Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early

Imperial Rome
GRAHAM WAY

Scents of Rome

The use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early Imperial Rome

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Introduction

Scents new and old

 What we like (Cargoes – Masefield)
 Why we like it
 What it does
 Perfume for her, for him, for the home
 Perfume all around us
Where did it all start?
 Will we ever know how it all began?
 Early archaeology
 Mesopotamia and Rovesti
 The exotic east
 The biblical east
 Greek writers(Theophrastus and Dioscorides)
 Where did this all lead – development of the Roman Empire
Economic Growth
 How did the late republic grow economically
 Etruscan predecessors
 Trade routes-The Spice Route (reflections of Alexander)
 What came from where
 How was this allowed and who promoted this trade
 Who did the carrying
 The shift from Greece to Rome
Arrival in Rome
 Politics (Egypt and Cleopatra)
 What arrived in Rome and where did it go?
 The growth of the ‘retail’ perfumer
 Links with the growing empire
 Prominent republican Romans and what they thought (Cicero)
Uses in Rome
 Female consumption
 Who did what and where (bathing)
 Domestic consumption
 Religion as a dominant force in consumption
 Roman Empire and state consumption
Scents of Rome
 What was used by whom and where
 Which ingredients were common and which were rare
 Glass bottles and their importance
 Pricing and consumption
Writers in Rome
 What did the ancient writers think and why
 The contribution of the ancient writers
 The historians Pliny, Suetonius, Tacitus – what did they say? What was their reason?
 The social commentators Petronius, Athenaeus – what did they say and why?
 The religious angle – how was this reported?
Conclusion
 So what made perfume fascinating?
 Why did the Classical world consume aromatics as they did?
 Does this make them as avid users as we are in the twenty first century
 Similarity and difference
 Would a Vestal Virgin have used Chanel No. 5?

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Why is it that societies have been concerned with, perhaps even obsessed by, something
so esoteric and ephemeral as a substance whose very nature is to vanish utterly leaving
nothing but an impression of itself. What makes mankind so interested in something that,
other than in its original state is intangible, something that has however had a direct
impact on our senses over many thousands of years. Olfaction and the sense of smell is
perhaps the most direct of the five senses and the one that is the most evocative. We
remember those things that meant so much to us during childhood often by an evocation
of the smell of the time, perhaps an event, perhaps a person, perhaps a time and a
place. Whatever we wish to remember, or of which we are reminded, we can often recall
clear detail simply through something we have smelt. Writers through the ages have
lauded the power of perfume, the evocation of the olfactory sense in poetry and prose,
indeed through the history of poetry and prose we find references to scent and beautiful
perfumes. The legendary poem Cargoes by John Masefield hints at the poet’s desire for
beautiful odours:

‘Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood and sweet white wine1 .’

The sentiment in these few lines of a very familiar poem reflects the warmth and luxury
of a variety of different products from warm eastern climes, products that are familiar to
us but even more so the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. A bridge for us to understand
how the economic life of the modern world bears many similarities with that of the
Roman Empire, not necessarily in the way it was conducted financially but in the type of
product desired by both societies.

1
Masefield – Selected Poems
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

So in beginning to think about what might have been enjoyed in the past let me briefly
consider the present and what influences us now. In our world we are surrounded by a
plethora of different smells, some natural, others synthetic. Even those scents which we
might consider to be natural are, in fact, manmade; we might we plant a fragrant rose in
our garden and assume it to be completely natural. As a plant is indeed natural but it
might be a genus created by man as a blend of different plants, to produce the desired
effect. Nonetheless very few people dislike roses and especially their delicate and
unmistakeable scent, often put to use in different applications. What I am trying to assert
here is the fact that we often do not judge perfume by its origins but by the immediate
impact it has on our life and senses. We might also judge it on its effect and its success
or otherwise as an application.

All very well but just why would we like, enjoy or benefit from an aromatic? Again we
must return to its original use and application, as diffuse and diverse as the number of
perfumes available. A personal application of perfume might be for reasons of
enhancement, possibly even of attraction; many perfumes are marketed on the basis and
assumption that they can enhance the wearers chances of personal encounters and
sexual success. A less obvious use of perfume today is the many and varied commercial
application of perfume; many cleaning and domestic products contain an element of
fragrance. Products as prosaic as petrol and coal have been scented to make the product
more appealing to certain consumers; bleaches and polishes, washing powders and
carpet cleaners are all scented. Interestingly aromatic usage can extend to different
environments in which we might find ourselves, some larger food retailers have used
food smells to attract shoppers to extend their stay and, hopefully, purchase more
products. The idea of using ambient perfumes I will return to, this is important to us but
was also important to the classical world albeit in a very different way.

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

So what does this actually do? As I have already suggested the use of smell can indeed
remind us of our past, it can also act as a means of our mind authenticating the past.
Opening a very old book brings with it a certain smell, one which cannot easily be defined
but there it is, inviting us to join with those earlier readers of the book experiencing the
delights contained within. Similarly the dry, dusty smell of chalk might bring back
memories of the classroom, the smell of baking bread might bring back memories of a
delightful old bakery close to a childhood home, a romantic notion perhaps but one which
is rooted in personal experience and .testimony

The modern experience of perfume is that of beautifully presented bottles, elegantly

packaged on the shelves of smart shops, department stores and chemists. This is very
much a product of the development of the era of ‘couture’ perfume begun most notably
with the early designer perfumes of Worth, Schiaparelli and most famously, the creation
of Ernest Beau for Chanel, a happy accident that has passed into legend. Prior to this
explosion of designer branded perfume most scent was handmade and packaged
individually, a trend which can be traced back three thousand years and which will
become evident later in this paper.

There was a perception, certainly in the mid twentieth century that perfume was the
domain of the female gender and that marketing of fragrance to a male market was
limited. A strange reversal of what had previously been the case: from the classical world
right up until the late Victorian era these products were directed principally at the male
market. The reason for this being that finances were controlled by men and only when
women were enfranchised to the extent that they were able to become independent cold
they purchase products for their own use. The well known society hairdressers of
Victorian London would, on occasion, receive commissions from their clients to produce
perfumes for their female companions but this would have been on a limited scale. As for
perfumes for the home, these would probably have been provided from the most natural
sources, bowls of pot pourri, and vases of fragrant roses, lavender bags and pure
beeswax polishes.

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The commercial production of household perfumes being a later invention, or were they?
We know that the Roman household would have been scented – how we will explore
later in this paper.

