According to some sources, Cleopatra committed suicide on this
day in 30 BC [On this day: August 30]. Other sources say it was
August 12th and still others claim that it was on the last day
in August. The situation was serious. The armies of Mark Antony
and Cleopatra has just deserted to Octavian and Antony had
committed suicide. Cleopatra was a prisoner in Alexandria. She
had no hope of escaping Octavian. Legend has it that she died
after being bitten by an asp but it wasn't the modern asp,
Vipera aspis, since that snake is only found in Europe. It's
likely that the Romans used the word "asp" to describe all
poisonous snakes. If it's true that Cleopatra used a snake to
commit suicide then it was most likely the Egyptian cobra Naja
haje that did the deed [Cleopatra’s Asp]. Corba venom contains a
number of toxins and enzymes. For the biochemist, it's most
famous for the presence of phospholipase A2, an enzyme that
cleaves glycerophospholipids, the main components of cell
membranes. This leads to disruption and