How did Cleopatra die according to popular tradition?

According to popular tradition, Cleopatra died from a snakebite. The familiar story says that after Octavian captured Alexandria in 30 BC, Cleopatra arranged her suicide by allowing an asp—usually identified as an Egyptian cobra—to bite her.

Ancient writers did not agree completely about what happened. Plutarch described a snake being brought to Cleopatra in a basket of figs, while other accounts suggested that she used poison applied through a sharp instrument or a toxic ointment. The physician who attended her reportedly did not record a definite cause of death.

The snake became a powerful symbol because the cobra was associated with the Egyptian royal uraeus, the protective serpent shown on a pharaoh’s crown. This gave the traditional account a dramatic connection to Cleopatra’s identity as queen.

Modern historians therefore distinguish between the popular tradition and the historical certainty. Cleopatra died in Alexandria on 10 or 12 August 30 BC, aged 39, but the precise method remains disputed. Her death followed the defeat of her forces and Mark Antony’s forces by Octavian after the Battle of Actium.