Locusta: The Woman Who Poisoned an Empire
In the first century AD, the Emperor Nero had an official poisoner.
Her name was Locusta. She was Gaulish by birth, a convicted criminal by record, and the most dangerous woman in Rome by reputation. She didn’t wield a sword or command an army. She worked with plants, powders, and patience — and she operated under the direct protection of the emperor himself.
This is her story. And it begins, as most Roman stories do, at the dinner table.