So we are all used to living in conditions in which we are surrounded by fragrance and
beautiful smells. Indeed, we react to unpleasant smells today far more readily than a
society living even fifty years ago when personal hygiene was becoming big business and
awareness of personal fragrance was at the height it is today, a height that I would argue
we have not known since the days of Imperial Rome when personal hygiene was so
important to its citizens noted especially from the archaeological discoveries of Roman
bathing.

Where then did all this come from? How did the human experience first encounter
fragrance? How did man first capture that most elusive of commodities and put it to use?
The simple answer is that, at present, we cannot be sure. Evidence suggests that plants
were used for medicinal purposes for many thousands of years. Early sources such as the
Code of Hammurabi written in the 7 th century BC suggest the use of plants for this
purpose, some of these plants having aromatic qualities. This does not however suggest
that plants might have been used for aromatic purposes alone. It may have been that
these plants were used for a variety of differing reasons and for differing properties. The
practice we now call aromatherapy might well have had its roots at this time, again we
cannot be sure. In thinking about the purer uses of perfumed plant oils in the form of
unguents some work has been done in the world of the ancient East. A discovery in 1975
by Rovesti suggests that an ancient terracotta vessel found in the Indus valley,
accompanied by a number by a number of smaller containers, may well have been
employed in the use and manufacture of personal aromatics. The discovery of cuneiform
tablets also demonstrates a vessel that bears similarity with distillation devices used
much later by the Arabs. Doubt might well serve to temper enthusiasm here, as it is likely
that the technique we now know as distillation was a much later invention, possibly
attributed to Avicenna in the 12th century AD.

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

This context I have avoided the use of the word ’perfume’ as we are uncertain as to the
application of such aromatics. Where we might more correctly use the word would be
legendary usage of aromatics by the Egyptians; inscriptions on the base of the Sphinx at
Giza show incense being used as perfume that is per fumum that is, being burnt for
devotional purposes.

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The Egyptians famously used aromatics, especially in their treatment of the dead. It was
said that a faint odour of incense rose from the tomb of Tutankhamen when it was opened,
three thousand years after it had been sealed, giving us some idea of the properties of this
aromatic gum, still being used today. Thirty-five alabaster containers all of which had been
broken accompanied his body, interestingly, however, in the bottom of the largest of the
jars found, under a three thousand year old crust was a viscid substance identified to be an
aromatic resin2. That such a resin could last in such a state for such a long period of time
gives us some indication of the purity and quality of the aromatics used. It seems likely that
the first products to be looted from the tombs of the pharaohs were firstly the gold but
secondly, the aromatics, giving us some idea of the value appended to these items.
Mention is made of the substance called ‘Kyphi’, an aromatic used widely in the ancient
world made from various aromatics including frankincense and cypress but also utilising
cinnamon, cassia and juniper berry. This aromatic was considered sacred to the gods and
which when burnt induced a hypnotic state in its users. Interestingly Faure, in discussing
the merits of incense and its manufacture states that:

‘Son odeur provoque effets tantots euphorique, tantots excitants, jusqu’a l’extasse et a la
transe chez les intoxiques3’

I will return to the religious uses of aromatics later in this paper however I would not
wish to diminish its importance. Steele quoting Kennet, a perfume historian to whom I shall
make reference cites evidence of the belief that the birth of Queen Hatshepsut came about
by divine intervention noting that ‘it was as if, with the perfume itself immortality passed
into her mother’s womb4’ He goes onto quote Kennet saying

‘...fragrance is a two way medium between the realm of humans and gods; scents and
incense were offerings to the divine beings and in turn the gods could manifest themselves
through these means to humans5’

2
Steele in V. Toller and Dodd p.288
3
Faure p. 80
4
Steele in V. Toller and Dodd p. 288
5
ibid
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

In looking at the Egyptian civilisation and the sophistication it brings to our thinking of
the classical world the most important thing that we might consider is the geographical
importance of Egypt to our thinking of aromatics. It seems that evident that any aromatic
substances, certainly those considered rare and, in consequence, costly came from the East
and from oriental climes. This must therefore colour our thinking about the emerging
economies of Greece and Rome. Before we begin to consider these I would like to continue
our geographical and chronological thinking about the development of thinking and usage
of aromatics and look briefly at the biblical Near East.

In thinking about this area I am principally thinking about the Jewish Near East and in
consequence a very theology and theistic approach. Unlike the Egyptians and the later
civilisations of Greece and Rome we are not considering a people with an anthropomorphic
approach to belief but a monotheistic system of belief, culturally based, depending on a
conquering God who would return to restore the people to a place of pre eminence. Such a
deity would not be propitiated with sprinklings of rose petals or delicate floral offerings
although these were very much a part of God’s creation. This God would need a far more
robust offering, a more heavily spiced and pungent offering to attract and ameliorate a God
of purpose. Indeed the people of God are told by direct instruction how they are to
approach their God and how aromatics are to be used in the presence of God.

‘And the Lord said to Moses,

“Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure
frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part) and make an incense as blended by the
perfumer, seasoned with salt and pure holy6” ‘

6
Exodus 30.34
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Knowing that this book was probably written about the 5 th century BC we can be
reasonably sure that reliable trading routes were in operation at this time bringing these
ingredients through the ancient near east and especially Palestine in order that they could
fulfil this biblical command. It is interesting that the term perfumer should be used then,
implying that the trade of perfumer was not only established but also well respected at this
time. Evidence exists of the transport of perfumes and spices by the Nabataean people and
their routes would pass close by, if not through Palestine at this time; a route that was to
gain significance although the Nabataeans would lose their pre eminent rights to transport
these products. I will touch on that and other changes to the trading patterns in these
products in due course. Faure devotes much time in his discussion of the production of
frankincense to the technicalities required in irrigation and planting of the source, he seems
to suggest that the production of incense was limited to three thousand families and they
had a commercial hold on the sale and distribution of the commodity. They may also have
been able to keep the price of frankincense artificially high, a practice that can be seen in
certain goods today, indeed this view is proposed by Pliny who also feels that the price of
incense is maintained at an artificially high level 7.

Returning to biblical allusions, later on, in the New Testament, we are given an indication of
the costliness of perfumed products in the story of the woman who anoints the head of
Jesus8. It is not the act of the woman anointing Jesus’ head that frustrates and annoys the
disciples but the indication that the ointment based on Nard, a very valuable aromatic, was
worth 300 denarii and the proceeds might have been distributed to the poor. A footnote in
the Revised Standard Version of the bible indicates to us that a labourer might expect to
earn one denarius for a day’s work making this act one of great financial consequence; in
the eyes of the onlookers, profligate but one which indicated Jesus’ forthcoming fate. This
paper is not the place to examine the theology however we have here, laid bare, one of the
few places where exact monetary value is placed on aromatic goods in the ancient world.

