Case file · Witch trials
Trial of the Roman matrons for poisoning
Livy (8.18) says that in 331 BC a slave woman revealed that Roman matrons were brewing poisons; about 170 women were convicted, often cited as an ancient forerunner of witch panics.
331 BCE · 41.89, 12.48 · status: account
The account
Two patrician women, Cornelia and Sergia, insisted their potions were healthy, drank them in front of the court and died. The city treated the affair as a prodigy and appointed a dictator to drive a nail as expiation.
The sceptical view
Livy himself says he is unsure of the story and that not all his sources report it.