Claudia Octavia then with Poppaea Sabina. He excused this treatment of her when his friends showed their concerns about it. When Poppaea became pregnant with Nero's child, Nero divorced Octavia, claiming she was barren, and married Poppaea twelve days after the divorce. Nero and Poppaea then banished Octavia to the Campania region, and eventually to the island of Pandateria (modern Ventotene) on a false charge of adultery with Nero's former tutor Anicetus. When Octavia complained about this treatment, her maids were tortured to death. Octavia's banishment became so unpopular that the citizens of Rome protested loudly, openly parading through the streets with
Poppaea (gens) evidence of the Poppaei prior to the first century, but from inscriptions the family seems to have been concentrated in Campania. The surname "Sabinus" suggests that they claimed Sabine ancestry. The region of Campania where the greatest number of Poppaei are found was associated with the Samnites, an Oscan-speaking people who also claimed Sabine descent. The chief praenomina of the Poppaei were "Gaius" and "Quintus". A few of the family used other names, such as "Publius, Lucius, Sextus", and "Titus". All of these were common names throughout Roman history. Poppaea (gens) The gens Poppaea was a minor plebeian family at