Lost Treasure: The Tomb of Antony and Cleopatra
Where Is the Tomb of History’s Most Famous Couple?
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It is the quintessential tale of ill-fated love. The story of the affair and tragic deaths of Queen Cleopatra VII and Roman general Marcus Antonius has echoed through the ages. Entombed together, they sleep an eternal slumber somewhere in Egypt. But where? The location of the tomb has been long lost to history and, despite regular reports that archaeologists are on the verge of its discovery, it remains missing. The tantalising prospect of its knowledge and treasures are seemingly beyond reach. With these treasures having the potential to eclipse the findings of Howard Carter and the tomb of Tutankhamun should it be discovered unopened, Cleopatra’s tomb would likely be one of the greatest treasures ever known to humanity.
It was in 32 BC that Octavian convinced the Roman Senate to declare war on Cleopatra of Egypt, the move would be the final play of a long-running rivalry between Octavian and Cleopatra’s lover Marcus Antonius, commonly known as Mark Antony. Octavian had successfully convinced Rome that Mark Anthony was turning traitor, being less than Roman for his affair with Cleopatra and a threat to Roman hegemony. The war would become known as the Last war of the Roman Republic.
Octavian defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in Alexandria on August 1, 30 BC. Faced with overwhelming defeat, Antony fell on his sword and allegedly died in his lover’s arms, the Pharaoh also committing suicide soon afterwards. Legend says she died from the venomous bite of an asp. Octavian would go on to rule the Roman Empire as the first emperor from 27 BC, beginning the era of Pax Romana.
According to Roman historians Suetonius and Plutarch, the victorious Octavian allowed Antony and Cleopatra to be buried together inside the tomb that they had already begun. Plutarch wrote that Octavian had given orders that Cleopatra’s “body should be buried with that of Antony in splendid and regal fashion” and that Mark Antony had been cremated.
“After Cleopatra had heard this, in the first…
