This Day in African History: 30 August

30 BCE, 30 August
Following the suicide of Antony on the 12 August (who had been defeated by Octavian outside the city of Alexandria) Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, also commits 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.

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