7
Pliny NH XII
8
Mark 14.3-9
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

I have thus far concentrated my survey of the world of aromatic usage and production to
the world of the east and the culmination of the first part of this survey must lie in the
Greek east. It is the Greeks we have to credit for our first insights into the importance and
relevance that aromatics and odours had in everyday life. Popularly the Greeks are credited
with being the progenitors of many aspects of life which we now take for granted, for
instance, modern political rhetoric can be traced back to the Greeks, many modern
philosophical views of human existence, and ethical considerations such as building and
architectural design. One work however, often overlooked, as it is relatively short and
appears only as an appendix to his ‘ Enquiry into Plants’; is the piece entitled in
Latin rendered ‘De Odoribus’ or ‘Concerning Odours’. Although a piece of remarkable
brevity it has become a seminal work and one whose instructions are followed as industry
standards in the perfumery world to the present day, although many using those standards
might not realise their source. Theophrastus, who wrote this remarkable short piece, had
an interest in nature and all things natural. As well as his ‘ Enquiry into Plants’, there is also
‘De Causis Plantarum’ and a short treatise on the weather; all of these works having
connections, one with another. It is his work ‘ Concerning Odours’, which give us an insight
into the depth that the ancient, especially the Greek mind, was prepared to explore the
human condition.

He speaks of odours natural and artificial and the effect these might have on the observer,
he observes that natural fragrance although less strong than man-made scents might be
perceived at greater distances. He talks also of the different ingredients used in perfumery;
especially spices and their makeup, how different raw materials might blend in different
ways to obtain a different effect. He talks of how perfumes react differently with different
skin types and how certain scents might be altered to compensate for these differing
variations but the most important advice that he sets down is in the storage and keeping of
perfumes and of aromatic materials.

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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Today we are well aware that these natural substances must be kept in a dry, dark cool
place, away from direct sunlight and in a container which will impart any qualities of itself
to the material stored within, that a philosopher living four hundred years before the birth
of Christ should be aware of this is truly remarkable but indeed fortunate 9. At that time
perfumers and carriers of precious aromatics did not have aluminium containers that is the
industry standard medium for contained raw materials and in some cases finished aromatic
products today. The most common material for storage of aromatic products was alabaster;
this we know as a number of extant examples exist for us to examine. I mentioned earlier
examples found in Egypt, further examples have been discovered over the Greek east, and
indeed the common name for a scent container was an ‘albastrum’ 10. Other materials were
in use and came into use as time progressed; terracotta had been used widely and in terms
of keeping light away from aromatic substances it was ideal, where a problem arose with
regard to terracotta was in regard to liquid products in a vessel which required an effective
glaze to render it non-porous. The use of glass was a later but nonetheless important step
and one I will look at in more detail when I examine perfumery in Rome. In exploring
different vessels suitable to the transport of perfumed products Theophrastus also looks at
the use of lead as a suitable vessel. It was known to contain the perfume in conditions
which would be suitable for its preservation although today we might have concerns over
the safety of lad as a material for storing of perfume which is for personal use.

The short section that Theophrastus writes on the subject of aromatics is only a few lines in
length and yet has become hugely influential in what is today a multi million pound
business involving the movement of large quantities of aromatics around the world.

9
Theoph. Odours 40
10
Peck. See Unguentum
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Another Greek, writing somewhat later during the 1 st century AD, gave us another view of
the use of aromatics, one that has become very fashionable in the 21 st century.
Dioscorides, writing about medical matters in his ‘De Materia Medica’ espouses the virtues
of aromatics in the medical domain. The rise of aromatherapy as a recognised form of
medical care can trace its roots back to the ancient world and much of this is due to the
writing of Dioscorides and his contemporaries. It seems likely that that as the writer would
have been familiar with the medical writings of Hippocrates and his view of the uses of
herbs and plants in medicine he would also have been familiar with the writing of
Theophrastus and his interest in the treatment of the sources of odours and of the liquids
and solids which made the perfumed products which he might have used in his medical
work.

In this preamble therefore I hope to lay foundations for an enquiry into the ways in which
perfumes and perfumed products might have been introduced into the Roman world and
how, in time, they became an important commodity in the trading greatness of that
empire.

Interestingly the earliest record, citing the knowledge of the use of perfumed products
dates back to 188 BC when an edict was passed expressly forbidding the uses of perfumed
products. This edict being passed after the subjugation of King Antiochus and his kingdoms
in Asia, known to be a rich source of aromatic substances at that time 11. Only with
hindsight can we detect an irony here, knowing as we do that during the days of high
empire one symbol of power and wealth was the use of perfume, here being denied 12.

As time progresses we can see the expansion of Roman influence, firstly within Italy and,
more importantly to our survey of aromatic imports to trading routes to the East, many of
these routes having been established by the Greeks who were increasingly coming under
Roman influence.

11
Poucher II p. 10
12
Groom p. 288
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Another influence somewhat closer to home was that of the civilisation of the Etruscans
about whom we know relatively little other than the extant inscriptions and artefacts, of
these Faure states his observations regarding the Etruscan usage of perfume which he
divides into three ideas. In the first of these he talks of the use of floral garlands and
crowns made of flowers, referred to by Pliny the Elder he mentions the attitude of the
Greeks and Romans to the perceived excesses of the Etruscans as a people given over to a
life of luxury and debauchery13. Whether it was true or simply a biased interpretation of the
writer is difficult to know. A problem sometimes recognised with discussions centring on
products perceived to be in the nature of luxury can be that they contribute to a perception
of excess. What we are unable to perceive here are the uses of such perfumed floral
adornments. Can they be purely for decoration or do they serve a religious purpose?
Perhaps the Etruscans saw in these garlands healing properties, we do not know however I
would not wish to judge a civilisation purely upon scant conjecture. Faure goes on in the
second part of his survey of Etruscan perfumery to address the matter of feminine
adornment; he describes a tomb painting that depicts the various aspects of an Etruscan
ladies’ toilet. In this he mentions methods of adornment and dress, accessories to aid that
adornment and he gives his personal opinion that it seems that such a toilet would have
been pleasing to the gods of the Etruscans. Faure’s third point cites a funerary inscription in
which the use of aromatics was designed to promote involvement in what was to become
Bacchic ritual. He summarises his thinking in saying that Etruscans attributed aromatics to
three distinct functions being religious, funerary and erotic calling the whole a form of
‘aromatomancy’14.

A slightly less romantic and more practical view of the Etruscan use of perfumery products
is posited by Kennet saying that in using perfumes these were for personal adornment and
that, together with standard and more usual uses for jewellery, Etruscan women would
wear a perfume locket15.

