Locusta or Lucusta (died 69), was a notorious maker of poisons in the 1st-century

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, active in the final two reigns of the

Julio-Claudian dynasty The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This line of emperors ruled the Roman Empire, from its formation (under Augustus, in 27 BC) until the last of the line, Emper ...

. She supposedly took part in the assassinations of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

and

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman Emperor Claudius and his third wife, Valeria Messalina. For a time, he was considered his father's heir, but t ...

. She was a

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

of emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

for several years, and Nero had her provide training to other poisoners in his service. Following Nero's death, Locusta was executed by his successor,

Galba Galba ( ; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for 7 months from 8 June AD 68 to 15 January 69. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne follow ...

(reigned 68–69).

Primary sources

Locusta's career is described by the ancient historians

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

(''Annals'' 12.66 and 13.15),

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

''Life of Nero''
33 and 47), and

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(61.34 and 63.3).

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...

also mentions Locusta in Book 1, line 71 of his '' Satires''.

Biography

Locusta was said to have come from Gaul.

Poisons expert

Locusta served as a poisons expert under empress

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from AD 49 to 54, the fourth wife and niece of emperor Claudius, and the mother of Nero. Agrippina was one of the most prominent ...

. According to some historians, in AD 54, already notorious and imprisoned on poisoning charges, Locusta was ordered by Agrippina to supply a poison for the murder of her husband,

. This was sprinkled on a mushroom and given to the emperor by his food-taster Halotus; There is a rumor that when the poison appeared to be ineffectual, the doctor Gaius Stertinius Xenophon murdered Claudius with a poisoned feather ostensibly put down his throat to induce vomiting, although it has yet been verified. She reportedly advised Agrippina to use ''

Atropa belladonna ''Atropa bella-donna'', commonly known as deadly nightshade or belladonna, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. It is native to Europe and Western Asia, i ...

'' as a poison. Extracts of atropa have been used for poisoning since antiquity, as the plant and its fruits contain

tropane alkaloid Tropane alkaloids are a class of bicyclic .2.1alkaloids and secondary metabolites that contain a tropane ring in their chemical structure. Tropane alkaloids occur naturally in many members of the plant family Solanaceae. Certain tropane alkaloi ...

s (primarily

hyoscyamine Hyoscyamine (also known as daturine or duboisine) is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid and plant toxin. It is a secondary metabolite found in certain plants of the family Solanaceae, including Hyoscyamus niger, henbane, Mandragora officina ...

and

scopolamine Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva. When used by injection, effects begin a ...

). Atropa-derived poisons were commonly used in ancient Roman murders, and previous empress

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

reportedly used them to murder her contemporaries. The effective doses of atropa needed to cause

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

s for up to four days, and the ones needed to kill a person, were described by a 1st-century writer,

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on he ...

. Dioscorides called the plant "strychnos manikos" or "thryon." In AD 55, while still imprisoned, Locusta was called upon by Agrippina's son, the emperor

, to concoct a poison to murder Claudius' son

. When this poison was slow to work, Nero flogged Locusta with his own hand and threatened her with immediate execution, whereupon she supplied a quicker-acting poison that succeeded. Nero rewarded Locusta with a full pardon and large country estates, where he sent pupils to learn her craft. Before Nero fled Rome in AD 68, he acquired poison from Locusta for his own use and kept it in a golden box. He eventually died by other means.

Execution

After Nero's suicide, Locusta was condemned to die by the emperor

during his brief reign, which ended 15 January AD 69. Along with Nero's favorites Helius, Patrobius, Narcissus and "others of the scum that had come to the surface in Nero's day," she was led in chains through the city and executed.

Legacy

refers to her in one of his '' Satires'', describing a poisoner as even more skilled than Locusta. In the novel ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (1844) by

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

, the poisoner Madame de Villefort is frequently compared to Locusta. Chapter 101 is entitled "Locusta."Dumas, Alexandre. ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press, UK, 2008. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 November 2015. Locusta was one of the characters depicted in the historical film '' Humanity Through the Ages'' (1908) by director

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès ( , ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French magic (illusion), magician, toymaker, actor, and filmmaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of film, cinema, primarily in th ...

. The film was an episodic depiction of humanity's brutality throughout its history, and the historic episodes depicted were chosen because they involved

fratricide Fratricide (; – the assimilated root of 'to kill, cut down') is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (an assassin). The victim need not be ...

, murders, religious persecution, physical abuse and public humiliation, prisons and executions of prisoners, torture, and violent criminal subcultures. The film is thought to be among the

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

s from its era. A silent short film, ''Les fils de Locuste'', was produced in France in 1911. Locusta appears as a character in the 1965 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' story '' The Romans'', played by Ann Tirard. Described as the "official poisoner to the court of Caesar Nero," she is portrayed as comically untroubled by the macabre nature of the service she provides. The band

Macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...

included a song entitled "Locusta" in their 2011 album '' Grim Scary Tales''. In the song, she is described as one of history's first recorded serial killers who is hired by Agrippina to kill Claudius and Britannicus. The song ends with Locusta being executed in the

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian language, Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot racing, chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine Hill, Avent ...

by being

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...

by a trained giraffe and then torn apart by wild animals. Locusta manifests as an Assassin class Servant in the mobile game '' Fate/Grand Order'', added during the FGO Arcade collaboration event in April 2023.

References

{{Reflist 1st-century births 69 deaths 1st-century educators 1st-century executions 1st-century Gallo-Roman people 1st-century Roman women 1st-century Romans Ancient murderers Ancient Roman assassins Executed ancient Roman women People executed by the Roman Empire People executed for murder Poisoners Recipients of ancient Roman pardons Ancient Romans from unknown gentes Women educators Ancient businesswomen Ancient Roman businesspeople