Roman empire
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The Poisoner’s Privilege: How a Gaulish Woman Became Rome’s Deadliest Professional
In the cutthroat world of Imperial Rome, Locusta of Gaul turned botanical knowledge into a deadly trade. Hired by Empress Agrippina and Emperor Nero, she used poisons to secure the throne, becoming history’s first documented “imperial poisoner.” Her story reveals the grim opportunities—and fatal limits—for women seeking power outside the domestic sphere in the ancient…