This Day in African History — Death of Cleopatra

On 30 August 30 BCE, following the suicide (on the 12 August) of Antony who had been defeated by Octavian outside the city of Alexandria, Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, also commited suicide. The alternative was to face humiliation and captivity under Octavian's rule. Popular myth has it that Cleopatra died after being bitten by an asp, but there is no real evidence either way, and her body has never been discovered.