Locusta: Ancient Rome’s deadly serial poisoner
The Roman-era poison maker Locusta allegedly played a part in the deaths of Emperor Claudius and his son Britannicus. What do we know about her life story?
Image: Locusta Testing Poison on a Slave by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre (c.1870 - c.1880) | Public Domain
The Roman Empire was a brutal and violent age, but not all of its high-profile figures met their end with the slashing of a sword. Many were still killed, but in rather subtler ways than common perceptions of the era would suggest.
You need only watch the Sky HISTORY series History’s Deadliest with Ving Rhames, available from Thursday, 26th February, to see how history-making deaths have happened in unexpected circumstances.
Many Roman emperors’ deaths have been strange, but not necessarily hard to explain. Conversely, exactly how Claudius perished in 54 AD is tricky to fathom. We at Sky HISTORY are intrigued by some reports that the emperor was killed by poison procured from a mysterious, often overlooked figure called Locusta.
Who was Locusta?
Locusta is said to have found notoriety in the first century AD by making poisons. Many pivotal stages of her tumultuous life and career are described by the Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio.
None of these ancient historians are thought to have ever met Locusta personally, and it is unclear exactly when she was born. However, she was said to have hailed from Gaul (largely the Roman-era equivalent of modern-day France).
As Gaul was under Roman rule during this period, Roman soldiers may have captured her here to take her into slavery. At some point, she arrived in Rome, where she caught the eye of imperial heavyweights in need of an adept poisoner.
Locusta’s rise at the imperial court
Towards the end of Claudius’ reign, Locusta was reportedly in prison, having already been charged with poisoning. However, she got a very lucky break due to awkward political circumstances engulfing the imperial court.
Claudius was married to his fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger, and her son Nero looked set to succeed him as emperor. However, Nero was only Claudius’ son by adoption, not biologically. That honour instead went to Britannicus, the emperor’s son by his disgraced third wife, Valeria Messalina.
Fearing that Claudius was about to make Britannicus his immediate heir, Agrippina decided to end her husband’s life. She knew she would have to do it covertly, so slipping him poison seemed to be the answer. She just needed someone to make the poison.
How did Claudius die?
Among ancient historians, there is common consensus that Claudius was murdered, with Agrippina the instigator. Accounts differ on exactly how, but one widely accepted story is that Agrippina initially arranged for the emperor’s food taster Halotus to feed him poisoned mushrooms.
Apparently, when this sickened but didn’t quite kill Claudius, his doctor inserted a feather down his throat, ostensibly to induce vomiting. However, poison had been applied to this feather, too – and this time, it finished the job.
Locusta’s part in Britannicus’ death
Nero became emperor in 54 AD, but still had the threat of his stepbrother to deal with. At that point, Britannicus had not yet turned 14, but Nero feared that he could undermine his hold on the throne later down the line.
It all convinced Nero of the need to nip the issue in the bud. He asked Locusta to brew another poison, this time for Britannicus. When the concoction failed to do the job, Nero flogged Locusta, insisting that she make a genuinely lethal poison lest she be executed.
Mercifully for her, this one worked. At a dinner attended by imperial notables, Britannicus was handed a hot drink deemed non-poisonous. However, after Britannicus asked for it to be cooled, cold water wasn’t the only thing added to it.
Locusta’s newly strengthened poison went in as well. Britannicus consequently found himself both voiceless and breathless, according to Tacitus. Nero told alarmed onlookers that his stepbrother was merely having an epileptic fit and so should be left alone.
Locusta’s dramatic fall from favour
After Britannicus’ death, the grateful Nero bestowed many favours upon Locusta, including estates and servants. He also tasked her with teaching students her poisonous ways.
Unfortunately for Locusta, this comfortable life only lasted as long as Nero himself. By the time of his death in 68 AD, he had made a lot of enemies. As if being a well-known poisoner hadn’t blackened Locusta’s reputation enough, it was even further tainted by her association with Nero.
The new emperor, Galba, had Locusta marched through the streets of Rome and executed. Today, she is a footnote in history, but modern interest in the Roman era has raised her posthumous profile.
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