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No ancient text reports that Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk. The sources mention Poppaea Sabina, Nero's wife, around 95 years after Cleopatra's death.
We report what the source says and assess it critically. Donkey milk is a food.
The source in brief
- Author: Cross-check of ancient sources (Pliny the Elder, Cassius Dio) and research literature
- Work: Fact-check: Did Cleopatra bathe in donkey milk?
- Location: Pliny, NH 9,119–121 (Cleopatra); NH 11,238 and 28,183 (Poppaea); Cassius Dio 62,28,1 (Poppaea)
- Time and place: Cleopatra VII. (69–30 BC) · Ptolemaic Egypt
- Type of source: Fact-check
The exact wording
duo fuere maximi uniones per omne aevum; utrumque possedit Cleopatra, Aegypti reginarum novissima
There were two pearls, the greatest of all time; Cleopatra, the last of the queens of Egypt, possessed both.
Latin, NH 9,119
Poppaea hoc Neronis principis instituit, balnearum quoque solia sic temperans, ob hoc asinarum gregibus eam comitantibus.
Poppaea, the wife of Emperor Nero, introduced this custom and prepared her baths in this way; therefore, whole herds of she-donkeys accompanied her.
Latin, NH 28,183 (Mayhoff text)
German translation: own, free translation by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team.
Background
Cleopatra VII. (69–30 BC) was the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt. Ancient authors write extensively about her luxury, especially in connection with Mark Antony. The claim, now widely accepted, that she bathed in donkey milk is frequently repeated in advertising and guides.
For this fact-check, we have examined the relevant ancient passages on donkey milk baths and Cleopatra's luxury and compared them with the research literature, in particular with the study by medical historian Frank Ursin (2020).
What the source reports
The ancient reports on baths in donkey milk mention Poppaea without exception: Pliny the Elder (NH 11,238 and 28,183, around 77 AD), the satirist Juvenal (Satire 6, early 2nd century), and Cassius Dio (62,28,1, early 3rd century).
Pliny tells a completely different story about Cleopatra's luxury: that she had possessed two exceptionally large pearls and, during a bet with Antony, had dissolved one in vinegar and drunk it to provide the most expensive banquet (NH 9,119–121). There is no mention of donkey milk there.
Ursin (2020) concludes that no ancient source documents a donkey milk bath for Cleopatra. He traces the attribution back to 1930s cinema: the same actress, Claudette Colbert, played both Poppaea and Cleopatra at the time; in her person, both roles had merged. On this basis, the 1963 Cleopatra film with Elizabeth Taylor popularized the milk bath.
Fact-check
Claim: Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk.
Result: Not documented in antiquity. Ancient authors (Pliny, Juvenal, Cassius Dio) associate donkey milk baths with Poppaea Sabina, Nero's wife. For Cleopatra, Pliny instead preserves the anecdote of the pearl dissolved in vinegar. According to Ursin (2020), the attribution to Cleopatra is a modern transfer from 20th-century cinema.
Numbers and facts
- 0 – ancient evidence for a donkey milk bath for Cleopatra (according to Ursin 2020)
- 3 – ancient authors who mention Poppaea's donkey milk
- 30 BC – death of Cleopatra VII.
- 65 AD – death of Poppaea Sabina
- 2 – Cleopatra's pearls in the anecdote by Pliny
- 1930s – decade in which, according to Ursin, the Cleopatra attribution originated
Critical assessment
- Result: The claim that Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk is not supported by ancient sources. The account is documented for Poppaea Sabina.
- How the confusion arose: According to Ursin (2020), it is a modern transfer that became popular through 20th-century film images. The work was published in the open-access journal of classical studies "thersites" and is freely available.
- What the Poppaea sources provide: The reports about Poppaea are also anecdotes about luxury, not evidence of an effect. They show a Roman beauty practice, not its benefits.
- Limitation of the fact-check: A lack of evidence does not prove that Cleopatra never used donkey milk. It only shows that the widespread claim has no ancient basis.
Our assessment
We prefer to tell the story correctly: The famous donkey milk bath belongs to Poppaea in ancient sources, not to Cleopatra. Even there, it is a luxury anecdote – not evidence of an effect.
Original quotes, all facts, and the complete assessment: Fact-check: Cleopatra and the donkey milk bath. Further sources and studies in the research archive.
Reference: Pliny NH 9,119–121, Cleopatra's pearls, English trans. Bostock/Riley 1855 (Perseus); Pliny NH 28,183, Poppaea's milk baths, English trans. Bostock/Riley 1855, Book 28, Ch. 50 (Perseus) · Summarized by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team, as of November 2026.
End of source summary. The source does not refer to DON DONKEY'S® or our products. Our donkey milk is a food.
