Poppaea Sabina
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Poppaea Sabina (30-65) was a Roman Empress and second wife of the Roman Emperor Nero. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues to become empress.
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Reputation
According to Cassius Dio, Poppaea enjoyed having milk baths. She would have them daily, because she was once told "therein lurked a magic which would dispel all diseases and blights from her beauty."
References in art
Fifteen centuries after her time, Poppaea was depicted in Claudio Monteverdi's last opera L'incoronazione di Poppea (The coronation of Poppaea) of 1642. Her story was clearly chosen to appeal to the titillation favored in the nascent culture of the Venetian public opera theaters, and its Prologue immediately explains that it is not a drama that promotes the triumph of virtue. Poppaea is portrayed as cynically plotting to become empress of Rome by manipulating the emperor Nero into marrying her, and her machinations even include the execution of Seneca the Younger, who opposes her plans, which are successful at the end of the drama. Her expressions of love for Nero are effusive, but completely insincere.
In film
Poppea appears as a character in several versions of Quo Vadis. In the 1951 film version, she is strangled to death by Nero after the Roman populace revolts against them both.
Another portrayal of Poppaea is featured in the 1932 film The Sign of the Cross. She is seen bathing in asses' milk. Daringly for the time, she is portrayed (by Claudette Colbert) as being openly bisexual, suggestively inviting a female slave to bathe with her in the asses' milk, but lusting after Roman soldier Marcus Superbus (Fredric March).
In 1976 the epic BBC TV series "I, Claudius", one episode, Poppaea was played by Sally Bazely.
Played by Georgie Glen in the epic TV series Rome (2005).
Kara Tointon played Poppaea in 2003's Boudica, also known as Warrior Queen in the US.
Poppaea is portrayed by Catherine McCormack in the 2006 BBC docu-drama Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. In this interpretation, she is kicked to death by her husband, Emperor Nero, after offhandedly and uncritically mentioning a minor glitch during his performance at the Quinquennial Neronia. Her corpse is later shown mounted on display.
References in popular culture
In Mel Brooks' 1968 film, The Producers, Leo Bloom is terrified at Max Bialystock when the large man stands over him, and, in reference to the ancient accounts of Poppaea's death, screams "You're going to jump on me. I know you're going to jump on me – like Nero jumped on Poppaea... Poppaea. She was his wife. And she was unfaithful to him. So he got mad and he jumped on her. Up and down, up and down, until he squashed her like a bug. Please don't jump on me!".
Poppaea also is one of several real-life characters in Rubies of the Viper, an historical mystery/romantic-suspense novel by Martha Marks.