Who is Cleopatra and how did Cleopatra die?

Answer 1

Cleopatra was the last Pharaoh of Egypt but she actually wasn't Egyptian. One of her direct ancestors was Alexander the great and he invaded Egypt and declared himself king or 'Pharaoh' but was not Egyptian but Greek, so Cleopatra VII was actually Greek with a little bit of Egyptian blood from past Egyptians married into the Ptolemy royal family.

Her cause of death is disputed among historians but a popular answer (it is popular because it is dramatic, semi-believable and LOTS of movies and books about Cleopatra VII use that) is that a handmaiden brought a bowl of figs to her and in that bowl of figs was a poisonous snake which she allowed to bite her on the breast so she wouldn't be captured by Octavian and brought back to Rome in chains and humiliated in public as a prisoner of war.

She decided to commit suicide because her second lover/husband and father of three of her four children, Mark Antony, stabbed himself with a sword believing Cleopatra VII was dead (not true) and he died in Cleopatra VII's arms. Their palace was in the middle of being seiged by the Roman leader and general, Octavian. Octavian and his army easily defeated the small Egyptian forces and after Antony kiled himself she locked herself in her treasury room (more like palace because the Egyptians were very rich) and threatened to burn it, with herself in it, to the ground if the Romans didst leave, they didn't leave.

Octavian finally gained access to the treasury room and found Cleopatra VII and two handmaidens, dead.