7/3/2023 0 Comments Wolfsbane poison![]() ![]() Suicide by poison was not common, but Pliny the Elder defended euthanasia by poison in the elderly when so desired. During the late 1st century AD Juvenal described the moral decay of the elite and in his satires claimed that poisoning for personal benefit had become a status symbol. ![]() Reports of poisoning continue during the reign of subsequent emperors, including Vitellius, Domitian, Hadrian, Commodus, Caracalla and Alexander Severus. Nero in particular made use of the latter to get rid of many of his subjects, including his half-brother, Britannicus. At Satires 1.8.1 Horace tells of the professional poisoner, Canidia, who with Martina and Locusta became the infamous trio of women poisoners in Roman times. Cicero's court speeches confirm the high incidence of murder by poison in the 1st century, and it is also probable that Cleopatra committed suicide by poison in 30 B.C.Ī growing incidence of poisoning is recorded in the 1st century AD, which reached an alarming peak during the reign of the Julio-Claudian emperors. and the tragic death of the Numidian queen, Sophonisba, in 203 B.C. Further incidents of probable poisoning in the 3rd century and later include the mass suicide of the Capuans in 211 B.C. It is likely that many innocent citizens were wrongly condemned at this early stage in the 4th century B.C., when superstition was rife in Rome and scapegoats were sought. The earliest known incidents of alleged mass poisoning (recorded at Livy 8.18) occurred at times when Rome suffered severe epidemics. This essay discusses the incidence and nature of poisoning in Rome (4th century B.C. Poisons, Poisoning, and Poisoners in Rome
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