![]() Undercover, Locusta managed to avert the taste tester and serve the Emperor death cap mushrooms, likely flavored with aconite. ![]() ![]() ![]() Not only was he armed with taste testers, he also had a ghastly habit of vomiting each meal by tickling his throat with a feather in order to indulge again-a quirk which limited the time any poison could act.īut Claudius’ habit was not a challenge for Locusta’s ingenuity. The Emperor, however, proved a challenging mark. She conspired with Locusta to murder Claudius in order to place her son from a previous marriage, Nero, on the throne. In AD 54, Empress Agrippina, the fourth wife-and niece-of Emperor Claudius, grew tired of her uncle/husband. These clients also reliably bailed Locusta out of prison when events didn’t unfold per plan. Katherine Ramsland calls Locusta’s business, “necro-entrepreneur.” To Locusta’s benefit, Rome brimmed with wealthy, would-be-patrons, eager to hasten the death of rich relatives. Trained in herbs, she mastered the system of “patronage” and made a name for herself as a reliable assassin – or as Dr. Here’s what we do know: Locusta hailed from Gaul, the outer province of Ancient Rome now known as France. Little is known about the world’s first serial killer, which is perhaps why accounts of Locusta’s death are. ![]()
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