Geographical classification

Europe > France

Socio-cultural movements

Antiquity > Roman culture > Empire

Groups by dedication

Professionals / Other groups > Murderesses

Character
Obra

Locusta

Gaul Unknown date ‖ Rome 69

Period of activity: From 54 until 69

Geographical classification: Europe > France

Socio-cultural movements

Antiquity > Roman culture > Empire

Groups by dedication

Professionals / Other groups > Murderesses

Context of feminine creation

Since prehistoric times, women have known and applied the healing properties of plants. In the Roman world, it was women who were most familiar with the handling of plants used in the preparation of healing substances. Women passed on the necessary knowledge for the manufacture of medicinal remedies (venena*) from generation to generation, using techniques that were mysterious to men. Their objectives were predominantly medical, and especially gynecological, but, without a doubt, the best known poisons are those used for lethal purposes. 

We know different Roman women tried for poisoning. In 153 BC, two poisoners named Licinia and Publilia were sentenced to death for poisoning their husbands. We know of others, such as Canidia or Martina, who were accused of poisoning Germanicus, the nephew of the Emperor Tiberius. Other Roman women have also been involved in collective poisonings. The Roman historian Titus Livius tells us that in the year 331 BC, a slave denounced the collusion of around twenty Roman ladies who were dedicated to preparing poisonous potions (Titus Livius: Historia de Roma desde su fundación-books-VIII-X. BCG-148, pp. 52,53,54). 
 
*In Latin the word venenum/venena (plural) was used to refer both to medicinal remedies and to drugs, substances with magical properties, and poisons. There were those that put an end to stomach problems, that managed to make the person the object of desire fall madly in love, or that put an end to unwanted pregnancies. 

 



Review

Locusta, of Gallic origin, was an expert on poisons in ancient Rome. She acted as a trusted poisoner in the service of Agrippina, mother of Nero, poisoning Claudius; and later, at the orders of Nero, poisoning Britannicus, the son of Claudius. She is considered one of the oldest serial killers on record: she is thought to have caused over 400 deaths. After the death of Nero, Locusta was sentenced to death and executed. 

 

Activities

English

  • Poisons and antidotes
    • Spain > Classical culture > 4th ESO > The survival of classical languages. Language and lexicon

Spanish

  • De venenos y antídotos
    • Spain > Classical culture > 4th ESO > The survival of classical languages. Language and lexicon

Catalan

  • De verins i antídots
    • Spain > Classical culture > 4th ESO > The survival of classical languages. Language and lexicon

Justifications

  • She acted as a trusted poisoner in the service of Agrippina, mother of Nero, and Nero himself, poisoning Claudius and his son Britannicus.
  • Accused of over 400 deaths, she is considered one of the oldest serial killers on record. 

Biography

The most reliable sources we have for this woman are those provided by the historian Tacitus (c.55 - c.120) in his Annals. Other authors, contemporaries of Tacitus, such as Juvenal (60-128), in one of his Satires, or Suetonius (70-126), in The Twelve Caesars, also mention her. Subsequently, episodes have been added to the life or death of the character that are already part of the legend that was created around her. 

Locusta is the best known inventor of poisons in ancient Rome, a woman born in Gaul in the first century AD. As an expert in poisons, it was said that she tried them all in small quantities until she became immune. Once established in Rome, she dedicated herself to selling her potions, made mainly with arsenic. Locusta's skill became so famous that even the imperial family required her services. She had been sentenced to death for being the cause of several poisonings, but in 54 AD, before she could be executed, Empress Agrippina hired her to get rid of her husband Claudius. 

Claudius died and was succeeded by Nero, Agrippina’s son, who also went to Locusta, in his case to end, in 55 AD, the life of his half-brother Britannicus, who, despite being a teenager, was a rival for the position of emperor. On this occasion, Locusta's poison also had an effect and, with it, she managed to take a step further in her career, since Nero −according to other sources more distant from the character and shrouded in legend− seems to have taken her in as his personal advisor on poisons, and even organized a school where she could train others in her trade and test different substances on both animals and condemned criminals. After the fall of Nero, his successor Galba accused Locusta of hundreds of murders and, in 69 AD, sentenced her to death. 

Tacitus, Annals, XII 66.2 (1980). Ed.  BCG-030, pp. 98-99 Madrid.  Translation by Jose L. Moralejo; Tacitus, Annals, XIII 15,3 (1980). Ed.  BCG-030, pp. 114-115 Madrid. by José L. Moralejo; Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Nero cap. XXXIII. 

 

 



Works

Bibliography

-Callejo, Jesús (2019). «Locusta envenenadora». SER Historia, (retrieved on 1/10/2021), <https://cadenaser.com/programa//ser_historia/1576850090_429655.html> 

-Juvenal, Decio Junio (1991). Satiras. Sátira I, Madrid: Gredos. BCG-156, p. 85, 1.70. 

-Pérez Vaquero, Carlos (2013) .«Locusta: la primera asesina en serie de la historia.», (retrieved on 1/10/2021), <https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5481044.pdf.>  

-Sadurní, N. (2021). «Locusta la ‘envenenadora oficial’ de la élite de Roma», (retrieved on 30/9/2021), <https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/locusta-envenenadora-oficial-elite-roma_17045> 

-Suetonio, C. S. "Nerón", Imperium, (retrieved on 5/10/2021), <http://www.imperivm.org/cont/textos/txt/suetonio_los-doce-cesaresneron-claudio.html> cap. XXXIII 

-Tácito, Cornelio (1979). Anales, XII 66.2, pág. 98-99 y Anales, XIII 15,3, p. 114-115 (1980), Madrid: Gredos. BCG-030 Trad. de José L. Moralejo.  

-Villalba Álvarez, Joaquín (2009). «Boletum medicatum. La seta que mató al emperador Claudio», (retrieved on 15/10/2021), <https://dialnet.unirioja.es › descarga › articuloPDF > 

Didactic approach

-Classical culture: Block Classical roots of today's world. History and socio-political evolution; Block Classical roots of today's world. Everyday life.

-Latin 4 ESO: Block The present of Latin civilisation (this character could be used to illustrate, within the stage of the Empire, the Julio-Claudian dynasty).

 

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