13
Faure p. 210
14
ibid
15
Kennet p. 76
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

So how did the spices and fragrant resins come to Italy and who was responsible for
carrying them? The names of many raw materials and finished products derived from these
raw materials give us an insight into to the sources from which these things came. Trading
routes which had been established by the Greeks were expanded by the Romans however
we should not discount the business acumen of the peoples of the southern Arabian
nations who were prepared to travel great distances to trade. Pliny in Book 6 of his Natural
History talks of two groups of Arabs, both very wealthy, one half living by thieving and by
robbery but the other half being efficient traders. The spice routes through the ancient near
East, controlled by the Nabataean people made cities such as Petra immensely wealthy and
prosperous, Petra being at the crossroads of a number of important caravan routes. Along
these routes came cinnamon and cloves, pepper and myrrh; a wide variety of desirable
products travelled up through the ‘Spice Route’. Pliny also talks of Gebbanitae of southern
Arabia and of the nature of their cargo. Interestingly we are here made aware of the
constraints of transporting goods; 300lbs carried through 65 stations en route from
southern Arabia to Gaza would cost in the region of 688 denarii to transport, an immense
amount but surely worth it for a precious cargo 16. Although Petra was to remain the centre
of the caravan routes until the reign of the emperor Trajan there was to be a shift in
emphasis, certainly in the trade in aromatic products.

From about 300 BC to 100 AD the spice and perfumed products trade centred on
Alexandria, it seems likely that much information on these trades was housed in the library
in Alexandria the destruction of which was an irreplaceable loss to scholarship of this
period. With this trade being centred here however, it seems likely that more information
was held here than anywhere else in the ancient world. We cannot be sure of the
directness of the routes that were taken or of what percentage went to Italy directly or was
‘processed’ via Egypt. Egypt had however built up strong trading links with Rome due to
the success of the Egyptian grain market.

16
CAH Vol. XI (XV.III p. 629)
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The Romans were certainly exposed in the later republican era to Egyptian ideas and its
contact with the rulers of Egypt would have promoted a desire to explore Egyptian customs
further. The legendary relationships between G. Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII highlighted
this and trade between Egypt and Rome at this time was at its height. The Egyptians were
renowned for their love of incense and its use domestic and religious; not only incense but
also floral perfumes were in favour and as Kennet reminds us, that when Cleopatra visited
Mark Anthony in Sicily she greeted him with a ‘series of floral festivals of royal
magnificence17. We are also told that Mark Anthony reciprocated by presenting Cleopatra
with balsam, a much prized aromatic 18. Indeed when the Romans saw the Jews attempting
to cut down their balsam plantations they captured the orchards to save them, Titus
displayed balsam as a part of his triumph indicating the value of this fragrant wood.

The financial trading interests of the Romans were also very well served by the growing
import of luxury goods. As we are today very familiar with the various duties which have to
be paid on the import of certain goods, so the same was true 2000 years ago when trading
links were formally recognised. The Romans levied all goods coming from the Red Sea at
the rate of25%, a high rate of tax indeed. Furthermore the manufacturers of unguents
made in the Roman provinces had to pay for a licence to operate which amounted to 60
drachmae per month. Interestingly frankincense was exempt from this tax being
considered, not a luxury but a necessity for use in temple worship 19

So there can be seen here a seminal shift in emphasis from medicinal and religious usage
of aromatics in Greece and, to some degree in Egypt, to more familiar consumer led
approach to product in the days of late Republican Rome. The Romans, imbued with a
sense of commercial reality but with a desire to involve itself with the sophistication that
these products of the East offered capitalised on an already flourishing trade and one,
which was to continue and expand into the days of high empire.

17
Kennet p.77
18
Josephus. War 1.361 (Perseus)
19
Ibid.
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Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Now we have explored the convoluted route by which aromatics arrived in Rome, exactly
where did they go and how were they used? Today we are aware that large, multinational
companies develop the raw materials of perfumery into different perfumes and commercial
fragrances. Often especially in the world of fine perfumery, fashion houses retain these
companies and high profile names, wishing both to immortalise their name and capitalise
on a highly profitable product, commission different types of perfumed product to be made
and packaged, which they then sell directly or through distribution channels. The perfumes
can be used in a variety of different ways, from the finest toilet waters and perfumes to
those used to scent commercial household products; however they are employed, the
method stays essentially the same. Was this true in Rome? The answer is probably yes
although the ways in which perfumed products were made and applied differed from that
which we might understand today, excepting certain bathing and cosmetic products. The
processes we now use for many perfumed products are in some way linked to distillation;
this technique was probably not founded until the 12 th century AD when Avicenna refined
the process we now call steam distillation, important to the production of liquid perfumery,
and created his most renowned perfume Rosa Centifolia.

Some products however bear a remarkable resemblance to cosmetics and toilet articles we
are familiar with today. Perhaps a clue to this is a common title for a producer of perfumed
products, the unguentarii, although some were also called murepsoi or muropolai. The city
that became the centre of the classical perfumery industry was Capua, called by some; the
most effeminate place in Italy although the perfumery industry in that city was
concentrated in one quarter called the Seplasia.

Cities were considerably smaller then than they are today and were known by the industry
that dominated them and that certainly seems true of Capua 20; however the governing
factor in this was the proximity to these towns of the raw materials.

20
Peck. See Unguentum
16
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Although I have, so far, looked at imported products, Campania was also a region known
for its rose growers giving it the ability to produce product whatever the variation of supply
of any imported product, this is somewhat mirrored in the success as a centre for fine
perfumery in the 19th and 20th century of Montpellier and Grasse in the south of France with
their proximity to lavender and jasmine fields. Although I wish to concentrate on what was
happening in Rome and in Italy it should be mentioned that, with their aptitude for trade
and the development of trading links, spices and perfumed products were also exported
from Rome. Very much as we would expect today the products, were refined, produced
and packaged and left Roman ports for all parts of the Republic and later empire. Evidence
of this exists in the archaeological sites that have been uncovered in the more distant parts
of the Roman world. Only in July 2003 a small vessel containing ointment has been
discovered in an archaeological dig in London 21. This ointment is analysed and is said to be
Crema Infrigidens, we now know as Cold Cream and has a faint aroma, and this cream
would have constituted part of the toilet accessories of a Roman citizen that had been
exported from Italy.

These products were also used for trade with parts of the empire in exchange for goods
that were becoming fashionable in Italian circles; Kennet tells us that one of these imported
items, a minor delicacy that the Romans took to, was the British oyster 22.

