Statius Albius Oppianicus was a nobleman of the 1st century BCE notable for his role in some events described in Cicero's speech Pro Cluentio, and for the many crimes he was accused of.
[1] In 74 BC, he was accused by his stepson, Aulus Cluentius Habitus, of having tried to poison him via two agents: Fabricius and Scamander, Fabricius's freedman, both of whom were convicted of their crime.
After the agents' trials, Habitus went after Oppianicus, whom he accused of being the mastermind behind the plot.
The trial garnered wide publicity, and was highly divisive in Roman society.
[2][3][4] Oppianicus died in 69 BCE, and shortly afterwards, Habitus was accused of poisoning him, the charge against which Cicero defended him in the speech Pro Cluentio of 66 BCE, which is the source for most of our information about Oppianicus.