How did Caesarion die?

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony suffered a disastrous defeat at Actium in 31 BCE during the war against Octavian, and Egypt fell to Octavian in 30. Cleopatra sent Caesarion to Berenice, a seaport on the Red Sea coast of Upper Egypt, but Octavian lured him to Alexandria, where the 17-year-old king was executed.