Under the influence of Greece and the Orient, the Romans - initially a sober people of peasant soldiers - were enthusiastic in their discovery of lifestyles soliciting all the senses and adhered to them, sometimes even excessively.
They are quick to grant perfumes in all their diversity a significant place; for religious cults and funerary rituals, where incense, costus , benzoin, musk, gray amber and other perfumed substances become indispensable, but also abundantly in daily life, especially for washing.
In the saunas, everyone -women and the poor as well- can wash. The Romans are also responsible for spreading the use of sapo, a foamy paste made from goat-fat and soapwort ashes, the ancestor of soap.
By perpetuating and developing Greeks and Oriental customs, the Romans help maintain the ancient trade routes which shuttle, whether by land or by sea, raw or semi-raw materials from India, Arabia, and Africa.
Treatises on fragrances, often written by doctors who ascribe healing powers to them, also mention plants such as the white lily, narcissus, cardamom, rose, iris, sandalwood, animal substances such as musk, civet, castoreum as well as various resins.
These raw materials are used by the Romans to prepare ointments, toilet-waters, perfumes, scented pills and powders.
Zosine's (end of 3rd century a.d.) treatise claims that the Romans use distillation.
As in the Orient, they also use thick, colored make-ups.
To store these substances the Romans use a variety of containers, often replacing the traditional ceramic and stone with glass which allows for a greater diversity of shapes and colors.
The spread of perfumes throughout the Roman Empire and the technical improvements in their fabrication coincide with the waning of their religious values and mystical symbolism.
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