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Poppaea Sabina

Poppaea Sabina (30-65 CE) was the wife of Praetorian prefect Rufrius Crispinius and then Marcus Salvius Otho (r. 69 CE) before she became the second wife of Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE). Considered by ancient sources both attractive and intelligent, she used her beauty and charm, to persuade Nero to divorce Octavia, the daughter of Claudius (r. 41-54 CE) and Valeria Messalina, and marry her.

Family

In his book Ten Caesars historian Barry Strauss wrote that Poppaea was "a woman fit for a king. She was wealthy, intelligent and ambitious" (91). She was born in 30 CE in Pompeii; her father was Titus Ollius, who was executed as a supporter of the treasonous Lucius Sejanus in 31 CE. Her maternal grandfather was Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus, a prominent consul and provincial governor who had fought against the Thracians. Tacitus wrote that he was "a man of illustrious memory and prominently distinguished by the honours of a consulship and a triumph" (Complete Works, 312). Possibly due to the shame of her father, Poppaea changed her name to her grandfather's.

In 47 CE, the empress Messalina forced Poppaea's mother, Poppaea Sabina the Elder, to commit suicide. From her mother, Poppaea the Younger inherited property and a brick factory in Pompeii. She used the beauty she also inherited from her mother to her advantage. While those around her saw her as both clever and a pleasant conversationalist, Tacitus viewed her as "immoral and venal" (312) and maintained that she was indifferent to her reputation, writing that "Advantage dictated the bestowal of her favours" (306). "… she was never a slave to her own passion or to that of a lover. Whenever there was a prospect of advantage, there she transferred her favours." (312)

In 44 BCE, she was married to a Praetorian prefect, Rufrius Crispinius, with whom she had a son. After Poppaea's death, Nero would have the young boy's slaves drown him while on a fishing trip.

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[whencyclopedia]

Druid

Druids were a class of individuals in ancient Celtic cultures known for their great wisdom and knowledge of traditions. Not only priests who managed all religious rituals such as sacrifices (including humans), druids were able to give practical help by interpreting events of nature, divining the future as soothsayers, and making medicinal potions, especially using sacred plants like mistletoe.

In addition, Druids were repositories of the community's history and may also have been required to cast taboos (or, less accurately, spells) on people, ensuring compliance to the society's rules. Evidence that women were druids in antiquity is scarce, as is information on druids in general which has led to much speculation and often fanciful assumptions in later periods. Druids and Celtic religion declined following persecution by the Romans in the 1st century CE and then the arrival of Christianity across Europe.

A Note on Sources

Not a great deal of ancient written material is available concerning druids, and what there is comes either from Greek and Roman authors or medieval literary sources such as Irish mythological poems. The consequences of this are a lack of consideration for Celtic cultures other than in the British Isles and Gaul, and an absence of information prior to the Roman period when druidism was already in decline. Another problem is the confusion and inappropriate comparisons made by ancient writers between druids and other men of wisdom in other cultures such as the magi of Persia, Greek Pythagoreans, and Indian ascetics. Nevertheless, works such as the Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar (c. 100-44 BCE) provide invaluable information on this mysterious class of priests who left no information themselves on their beliefs and practices.

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