This supposition in respect to the mode of her death is, in fact, confirmed by the action of Octavius himself on his return to Rome, which furnishes a strong indication of his opinion of the manner in which his captive at last eluded him. Disappointed in not being able to exhibit the queen herself in his triumphal train, he caused a golden statue representing her to be made, with an image of an asp upon the arm of it, and this sculpture he caused to be borne conspicuously before him in his grand triumphal entry into the capital, as the token and trophy of the final downfall of the unhappy Egyptian queen.
Footnotes:
[1] See Map of the Delta of the Nile, [page 29]; also the View of Alexandria, [page 162].
[2] See map; [frontispiece].
[3] It will be sufficiently accurate for the general reader of history to consider the Greek talent, referred to in such transactions as these, as equal in English money to two hundred and fifty pounds, in American to a thousand dollars. It is curious to observe that, large as the total was that was paid for the liberation of these slaves, the amount paid for each individual was, after all, only a sum equal to about five dollars.
[4] For an account of one of these disasters, with an engraving illustrative of the scene, see the History of Cyrus.
[5] For the position of this island in respect to Egypt and the neighboring countries, see map, frontispiece.
[6] This Octavius, on his subsequent elevation to imperial power, received the name of Augustus Cæsar, and it is by this name that he is generally known in history. He was, however, called Octavius at the commencement of his career, and, to avoid confusion, we shall continue to designate him by this name to the end of our narrative.
[7] See map, at the frontispiece.