CHAP. XLII. ROSA'CEJE. RO^SA. 785 



and which produces roses that have a great number of leaves. The rose 

 of Miletus is recognised as If. gallica, the rose de Provins of the French 

 authors, from the character given it by Pliny, of having the flowers of a very 

 deep red, with not more than a dozen petals. 



The ancients do not appear to have known either the yellow rose or 

 the white rose; at least, neither of these are mentioned by Theophrastus or 

 Pliny, unless we except those which the latter calls the roses of Alabanda, in 

 Caria, which had the petals whitish. 



Roses were more highly prized by the Romans than any other flowers ; and 

 they had even attained to the luxury of forcing them. Under the reign of 

 Domitian, the Egyptians thought of offering to that emperor's court, as a 

 magnificent present, roses in the middle of winter ; but this the Romans 

 smiled at, so abundant were roses in Rome at that season. In every street, 

 says Martial, the odour of spring is breathed, and garlands of flowers, freshly 

 gathered, are displayed. " Send us corn, Egyptians ! and we will send you 

 roses." (Mart., vi. 80.) The Roman physicians determined the kinds of 

 plants proper to be admitted into the floral crowns put on the heads of 

 the great men whom it was designed to honour at festivals ; and these were, 

 the parsley, the ivy, the myrtle, and the rose, which were all considered 

 as antidotes to the evil effects of the vapours of wine. Rose trees were 

 employed, both by the Greeks and the Romans, to decorate tombs ; and 

 instances are given of rose gardens being bequeathed by their proprietors, for 

 the purpose of furnishing flowers to cover their graves. An old inscription 

 found at Ravenna, and another at Milan, prove this custom, which is also 

 alluded to by Propertius and other poets. The bitterest curses were impre- 

 cated against those who dared to violate these sacred plantations. Some- 

 times the dying man ordered that his heirs should meet every year, on 

 the anniversary of his death, to dine together near his tomb, and to crown 

 it with roses gathered from his sepulchral plantation. The first Roman 

 Christians disapproved of the employment of flowers, either at feasts or on 

 tombs, because they were so used by the pagans. Tertullian wrote a book 

 against the employment of garlands ; and Clement of Alexandria did not 

 think it right that kings should be crowned with roses, as our Saviour was 

 crowned with thorns. 



Of the history of the rose, from the time of the Romans till the time of 

 Tournefort, when botany became a science, very little is known ; but there 

 can be no doubt that in the dark ages they were held in esteem by all who 

 could procure them. When Saladin took Jerusalem, in 1128, he would not 

 enter the mosque of the Temple, then converted into a church by the Chris- 

 tians, till the walls had been thoroughly washed and purified with rose-water. 

 It is added, that 500 camels were employed to convey this water, and that even 

 these were hardly found sufficient; a tale, as Thory observes, worthy of the 

 East. Voltaire says, that, after the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II., 

 in 1453, the church of St. Sophia was washed with rose-water in a similar 

 manner, before it was converted into a mosque. We read in the History 

 of the Mogul Empire, by Father Catron, that the celebrated Princess Nour- 

 mahal filled an entire canal with rose-water, upon which she was in the habit 

 of sailing along with the Great Mogul. The heat of the sun disengaged the 

 essential oil from the rose-water : this was observed floating upon the surface 

 of the water ; and thus was made the discovery of the essence, otto, or attar, 

 of roses. Formerly it was the custom to carry large vessels filled with rose- 

 water to baptisms. Bayle relates, upon this subject, that at the birth of 

 Ronsard, his nurse, in the way to church, let him fall upon a heap of flowers ; 

 and that at this instant the woman who held the vessel of rose-water poured 

 it upon the infant. All this, says Bayle, has been since regarded as a happy 

 omen of the great esteem in which his poems would one day be held ! Roses 

 were often, in the days of chivalry, worn by the cavaliers at tournaments, as an 

 emblem of their devotion to love and beauty. 



In 1503, Ludovico Verthema, who had travelled in the East, observes that 



3o 2 



