Julia Agrippina and Locusta the Poisoner

Julia Agrippina--daughter of a great Roman general, and, variously, sister, wife, niece, great-granddaughter, and now mother of the emperor, Julia Agrippina Augusta herself--draws a shabby cloak around her head. An assistant furtively shows her in to the quote-un-quote “kitchen.”

A woman looks up from an array of herbs, mushrooms, and ominous-looking bottles. And also a dead rat.

“Mistress Julia.”

“Locusta, I need to...discreetly get rid of certain persons. Who might be trying to get rid of me in turn..”

Locusta smiles. “Let me check in the back”

Two of Imperial Rome's most infamous women come together for this episode, as Pat and Ben discuss Locusta the Poisoner -- perhaps the most prolific and deadliest assassin of the Ancient World -- and the woman who gave her the majority of her most notorious missions: Julia Agrippina. Caligula's sister. Nero's mom. If you like political intrigues, murder mystery, amateur botany, cutthroat diplomacy, and the idea of two women who never met a problem that couldn't be solved with a syringe of cyanide and a bag of Death Cap Mushrooms, then you really can't afford to miss this one.

Badass of the Week is an iHeart radio podcast produced by High Five Content. Executive producers are Andrew Jacobs, Pat Larash, and Ben Thompson. Writing is by Pat and Ben. Story editing is by Ian Jacobs, Brandon Fibbs and Ali Lemer. Mixing and music and Sound Design is by Jude Brewer. Consulting by Michael May. Special thanks to Noel Brown at iHeart. Badass of the Week is based on the website BadassoftheWeek.com, where you can read all sorts of stories about other badasses. If you want to reach out with questions or ideas, you can email us at badasspodcast@badassoftheweek.com. If you like the podcast, subscribe, follow, listen and tell your friends and your enemies if you want, as we'll be back next week with another one. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.