How Did Cleopatra VII Die? - Page 3 - Historum

**Carlisle Blues** · September 12th, 2011, 02:45 PM

I like the opium theory coupled with a snakebite.

Quote:

"Cleopatra reportedly carried out many toxicological experiments, an imitation of Mithradates VI. In her quest for the most peaceful and painless way to die, she would have observed the deaths of many condemned prisoners by many different poisons and combinations, including snakebite," Adrienne Mayor, author of the Mithridates biography "The Poison King," told Discovery News.
"In my opinion, Cleopatra would have taken a high dose of opium as a sedative and then succumb to a cobra bite within a half hour," Mayor said. "She would be sedated and calm, feeling no pain, as the cobra venom slows her respiration, and she breathes her last and dies."

Cleopatra Killed by Drug Cocktail? : Discovery News

sylla1 · September 12th, 2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadleyH

who said it's romantic?

Some people quoted by our Davu in post #14 of this thread (among myriad additional people, for that matter).

BTW, nobody said you may have said anything; my previous post was not addressing nor answering your preceding post; it is entirely unrelated. The sequence was entirely coincidental.

**NewModelSoldier** · September 12th, 2011, 03:30 PM

Badly, for sure

**davu** · September 13th, 2011, 10:58 AM

Quote:

opium theory coupled with a snakebite

i'll go for that to a certain extent -- but we still have to add the body damage and swelling to all of the fine art that's been done over the centuries -- i still think the romans did a number on the real story -- just how many "eye" witnesses were there in order to have "first" hand accounts that were not "censored" by the romans ---????

**davu** · September 13th, 2011, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Pain, then variable swelling and later necrosis, were the
outstanding features of local poisoning. In most cases pain
started immediately after the bite. It remained severe for about
three days in patients developing slight necrosis (final area
under 10 sq. cm.) or moderate necrosis (final area 10-99 sq.
cm.); in seven patients with more extensive necrosis (100-
600 sq. cm.) severe pain lasted for an average of 10 days

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...02565-0032.pdf

people do not "just roll over dead" with a cobra bite --- now maybe she had access to some other snake that was faster action but i wouldn't think so -- and don't forget the "pain" -- everybody says she took a "painless" way --- that would rule out "ANY" snake bite

this is an additional edit --- Common names: saw-scaled vipers, carpet vipers found in the dry regions of

, the

,

,

and

Quote:

They are one of the species which are responsible for causing the most snakebite cases and deaths in the world.[4][5] Eight species are currently recognized.[6]

Quote:

Most of these species have venom that contains factors that can cause a consumption coagulopathy and defibrination which may persist for days to weeks. This may result in bleeding anywhere in the body, including the possibility of an intracranial hemorrhage. The latter classically occurs a few days following the bite.[8]

Echis

**davu** · September 13th, 2011, 11:17 AM

just had a thought -- whoa --- careful here

but if she had committed suicide (japanese way) -- she would have gone down in history as doing the "honorable" thing --- just food for thought

**NewModelSoldier** · September 13th, 2011, 12:03 PM

If she had gone down on her sword, the Romans might have honoured her as having a very Roman death

Caracalla · September 13th, 2011, 12:57 PM

Maybe she did... Octavian couldn't have this woman who he called an eastern whore and accused of corrupting Mark Anthony die an honourable death. The snake bite would have been seen as exotic and strange... the kind of things foreigners did. Just a thought.

**Brisieis** · September 14th, 2011, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caracalla

Maybe she did... Octavian couldn't have this woman who he called an eastern whore and accused of corrupting Mark Anthony die an honourable death. The snake bite would have been seen as exotic and strange... the kind of things foreigners did. Just a thought.

And also, why would she want to die a Roman death after everything that had happened... another thought...

**davu** · September 14th, 2011, 06:39 AM

opps -- there is ONE snake she would have access to -- but the chances are slim because it would have outright attacked anything within reach --- the handlers would not have stood a chance and the snake would not have nicely laid down in a "fruit" basket -- and the bit would have had to be a solid hit -- this would have killed her --- the BLACK MAMBA

Quote:

but they can deliver up to 400 mg of venom in a single bite[11]. It is reported that before the antivenom was widely available, the mortality rate from a bite was nearly 100%.[1][12] Black mamba bites can potentially kill a human within 20 minutes or less[11] depending on the nature of the bite and the area bitten, but death usually occurs after 30–60 minutes on average, sometimes even taking up to three hours

Black_mamba

but it would still have hurt like hell