6. The famed lovers Antony and Cleopatra were immortalized by Shakespeare, but their precise resting places remain a mystery to archaeologists
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the companion of Julius Caesar, wife of Mark Antony, and the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Siding with the Second Triumvirate during the Liberators’ Civil War (43-42 BCE) in the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra began an affair with Mark Antony. This affair would produce three children – Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus – and culminate in the divorce of Antony from the sister of Octavian.
This insult, combined with naming their children as future rulers, precipitated the Final War of the Roman Republic, which Octavian won decisively. Following the defeat of their naval fleet at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, Egypt was invaded and within a year, defeat and capture for Antony and Cleopatra was imminent. After learning of the suicide of Antony, Cleopatra, fearing a public humiliation and imprisonment, also took her own life. It is popularly believed that the method of her suicide was the bite of a venomous asp. According to the historians Plutarch and Suetonius, in a surprisingly generous act Augustus permitted the deceased lovers to be buried together. Augustus also allowed their children to live, in contrast to the fate of Cleopatra’s other child from her relationship with Julius Caesar, Caesarion. Despite this magnanimity in victory, the location tomb of Antony and Cleopatra has been kept a secret for almost two thousand years; it is unclear whether this was by design and intent or mere coincidence.