Born in a rural part of Gaul in the 1st century, Gaul Locusta, who spent his days with plants until his youth, specialized in poisons and poisoned 400 high-ranking bureaucrats, two emperors, and he tried to write his name in the dusty pages of history with his notoriety as the world’s first serial killer. had succeeded.
Let’s take a look at Locusta’s very poisonous life, from a poor village to the pompous life of the empire, and then the bitter end that awaits him.
Locusta was an intelligent woman who took advantage of her birth in rural Gaul.
Locusta, or Lucusta as it is mentioned in some sources, was born in the rural areas of Gaul, which we can now describe as Western Europe, which includes France.
Being born in the countryside may seem like a disadvantage for her, but Locusta, a highly intelligent woman, spent her days studying plants here. She has gained a lot of experience with poisonous and beneficial plants.
When Gaul began to feel inadequate for Locusta, he decided to move to Rome to prove himself.
Locusta was working wonders with plants in her native village, but it was time for this clever woman to break her chains and leave her shell. Eventually Locusta decided to move to Rome. When she moved to Rome, she quickly realized that she could only earn money with plants, although she looked for a few ways to make a living.
Locusta was not the only thing that came to Rome from Gaul, Locusta’s fame came with it.
At that time, many people who performed miraculous things with plants were called sorcerers, and Locusta was one of them. When he arrived in Rome, he introduced himself as Locusta the Gaul. The Gaul Locusta received more attention than he had expected here. The underlying reason for this interest was that there were too many bureaucrats in Rome.
Many bureaucrats and administrators who wanted to rise wanted to kill their enemies and rivals by poisoning them in order to guarantee themselves. With its know-how, Locusta was a perfect fit for these tasks.
Locusta, who poisoned many bureaucrats with her superior herbal knowledge, drank some poison every day because she was very afraid of being poisoned.
Locusta, who poisoned many middle and high-level bureaucrats to earn money, must have been affected by the suffering of his victims, as the thing he feared most was to die by poisoning.
Locusta, who thought that he could not be poisoned if he was immune to poisons, trained his body against poisons by drinking some poison every day for years. Sometimes the poisons he drank were heavy, but he gained immunity with the antidote and after a while he almost succeeded in gaining full immunity against poisons.
Locusta was too valuable to be killed for his abilities even if he was caught, and he was able to take advantage of it many times.
It would be an exaggeration to think that a person estimated to have poisoned 400 people in Rome during his lifetime was never caught. As a matter of fact, although Locusta was caught red-handed a few times, they decided to make an agreement instead of punishing them to take advantage of Locusta, as those who caught them had rivals and enemies that they wanted to eliminate.
Starting to poison the emperors and their families, Locusta reached the top of fame.
Locusta, who was famous in Rome, poisoned the 4th Roman Emperor Claudius at the request of Nero’s wife. After Claudius’ death, the 5th Roman Emperor Nero pardoned Locusta, who was imprisoned for murder and sentenced to death, for his share in Claudius’ death, and promised to keep him “exempt from the death penalty for life”.
During this period, Locusta worked under Emperor Nero. Locusta, in line with Nero’s demands, gives lessons to the students in the Empire on herbs and poisons; He also poisoned Britannicus, son of Claudius, who was likely to ascend to the throne.
The death of Emperor Nero also marked the beginning of the end of Locusta.
Locusta, who worked under Nero for a long time, also served for a while to the 6th Roman Emperor Galba, who came to the throne after Nero’s death. Although Galba took advantage of Locusta’s magical hands for a while, he began to doubt Locusta’s loyalty and decided to kill Locusta before poisoning him.
The decision to rape people who were sentenced to death by animals, which was a great tradition in Rome at that time, was also applied to humiliate Locusta, and a giraffe was raped.
Locusta, who was executed after the rape, was cremated and his ashes were thrown into the sea to prevent his resurrection, as he was called a sorcerer. Shortly after Locusta’s tragic death, Emperor Galba died of poisoning. Many believe that Locusta was involved in Galba’s death, giving Galba a poison that slowly killed him.
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