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“I neither wish to live nor can I live, Caesar.”

As reported by Cassius Dio · Roman History 51.12.6 (trans. Earnest Cary, 1917)

Context Cassius Dio places these words in her meeting with Octavian in Alexandria after Antony's death, when he would not promise her the kingdom and she begged to die with Antony.

Portrait of Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VIIEgypt · 70/69 BC – 30 BC (reigned 51–30 BC)
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