after lengthy negotiations that ultimately produced no results, octavian set out to invade egypt in the spring of 30 bc. he stopped at ptolemais in phoenicia where his new ally herod entertained him and provided his army with fresh supplies. octavian moved south and swiftly took pelousion, while cornelius gallus, marching eastward from cyrene, defeated antony's forces near paraitonion. octavian advanced quickly to alexandria. antony returned and won a small victory over octavian's tired troops outside the city's hippodrome. however, on 1 august 30 bc antony's naval fleet surrendered to octavian, followed by his cavalry. cleopatra hid herself in her tomb with her close attendants, sending a message to antony that she had committed suicide. in despair, antony responded by stabbing himself in the stomach, taking his own life at age 53. according to plutarch, however, antony was allegedly still dying when he was brought to cleopatra at her tomb. plutarch told her antony had died honorably in a contest against a fellow roman, and that she could trust octavian's companion over anyone else in his entourage. it was proculeius, however, who infiltrated her tomb using a ladder and detained the queen, denying her the ability to immolate herself with her treasures. cleopatra was then allowed to embalm and bury antony within her tomb before she was escorted to the palace.