As in Athens at the height of its economic supremacy in the 5 th century BC it is very likely
that perfume shops and independent vendors sprang up throughout the city of Rome and
other major Italian cities. Although by the 1 st century BC the percentage of the population
that would have been had the disposable income to consume fine perfumed products
would have been relatively small, but consume they did and in vast quantities. Again
Kennet states that the consumption of perfumes and spices ‘went beyond the bounds of
reason and comfort’23, we can only guess at the quantities then being consumed.

21
This object has been discovered as a part of an archaeological dig that took place in Tabard Square in Southwark by a
team from the Museum of London.
22
Kennet p. 79
23
ibid
17
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

So what did late republican Rome really think about all of this? It seems that there was
little agreement among writers of this period; what commentary that existed, either
favourable or unfavourable, was mild and generally non inflammatory. Plautus, in his
comedies makes occasional reference to old ladies and prostitutes using perfumes to mask
smells and of the use of certain perfumes masking the mal odeurs of rotting vegetables24.

Another writer, more usually known for his forthright political commentary, Cicero seems to
be quite in favour of the development of new and improved scents:
‘for it is clear to all how far we have advanced in our blending of perfumes, seasoning of
foodstuffs and the embellishment of our bodies’25.

Although it is inadvisable to take such quotations out of context, that within which it is
written contains Cicero’s writing on the ideals and improvements of the mind and body.
Therefore we can take it that he did not disapprove of perfume, its production and use. In
writing this in 44 BC Cicero was writing at a time when then use of aromatic products was
still quite modest and was still to see its meteoric rise.

Although necessary to survey the ancient views on the uses and applications of perfumes it
is also important to examine what the Romans actually used and how, and for what uses
various aromatics were employed. As I have mentioned the Romans were used to
importing various spices and precious gums and resins for use in perfumery. In Capua the
home grown rose crop was also used to supply the domestic market. So how exactly did
ordinary people in Roman Italy use scent? I would suggest that indeed the variety that we
are accustomed to was possibly as relevant to Roman experience as it is to us today; the
nature of the product was quite different but usage was remarkably similar. As I stated in
my preamble, it was only in the early 20 th century did the shift to female consumption really
take place.

24
Faure p. 218
25
Cic. Nat. Deorum II.146
18
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The rise in designer perfumes, as I have mentioned, fuelled female desire to purchase and
possess these products; with the attendant rise in female suffrage and emancipation
women were empowered financially and had access to products as never before. As I
alluded to earlier, men commissioned the majority of perfumes for their wives and
attendant women rarely were perfumes made specifically for women. The arrangement of
the Roman household however, might well be familiar to our present condition. Women ran
the household and most of the products brought into the household were ordered by
women, certainly in upper class households. I am not suggesting however, that women had
access to money, that was controlled by the men of the household however systems of
credit were in place and orders may have been made for both necessities and luxuries for
the home. Depending on the standing of the house, perfumed products were used in many
parts of daily life.
Perhaps the most obvious and that which we can identify most readily with was the use of
aromatic oils in the baths, men meeting at the baths would be massaged with aromatic oils
as a daily part of their bathing regime. The baths were seen as a social centre of the
community, the most famous being the Thermae of Caracalla in Rome. These edifices were
lavish and extensive as can be observed in the extant baths, for instance those in the
ancient Roman town of Aquae Sulis, now called Bath. Each of these places was divided into
different rooms including warm and cold baths, steam rooms, relaxing rooms and an
unctuarium, the room in which bathers were massaged and anointed with fragrant oils.
Evidence of containers with aromatics being found near public baths exist as part of
archaeological discoveries near to these sites, women would have also undergone these
treatments although this is less well documented.

Perhaps it might be well to consider how aromatics might have been used in the home. An
extreme example appears in Suetonius when he describes a dinner party during which
sprinklers distributed rose water over Nero’s guests in between each course:

19
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

‘All the dining rooms had ceilings of ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a
rain of flowers. Or of perfume from hidden sprinklers shower upon his guests’ 26

On one occasion a guest was said to have been asphyxiated by the shower of petals. Never
one to swerve from excess Nero is said to have mounted an entertainment on Lake Lucina
in which he strewed the entire surface of the lake with rose petals 27, further the walls of his
house might have been sprayed with aromatic perfume and Nero’s bed was covered in
roses to aid his sleep. I am not suggesting that the ordinary Roman household would ever
reach such excess however among aristocratic and senatorial families there would have
been considerable use of household perfumes. Why then is Nero always written off as
using rose as his favourite scent, thinking, as we do today, of its feminine associations?
Supply is the obvious answer knowing that the area around Capua was excellent for rose
cultivation and that the quantities required by Nero were great. It might be suggested that
the odour that roses exude is more potent than that of saffron, which has a gentler scent.
It is interesting to note that the practice of aromatherapy today recommends rose, together
with camomile, ylang-ylang and lavender as aiding sleep. Using rose in the quantity that
Nero was said to have seems to suggest that the perfume would have been very
overpowering.

Although masters of good plumbing and sewage systems, Rome was still a city full of
unpleasant odours and, away from the lofty heights of the Palatine and other hills, the
smells of decay and putrefaction would pervade. One way to counter this would have been
to apply strong, appealing smells from seemingly natural sources.

26
Suet. Nero 31
27
Kennet p.81
20
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Roses were highly favoured as a source of fine perfume as were saffron and frankincense.
Kennet talks of the scent of saffron being used to scent small fountains in courtyards, in
small gutters, down stairways and in public gathering places such as theatres 28. The use of
these particular aromatics would seem to make economic sense; both saffron and rose
were grown in Italy. Given the aforementioned duty and import charges that were levied
these would be reflected in any subsequent retail price charged to the consumer. By using
a home-grown flower these duties could be avoided and the product could be offered at a
reduced price. Bearing in mind the lack of knowledge of distillation all these products would
be offered as a concentrate for home use, or the case of aromatics for personal use, these
floral absolutes often being suspended in oils.

Further consumption of aromatics was in the temples and places of religion from where we
gain the term ‘perfume’ or per fumum. This usage was likely to have been the dominant
arena of consumption for spices and resins, which could be burned. Few references to the
use of incense appear in religious sources but we have one inscription that confirms the
usage of incense:

‘Accept, O Holy Father, accept the incense-burning Lions, through whom we offer the
incense, through whom we other are consumed’29

Religious usage of burning aromatics serves a main purpose, that of transporting the
supplicants’ wishes, desires and prayers to the deity. This use id evident in temples and
places of religion but, of course, in the Roman household the domestic gods would have
their own shrine. It seems likely that a small incense burner lit and containing incense
might have accompanied this shrine to carry the desires and wishes to the lares, the gods
of the household. By burning incense in the home this would add to the varying household
fragrances and enrich the domestic ambience. In less wealthy households this might have
been the only or more dominant perfume. The importance of this usage cannot be over
emphasised due to the reliance of the Roman on the gods for the health of their daily life.

