SPIKEXAED AND VALEPJAX. 279 



made from lilies, which, in the Phrygian tongue were called avcra, 

 but chiefly of that sort of lily which the Greeks call yelvov, and 

 to which it is believed allusion is made in Canticles v. 13, where 

 the Church says of Christ, " His lips are like lilies." Pliny 

 describes the lily that is called yeivov to be of a ruddy colour.* 

 Elsewhere! he says : — " ' Oleum Susinum ' was made of oil of Ben 

 (a colourless, tasteless and inodorous oil expressed from the seeds 

 of Moringa pterosperma, now naturalised in the West Indies, an oil 

 which never becomes rancid and does not corrode steel), roses, 

 honey, saffron, cinnamon and myrrh." The amount of perfume 

 used in the palmy days of Eome was enormous ; the w^ealthy 

 patricians were most prodigal in this respect. The perfumers 

 were called •' JJnguentarii," as they principally compounded 

 unguents, and must have done an immense business. In Eome 

 they congregated in a quarter called " Vicus Tliuvaricusr The 

 most celebrated perfumer in the time of Martial was a certain 

 individual called Cosmus, w-hom Martial frequently mentions. At 

 Capua there w^as such a number of perfumers that the principal 

 street of the city, named Seplasia, w^as almost entirely occupied 

 with them. For the most part, these tradesmen w^re Greeks, 

 and, as at Athens, their shops {taherna) w^ere the rendezvous of the 

 rich idlers of that period. The perfumed oils and ointments were 

 made in great variety. The basis of the oils was generally the 

 oil of Ben, above-mentioned, and that of the unguents was a 

 bleached and partly purified tallow. 



Some of these were simple oils, such as Rliodium, made from 

 roses ; Nctrcissitm, from the narcissus ; Melinum, from quinces ; 

 Metopium, from bitter almonds. Perhaps the most fashionable oil, 

 after the Oleum susinum above-mentioned, w^as that called Crocimcvi, 

 made from Saffron, w^hich communicated both a fine colour and 

 odour to the person. J Butter is noticed by Pliny as used 



* Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. xxi., cap. 5. 



t Ibid., xiii., 2. 



X The use of alabaster vessels for preserving these fragrant unguents was 

 customary at a very early period. Theophrastus (circa., 314 B.C.) states that 

 vessels of lead and alabaster were best for the purpose, on account of their 

 density and coolness, and their power of resisting the penetration of the 

 ointment into their substance. Pliny also recommends alabaster for ointment 

 vases. For small quantities onyx vessels seem to have been used (Horace, 

 Carm,, iv., 12). 



