<sod>Throughout dynastic and [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]], the asp was a symbol of royalty.{{<ref>"Battle of Actium (31 B.C.)." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Don Nardo. Ed. Robert B. Kebric. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. 71-72. World History in Context. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.\</ref>}} Moreover, in both [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], its potent venom made it useful as a means of execution for criminals who were thought deserving of a more dignified death than that of typical executions. In some stories of [[Perseus]], after killing Medusa, the hero used winged boots to transport her head to Mount Olympus. As he was flying over Egypt some of her blood fell to the ground, which transformed into asps and [[amphisbaenae]].<ref>Lucan, ''Pharisaical'', (c.61-65), trans. Robert Graves, book IX</ref><eod>
<sod>Throughout dynastic and [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]], the asp was a symbol of royalty.<ref>"Battle of Actium (31 B.C.)." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Don Nardo. Ed. Robert B. Kebric. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. 71-72. World History in Context. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.\</ref> Moreover, in both [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], its potent venom made it useful as a means of execution for criminals who were thought deserving of a more dignified death than that of typical executions. In some stories of [[Perseus]], after killing Medusa, the hero used winged boots to transport her head to Mount Olympus. As he was flying over Egypt some of her blood fell to the ground, which transformed into asps and [[amphisbaenae]].<ref>Lucan, ''Pharisaical'', (c.61-65), trans. Robert Graves, book IX</ref><eod>