Locusta was mistress of her art, in which long practice had given her a consummate skill.

The poison must not be too rapid, lest it should cause suspicion; nor too slow, lest it should give the Emperor time to consult for the interests of his son Britannicus; but it was to be one which should disturb his intellect without causing immediate death.

Claudius was a glutton, and the poison was given him with all the more ease because it was mixed with a dish of mushrooms, of which he was extravagantly fond.

Agrippina herself handed him the choicest mushroom in the dish, and the poison at once reduced him to silence.

As was too frequently the case, Claudius was intoxicated at the time, and was carried off to his bed as if nothing had happened.