Cleopatra's Suicide by Snake a Myth?

Tyldesley said the most likely snake would have been an Egyptian cobra, which, while slender, can grow up to 6 feet in length.

"An adult cobra, or three, would have needed an exceptionally large fig basket or water jar," she wrote.

She believes instead that Cleopatra and her servants died of self-administered poison, which might have been smuggled into the room or worn on the queen in a pin or hair comb. One of Cleopatra's uncles committed suicide by ingesting poison; death by suicide was seen as a virtue in the Greek tradition her family practiced.

Cleopatra might have "chosen to die on her own terms rather than wait to be killed or humiliated by Octavian," who defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium and later became the Roman Emperor Augustus, said Tyldesley.

Some researchers even believe Octavian murdered Cleopatra. U.S. criminal profiler Pat Brown took on the case in 2004 and approached it as she would investigate a 21st century death.

Brown also found flaws in the snakebite scenario. With the help of University College London Egyptologist Nicole Douek and Oxford University professor David Warrell, she came to the conclusion that Octavian "sent his men in to do the job" and then made it look like suicide.

Tyldesley agrees Octavian would have "wanted Cleopatra dead, although the argument that he wished to end the troublesome Ptolemaic line once and for all holds little water when we consider that he spared the lives of three of Cleopatra's children and allowed Cleopatra's daughter to marry and have children of her own."

As for the snake myth, Tyldesley thinks it arose because the Egyptians feared, respected and worshipped snakes. Cleopatra might have therefore worn a crown with a snake depicted on it, which artists latched onto, perhaps with too much fervor.

"Later artists picked up on the royal Egyptian snake idea and ran with it...fuelling speculation that she died by snakebite," said Tyldesley.

Related Links:

Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal

Cleopatra at the Field Museum of Natural History

Cleopatra on the Web

Egyptian Cobra Factsheet