Lucusta

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Lucusta (also: Locusta ; probably † January 9, 69 AD) was a Roman poisoner. She is considered the first documented case of a serial killer .

Life

Lucusta tests the poison prepared for Britannicus in Nero's presence . Joseph-Noël Sylvestre , 1876.

Lucusta lived in Rome during the 1st century AD.

According to Tacitus and Cassius Dio , she had been convicted and arrested for poisoning as early as 54 AD, but still supplied Agrippina with the poison with which Claudius was supposed to be eliminated. Both women met in exile on the island of Pontia. After Claudius' assassination, Nero took the throne.

At the beginning of 55 AD, Nero, who allegedly wanted to kill his stepbrother Britannicus, is said to have been their client. The second attempt to kill Britannicus with Lucusta's poison was successful. Lucusta is said not only to have received a high material reward for her service, but criminal prosecution against her should also have been stopped. Nero also sent her students to teach her the art of poisoning. However, recent research suggests that Britannicus was not poisoned but died of natural causes.

Lucusta is said to have prepared the poison that Nero is said to have had with him on the run in 68 AD, but did not dare to take it. After Nero's death, Lucusta was executed under the rule of Galba in January 69 AD . Newton suspects that her execution coincided with the Agonalia festival on January 9th.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ See Juvenal , Satiren 1, 71.
  2. ↑ Michael Newton: The great encyclopedia of serial killers. VF Collector, Graz 2005, ISBN 3-85365-189-5 , p. 236 f.
  3. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 12, 66.
  4. ^ Cassius Dio 60, 34, 2.
  5. ↑ Michael Newton: The great encyclopedia of serial killers. VF Collector, Graz 2005, ISBN 3-85365-189-5 , p. 236 f.
  6. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 13:15; Suetonius , Nero 33, 2-3 ; Scholien to Juvenal 1, 71.
  7. ^ Suetonius , Nero 33, 3.
  8. ^ Suetonius, Nero 47.1 .
  9. ^ Cassius Dio 64, 3, 4.
    Michael Newton: The great encyclopedia of serial killers. VF Collector, Graz 2005, ISBN 3-85365-189-5 , p. 236 f.
personal data
SURNAME Lucusta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Locusta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman poisoner
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC BC or 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 1st century