xxviii 



FLORA ODORATA 



Hyacinths, Iris, Violets, and Roses of many kinds, and all 

 sorts of odoriferous plants.' 



The Eomans of all ranks made use of scented flowers as 

 ornaments and emblems, and the wild plants of the field were 

 great favourites in their adornment; beyond these easily 

 obtainable plants, however, they made no special cultivations 

 of the floral world, so rich and fragrant in their favoured 

 clime, yet they would spend fabulous sums in procuring 

 flowers from distant parts. 



Some of the Eoman emperors would go to the extrava- 

 gance of scattering their palaces dainty blooms ; indeed, 

 it is said of the beautiful Queen Cleopatra, that when making 

 a visit to Sicilia to meet Mark Anthony, she gave him a 

 succession of floral festivals which displayed a royal magnifi- 

 cence. Her Majesty even carried her sumptuousness so far 

 as to pay a talent for a quantity of sweet-smelling Eoses with 

 which she caused the floor of the palace to be covered to a 

 depth of eighteen inches. But the greatest profusion of 

 scented flowers mentioned in ancient history is that which 

 Suetonius attributes to Nero. This author says that at one 

 fete the expenses incurred for odoriferous flowers alone reached 

 a figure which, according to present value, would mean a sum 

 of £20,000, and on another occasion when an entertainment 

 was given on the water the whole surface of Lake Lucina was 

 covered with Eoses. It is reported of Seneca that he could 

 not sleep if one of the floral petals, with which his bed was 

 spread, happened to be curled. 



Agrippa bequeathed his garden and bath, both of which 

 were fully stocked with Nature's sweet aromas, to the Eoman 

 people for their perpetual enjoyment. 



Ovid was, as might be expected, a lover of beautiful bloom, 

 and in his description of the goddess Flora he says that, 



