pose, assumed all the royal robes and appurtenances, and so died. [-14-] No one knows clearly in what manner she perished, for there were found merely slight indentations on her arm. Some say that she applied an asp which had been brought in to her in a water-jar or among some flowers. Others declare that she had smeared a needle, with which she was wont to braid her hair, with some poison possessed of such properties that it would not injure the surface of the body at all, but if it touched the least drop of blood it caused death very quickly and painlessly. The supposition is, then, that previously it had been her custom to wear it in her hair, and on this occasion after first making a small scratch on her arm with some instrument, she dipped the needle in the blood. In this or some very similar way she perished with her two handmaidens. The eunuch, at the moment her body was taken up, presented himself voluntarily to the serpents, and after being bitten by them leaped into a coffin which had been prepared by him. Caesar on hearing of her demise was shocked, and both viewed her body and applied drugs to it and sent for Psylli,[71] in the hope that she might possibly revive. These Psylli, who are male, for there is no woman born in their tribe, have the power of sucking out before a person dies all the poison of every reptile and are not harmed themselves when bitten by any such creature. They are propagated from one another and they test their offspring, the latter being thrown among serpents at once or having serpents laid upon their swaddling-clothes. In such cases the poisonous creatures do not harm the child and are benumbed by its clothing. This is the nature of their function. But Caesar, when he could not in any way resuscitate Cleopatra, felt admiration and pity for her and was himself excessively grieved, as much as if he had been deprived of all the glory of the victory. [-15-] So Antony and Cleopatra, who had been the authors of many evils to the Egyptians and to the Romans, thus fought and thus met death. They were embalmed in the same fashion and buried in the same tomb. Their spiritual qualities and the fortunes of their lives deserve a word of comment. Antony had no superior in comprehending his duty, yet he committed many acts of folly. He was distinguished for his bravery in some cases, yet he often failed through cowardice. He was characterized equally by greatness of soul and a servile disposition of mind. He would plunder the property of others, and still relinquish his own. He pitied many without cause and chastised even a greater number unjustly. Consequently, though he rose from weakness to great strength, and from the depths of poverty to great riches, he drew no profit from either circumstance, but whereas he had hoped to hold the Roman power alone, he actually killed himself.