28
ibid
29
CIMIRM 498 Vermaseren and van Essen (1965) p. 224
21
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Indications of the importance of the usage may be deduced form the edict of Licinius
Crassus who restricted the usage of perfumery as it might create a shortage of fragrant
materials for use in the temples.30

From this then we can see that the aromatic usage in Rome was very widespread ranging
from the humblest household in the form of votive incense burning to the Imperial
household where, under some emperors, usage was taken to extremes never seen before.
The wife of Nero, Poppaea, was renowned for her use of scents both in life and in death;
Pliny tells us that she was renowned for bathing in asses’ milk to which perfumes were
added31. Pliny talks of the funeral of Poppaea at which Nero is said to have burned enough
incense to account for the output of Saba for one year 32, however this is contradicted by
Tacitus where he states that the funeral of Poppaea who was not cremated as was usual in
the Roman funerary custom but had her body ‘stuffed with spices and embalmed in the
manner of foreign potentates’33. Whichever of these two accounts we might choose it is
clear that an amount of aromatic substances were used at this event.

A group I have not yet looked at is the Roman army. How could the military have been
involved in the use of aromatics? Something at which we could wonder today with our
perception of military sophistication and our, perhaps, misplaced, ideals of military
masculinity; women did not fight in the Roman army in the way that women play and
active role in twenty first century army life. However, as I have indicated, the use of
aromatics was very widespread and men in Roman society and seemingly no less so in the
army; Pliny tells us of a man whose hiding place is betrayed because of the potency of his
perfume, how difficult that could have been for this soldier however there are also
complaints of the amount of perfumed oil used in the hair. The excuse is given that as
standards are routinely perfumed for ceremonial occasions why should they not be similarly
perfumed, not an argument that seemingly convinces Pliny 34.

30
Thompson p.87
31
Pliny Bk XI (cited in Croom p. 25)
32
Pliny Bk XII (XII-XLI.80)
33
Tac. Annales XVI.5
34
Pliny NH XIII (cited in Croom)
22
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

We have looked so far at who used perfumes, how they came to Rome and what uses they
were put to, let us now look at precisely what was used and how. I have previously stated
that that Capua became the centre of the perfume trade partly because of its proximity to
the rose growing fields. I have also cited the desire for saffron as a perfume, especially for
household use. We also have evidence that cosmetics became very much more widespread
during the Roman period, however they were not new; the Egyptians used various
cosmetic devices to enhance their appearance most notably the use of kohl to highlight the
eyes in both men and women. The trend for making the face appear pale was another
cosmetic procedure that alerts us to the use of these products only among the higher
classes. Interestingly one of the legacies of this period that we still have today the Crema
or Unguentum Infrigidens otherwise known as cold cream, created in the second century
AD, possibly by Galen this was produced using white wax, olive oil and macerated rose
buds. Today the products is obviously more refined but made to the same principles two
thousand years later.35

During the Roman period however, it seems likely that that the use of cosmetics became
much more widespread both geographically among different social classes. I do not intend
to dwell here on cosmetics unless they bear a direct relation to perfumed products. We
know, as I have already stated, that steam distillation had not yet been discovered and the
age of alcoholic perfumery was many hundreds of years away. Most aromatics therefore
had to have a different carrier medium, the most obvious of these being oil although some
perfumes were suspended in wax and other, nameless fatty substances, often derived
animal fats. The oils most likely to have been used were olive oil from Palestine or possibly
domestically produced sesame oil from Mesopotamia and linseed oil from Anatolia.
Needless to say these oils would have had to have been of a very refined nature to
facilitate easy application. Pliny suggests that perfume became more stable the fattier the
oil and he proposed almond oil to this end36.

35
Matthews P. 5
36
Pliny NH XIII.19
23
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Among those floral notes I have already cited rose, jasmine, saffron, perhaps lavender
(certainly by the reign of Vespasian 37) also more specialised variations on these single floral
noted, for instance Rhodinum made form roses of Paestum said to sell for its own weight in
gold.38

This is all very well however but what of the methods of extraction how do we know of the
production methods of the time; we are well acquainted today with various techniques both
physical and scientific that are employed to perform this extraction. Even though we have
moved onto new ideas such as head space technology in which the opening blossom of a
flower and its emerging scent is analysed and replicated by a computer this can only be
carried out by the largest and most commercially sophisticated companies. Thos companies
and smaller independent perfume flower growers use methods that we know now, thanks
in part to a wall painting in a house in Pompeii, which existed at the time of the Roman
Empire. The painting n the House of the Vetii depicts cherubs using a press, which might
have been used for the pressing of olives, grapes for wine, or for pressing flowers for the
extraction of perfumed oil. Although it seems likely that this type of press was used for all
of these purposes, there is a depiction in one of the three paintings, of a perfume shop, a
link, tenuous possibly but the evidence suggests otherwise. A very comprehensive paper
written by Mattingly explores in detail the workings of the press and its use. He also
analyses the scene in the perfume shop and discusses the archaeological evidence for olive
presses in the area. I do not intend to recount his findings here other than to say that the
techniques expressed in the article reflect modern perfumery techniques remarkably
closely39.

37
Faure p. 240 (Aromates de tempes de Vespasian)
38
Matthews p. 6
39
Mattingly in the OJA p. 71-91
24
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The technique of pressing is however only useful top certain carriers of perfume. Other,
more sophisticated techniques need to be used in certain cases. The two most common
techniques, other than pressing, employed then, as they are today are maceration (hot
steeping) and enfleurage (cold steeping). For instance jasmine blooms are more
satisfactorily treated using enfleurage, today the blooms are placed on a glass plate that
has been coated with a fatty substance, further plates are treated in the same way and
these are sandwiched together. When the blooms are spent they are removed and replaced
until the fat is completely impregnated with the scent, the fat is then ‘washed’ and the
perfume concentrates collected. Evidence of the degree of sophistication that the Romans
employed is not yet available but could exist if further archaeological evidence is
discovered, especially in the region around Capua. Quite when these techniques were first
used seems unknown, it seems quite feasible that these techniques were also imported into
Rome as a part of the their economic expansion, they were, after all importing new basic
raw materials and it would therefore be likely that civilisations existed as the Egyptians
would already have techniques in place to treat these products. With the advancing
mechanical knowledge of the Romans these techniques could be refined to the degree that
we recognise today.

