Last moments of a queen : the snake theory
According to the legend, Cleopatra committed suicide by being bitten by a cobra. She would have asked her servants to bring it to her room, where she would have prepared the snake in a basket of figs. She would then lie down on her bed, dressed in her finest clothes and most precious jewels, and place the snake on her chest. Cleopatra and her servants were found dead in the room.
Accounts suggest that Cleopatra committed suicide to avoid capture by the Romans, led by Octavian (later known as Emperor Augustus). She had been the last queen of Egypt in the Ptolemaic dynasty and her death marked the end of ancient Egypt as an independent kingdom.
Cleopatra's reputation as a "seductress" was primarily due to political propaganda by her Roman enemies, particularly the Roman historian Plutarch, who wrote about her more than 100 years after her death. It is difficult to determine exactly how many men Cleopatra seduced or had relations with, as historical sources are often contradictory and biased. The same holds true for the precise circumstances of his death; the writings contradict one another and do not prove the circumstances of his death. However, the legend is no less enthralling, having influenced over a hundred paintings and artists.