -- so to speak --

you take sylla1's pic and add the snake to her chest -- what do you think it looked like --- not a "pretty picture"

a good smack on the head would have been the fastest ----

**tjadams** · September 12th, 2011, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caracalla

Is that the documentary that said it was difficult to get an Asp to bite on command? They tried an experiment and the snake just wasn't interested. I saw it awhile ago so deatails are vague.

I thikn she did kill herself and Roman writers embellished it with romanticism. It wouldn't be the first time Romen writers had done such a thing

I just missed the snake part, but it that does seem on par with the show.
The show used a detective mentality in dismissing all the old stories.