We are able to identify three distinct types of perfumed product that were made at this
time, solid perfume, oils and dry perfumes. The first of these was called Hedysmata and
were solid unguents. We are used to the idea of solid colognes and I would suggest that
these were very much the same type of product. These would be used to apply perfume
directly to the body; they might be quite concentrated therefore requiring only a small
amount of the solid to be applied. They might also be used in a container, left to scent a
room or an environment both indoors and outdoors. The second type of product produced
called Stymmata was possibly the more common form of perfumed product, likely to be in
evidence both in the home and at the baths. This type of product was a mixture of spices
and floral extracts fixed on a perfumed base of oil or resin, the oil likely to have been
balanos, sesame or olive, all oils commonly used in Roman society.

25
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The third category of product identifiable was a dried form of perfume, ideal for household
use, sprinkling among clothes, use in drawers and on floors, this product was called
Diapasmata These powders were made from such herbs and spices as orris, marjoram,
costus, storax, labdanum and spikenard.

All of this has tended to suggest that the Romans did not blend fragrance in the way that
we understand today. Alcoholic perfumery, which we employ, has the capacity to change or
‘dry down’ on application. This would not have been true of scents suspended in oils
however it is not true to say that the Romans did not blend perfumes. One example of
blended perfume is that of the royal unguent made for the king of Parthia, called the climax
of luxury, although I have no wish to produce lists here I feel it is interesting to include
some of the ingredients available. These include; balanos oil, costus, amomum, Syrian
cinnamon, spikenard, thyme, myrrh, cassia, storax, labdanum, opobalsam, Syrian calamus
and sweetrush, cinnamon leaf, serichatum Cyrus (cyprinum) camel’s thorn, saffron,
gladiolus, marjoram, lotus, honey and wine 40; quite a list and one which contains both raw
materials known to us and some which are lost. Another, less complex blend, was known
as Susinon comprising lily, oil of ben, calamus, honey, saffron, myrrh and balm 41, perhaps a
blend for more general distribution.

How then can we know what exactly went into roman perfumes? The answer is that we
have very little evidence available to us. One source, however, that does give us a more
accurate insight into the contents of perfume then, is found in a short section of a work by
Paulus Aegenita, or Paul of Aegina. This is primarily a work preserving the medical
knowledge of the ancient world however a short section exists devoted to perfume and of
some detailed recipes which can be reproduced, at least in part, today. They are however,
even as perfume, imbued with medicinal qualities as all the recipes contained in this work
are perfumes designed for burning. Suffimenta based on rose and lily are accompanied by
two kyphi recipes of a more complex nature giving us an insight into how a Roman home
might have smelt.

40
Groom p. 295
41
Thompson p. 81
26
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

But what price the smell of a beautiful home? Today we are used to buying products that
are scented, although we might not realise it and the price is contained within the overall
price of the product. When we purchase perfumed products knowing them to be what they
are we have a preconception that, because of their extravagant and beautiful presentation
they will have a value., which will place them in a bracket of luxury, although, that can
mean different things to different people. How might this apply to the perfumed world of
the Roman household? One thing we can be sure of is that packaging was becoming more
complex and this added to the desirability of certain scents; the use of the glass bottle, so
beautiful and yet so unsuitable to the preservation of fine fragrance 42. The art of glass
blowing had been discovered around 50 BC and very quickly moved from the east to the
centre of the new empire of Rome. A plethora of glass containers have been discovered
giving rise to the assumption that aromatics might well have been sold in glass bottles by
the height of Imperial Rome. Designs varied, one particularly favoured design being a
bottle with two faces depicting Janus, however the majority of bottles discovered from
Roman sites seem plainer than the highly decorated formed glass of the Syrians and
Egyptians. Whether or not the glass container affected the price of the product as a whole,
as it does today is unsure but it would seem to me unlikely as the rise in commercial
packaging as we now know it is a twentieth century phenomenon other than in a few
notable exceptions, for instance the famous bee bottle housing Eau de Cologne favoured by
Napoleon, a design adopted by Guerlain for its Eau Imperiale. Much of this commercial
awareness also stems from the label of the manufacturer or perfumer having a bearing on
the product; this is not true of first century Rome, as we are not told of notable perfumers
of the time.

42
See notes on Theophrastus above.
27
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

It would appear from this then that perfumers pursuing their trade would become wealthy.
A sound understanding of commercial process and of a profitable business created this
wealth, so what was the cost to the consumer of this commodity? As we are aware today,
although the raw materials of perfumery are relatively expensive, I have already cited rose
from Paestum being worth its weight in gold43, the actual quantity used in the concentrate
is very little, when further reduced in oil or, as is the case today, alcohol and water
becomes less still. The initial investment is great but the return on investment by careful
manufacture and packaging is even greater. We can be reasonably sure that the majority
of consumers of these products derived from the upper classes and seemed to become
ever more extravagant in their usage of perfume guided, no doubt, by the Imperial family.
Unfortunately we have little in the way of domestic accounts which point to actual sums of
money spent on perfumes other than tantalizing snatches from the lives of the emperors
when we are given an idea that many thousand denarii were expended on lavish
entertainment which included aromatic enhancement.

Without the personal recognition that modern day perfumers attract, the possibility of great
wealth and a place in history seems unlikely. Unlike the present day business of the
manufacture of perfumes, this would be a relatively small-scale business relying on
personal commissions and the requirement of patrons and customers gained by personal
recommendation; indeed this style of perfume sale was prevalent until the beginning of the
twentieth century. The major names in perfumery design and manufacture up until this
date were very few and included such luminaries as Jean Maria Farina, the creator of Eau
de Cologne; other were involved in a primary business, often hairdressing to which the
perfumery business was an adjunct such as Juan Famenias Floris in London. No such fame
was given to the creators of perfumed products in the ancient world and a part of this is
the lack of labelling on perfume containers again an important part of the perfume trade
today. Many labels today attract interest and can, in some cases be seen as works of art in
themselves. We have yet to discover bottles or containers through archaeological research
that re labelled in such a way.

