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Locusta or Lucusta (died 69), was a notorious maker of poisons in the 1st-century Roman Empire, active in the final two reigns of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She supposedly took part in the assassinations of Claudius and Britannicus. She was a favourite of emperor Nero for several years, and Nero had her provide training to other poisoners in his service. Following Nero's death, Locusta was executed by his successor, Galba (reigned 68–69).
She reportedly advised Agrippina to use Atropa belladonna as a poison. Extracts of atropa have been used for poisoning since antiquity, as the plant and its fruits contain (primarily hyoscyamine and Hyoscine). Atropa-derived poisons were commonly used in ancient Roman murders, and previous empress Livia reportedly used them to murder her contemporaries. The effective doses of atropa needed to cause for up to four days, and the ones needed to kill a person, were described by a 1st-century writer, Pedanius Dioscorides. Dioscorides called the plant "strychnos manikos" or "thryon."
In AD 55, while still imprisoned, Locusta was called upon by Agrippina's son, the emperor Nero, to concoct a poison to murder Claudius' son Britannicus. When this poison was slow to work, Nero Flagellation Locusta with his own hand and threatened her with immediate execution, whereupon she supplied a quicker-acting poison that succeeded. Nero rewarded Locusta with a full pardon and large country estates, where he sent pupils to learn her craft.Suetonius, Nero 33; Tacitus, Annals 13.15. Before Nero fled Rome in AD 68, he acquired poison from Locusta for his own use and kept it in a golden box. He eventually died by other means. Suetonius, Nero 47.
In the novel The Count of Monte Cristo (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, the poisoner Madame de Villefort is frequently compared to Locusta. Chapter 101 is entitled "Locusta."Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press, UK, 2008. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 November 2015.
Locusta was one of the characters depicted in the historical film Humanity Through the Ages (1908) by director Georges Méliès. (2025). 9782732437323, Éditions de La Martinière. ISBN 9782732437323 The film was an episodic depiction of humanity's brutality throughout its history, and the historic episodes depicted were chosen because they involved fratricide, murders, religious persecution, physical abuse and public humiliation, prisons and executions of prisoners, torture, and violent criminal subcultures. (2025). 9782732437323, Éditions de La Martinière. ISBN 9782732437323 The film is thought to be among the from its era. (2025). 9782732437323, Éditions de La Martinière. ISBN 9782732437323
A silent short film, Les fils de Locuste, was produced in France in 1911.
Locusta appears as a character in the 1965 Doctor Who story The Romans, played by Ann Tirard. Described as the "official poisoner to the court of Caesar Nero," she is portrayed as comically untroubled by the macabre nature of the service she provides.
The band Macabre included a song entitled "Locusta" in their 2011 album Grim Scary Tales. In the song, she is described as one of history's first recorded serial killers who is hired by Agrippina to kill Claudius and Britannicus. The song ends with Locusta being executed in the Circus Maximus by being rape by a trained giraffe and then torn apart by wild animals.
Locusta manifests as an Assassin class Servant in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, added during the FGO Arcade collaboration event in April 2023.
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