The Answer:
Poppaea
Sabina was married to two Roman emperors, Marcus Salvius Otho, who
ruled from January to April, A.D. 69, and the more famous Nero, who ruled from
A.D. 54 to A.D. 68.
Poppaea became Nero's mistress when she was still married to
Otho. She divorced Otho and married Nero in A.D. 62. Poppaea had
great, but malevolent, influence over Nero, encouraging him to kill
his mother, Agrippina II, his former wife, Octavia, and the
philosopher Seneca. Nero kicked Poppaea herself to death in A.D. 65
during a fit of rage at one of their drunken parties.
The story of Nero and Poppaea lives on classical culture as the
subject of an opera by Claudio Monteverdi,
L'incoronazione di Poppea, or The Coronation of Poppaea, written in
1642.
For more information on Roman history, consider these
websites:
—The Editors
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