43
Above p. 22
28
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

The final group of people and arguably the most important to our knowledge of this subject
are the ancient writers who addressed this subject. They fall into two categories, firstly
those writers who were producing histories and factual information and secondly, those
writers who were interested in the social aspects of life. I have already mentioned the
importance of the contribution of Theophrastus whose short treatise has become seminal in
this field, I have also drawn on the observations of Pliny who took an interest in the natural
work and gives us some very interesting insights into the sources of perfumes and their
uses. Contributory to the growing spice trade were, as I have mentioned, the Arabs who
traded widely. Kennet reminds us that Strabo writes somewhat unflatteringly of the Arabs
as traders who ‘receive in continuous succession the aromatics and deliver them to their
next neighbours’44. The quotation goes on to say that the ‘sweet odours make them
drowsy’, this may well be true however these people were extremely influential in bringing
new and more exotic aromatics to the Romans. It is perhaps not the histories that provide
us with the most interesting view of the use of perfume but instead, the writing of the
social commentators. There are frequent overlaps in the works of the both groups of
writers however one insight into the extravagant use of perfume is cited by Athenaeus in
his account of the dinner party of the sophists. Te book is not only a narrative of the event
but also a comprehensive library of writers on a number of subjects surrounding everyday
life. Well everyday life as perceived by this writer, perhaps a life of excess as viewed with
hindsight. I do not propose to argue the verisimilitude of the contents of the
Deipnosophistae but rather to quote just one example of Athenaeus’ writing directly
relevant to our think on perfumes. We have seen how, in ‘polite’ society (I use the term
reservedly) perfume was used to complement and enhance the enjoyment of the guests.
What we find here is as use similar to that of Nero but used by a private diner. He states
that to use perfume direct from an alabaster bottle is rather ordinary, perhaps even a little
prosaic and a new, more interesting method of distributing perfume should be used:

44
Kennet on Strabo p.78
29
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

‘...he had four pigeons dipped in perfume, not, I swear all in the same perfume, but each in
her own, then he let them loose. They, flying all around, sprinkled our cloaks and couch
spreads. ‘Grudge it not to men exalted of Greece’, when I anointed myself it was in a
shower of orris-perfume’45

Writing of Greeks but in the same time of the high empire of Rome we can see the
reflection of Roman ideas here. Such excess was not evident in Greek writing, indeed in the
dinner party of Xenophon, Socrates warns against the use of perfumes saying:

‘a daub of scent automatically makes everyone, slave or free, smell alike.’ 46

A sentiment seemingly turned on its head in Roman society. The foil to this however,
coming again from Athenaeus who, as Kennet reminds us, recounts the Greeks use of
fragrant garlands to counter the effects of wine.

‘From him [Athenaeus] we learn that the Greeks believed that the herbs helped to steady a
giddy head, when too much wine has been taken, which accounts for the tight-binding of
aromatic leaves about the inflamed temples... 47

So although this writer, a Greek writing in the Roman world can reflect both the Greek ideal
of medicinal probity and the entertaining excess of the Romans. Confusion seems to be
evident in the snippets gleaned from these writers, what is true is that no single ancient
writer dedicated himself to this subject, so ephemeral and yet as important to Roman
society as it might be considered today.

To conclude then it would be useful to consider a number of questions, many of which

reflect our interest in this most human of desires today, to surround ourselves, our lives
and the places in which we live and exist with beautiful aromas.

45
Athen. Deipnosophistae XV. 691
46
Xen. Sym. II.5
47
Kennet p. 71
30
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome
Firstly we might like to consider the question, what made, indeed makes perfume so
fascinating? Rome in the first century AD was an expanding empire that was exploring new
lands and colonising them. These were lands, which had been investigated in earlier times
but the Roman seem determined to establish themselves as the dominant power and to
create and maintain trading routes.

In doing this they established what we might now recognise as a free market economy in
which a free passage of goods passed between lands using Rome as its hub. This exposed
the Italians and citizens of Rome to new and evermore exotic products. In the context of
perfumery this would have given to those who had a mind t experiment to offer new, more
exciting blends to their patrons thus allowing Romans to demonstrate their fashion
consciousness. Ever a society to involve themselves in social activities, to be able to
produce a newly perfumed oil at the baths or to use a newly perfumed hair dressing at a
dinner party would have been sure to excite interest and conversation, a process which still
carries on today.

Why did the classical world consume aromatics as they did? This question might be
answered very much as the previous one. Not a society to be modest in its display of the
new and of the unusual this was a way to display. Kennet reminds us that ‘perfume shops
were to the Romans what coffee shops were the eighteenth century gentlemen’ 48. The
perfume shops and baths were places that the Roman gentleman could display his
attainments and his wealth, the toga being a relatively plain garment the wearer could
demonstrate such wealth by the rarity of the oils he used and rarity of the spices and
aromatics he commissioned his unguentarium to produce for him.

Does this then make the Romans as avid users as we are in the twenty first century? Of
course, one aspect of life in the west today is very different to that of classical Rome. As I
mentioned earlier, although the Romans were masters of civil engineering, not every part
of the city was included in the excellent and efficient sewage system.

48
Kennet p. 82
31
Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome
In Rome and other provincial cities, especially in high summer there would have been areas
which harboured particularly unpleasant smells, and even to those high born living on the
hills around Rome these smells would have risen to greet them. The use of saffron to scent
the drains would have helped, as would fragrant fountains. Personal scents might have
helped too together with pomanders, which, in a primitive form had been discovered at this
time. I would suggest that we could not consider the type of consumption as a measure of
the economic importance of aromatics, but the type and application of the product as such.

We are surrounded by commercial perfumes, often unconsciously as I mentioned in my

introduction; the introduction of alcoholic perfumery made the business much more
accessible to all and widened the scope of product available.

Finally, perhaps a slightly flippant question, would a Vestal Virgin have used Chanel No. 5? I
ask the question in the knowledge that this perfume is based on modern technique; not
only is it based on alcoholic perfumery but also has an aldehydic top note with a gradual
dry down, something completely unknown to ancient society. The point of the question
rather is simply to posit the idea that to wear perfume was as essential to a well dressed
woman then as it is today. I would suggest that, just as the Vestals dressed properly, and
from the day of their investiture into the office, as a matron, they would have used
perfumes proper to their rank and status; possibly discreet, floral perfumed oils, which
exuded an air of power and responsibility. The passing of the chair carried through the city
would have surely left in its wake and evanescent idea of the power and status of the
concealed occupants; women of wealth and power.

32
 Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Bibliography
Primary Sources

Holy Bible – Revised Standard Version

Collins (1971)

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Oxford World Classics (1998)

Suetonius – The Twelve Caesars

Penguin (1996)

The Seven Books of Paulus Aegenita (Trans F.Adams)

Sydenham Society (1947)

Athenaeus – The Deipnosophistae Vol VII

Loeb Classical Library (1941 – Reprint 1971)

Xenophon – Conversations of Socrates

Penguin (1990)

33
 Scents of Rome – an insight into the use and importance of aromatics in late Republican and Early
Imperial Rome

Secondary Sources

John Masefield – Selected Poems

Heinemann (1978)

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Poucher’s Perfumes, Cosmetics and Soaps Vol II (Ninth Edition)

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Websites

www.healthy.net
Kelville and Green – A History of Fragrance
(1995)

www.perseus.tufts.edu
Josephus – The Jewish Wars

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