Pompeian Perfumes- An experiment

[Memmia]

Hi,

Over the last few months I have been busy in my secret laboratory (consisting of kitchen, shed and a proper lab too!) and have attempted to recreate some ancient perfumed oils based on research (and a little artistic licence).

Although I didn't sit there stirring the concoctions day and night as the ancients did, I cheated somewhat with modern steam distillation and other extraction methods and a few handy ready available essential oils.

I had to rely on my 'chemist nose' in order to balance the different notes as I don't have access to actual quantities of each ingredient. I was however pleasantly surprised at how different concoctions balanced out certain odours and gave a completely new odour.

I have managed to create a blend of perfumed oils at present. Here is an overview of what I have created.

Megalion- Top notes of citrus and honey, with a second heavy blast of cinnamon with a slight vanilla like hint which I think comes from the myrrh oil, base note of frankincence- Reminds everyone of Christmas- this oil went down a storm with everyone who has smelled it. On the skin it smells fantastic and lasts a long time

Melinon- This was a surprise- the initial bitter almond smell, became very sweet with a hint of geraniol when infused with the sweet marjoram. The vine leaves inhibited some of this sweetness and balanced it out nicely.

Iasmium- A bit of artistic licence with this one. I successfully obtained some excellent jasmine oil through distillation, and based on the trends from the other perfumes I added sandalwood oil, viola and orris root- The jasmine was still the strongest note but the other ingredients inhibited a little so giving a hint of floral and musk

Susinum- Heavy on the lilies- I used temperate lily of the valley and steered away from the oriental for this. The myrhh again imparted a hint of vanilla. The rose oil came through second but the saffron odour again toned it all down. Lovely bright yellow colour.

Mirtum- Laurem- A lovely surprise. Smells awful in the flask- A bit like wintergreen and turps. Smooth it on the skin, scrape away with a strigil and you get a very pleasant 'dewberry' like odour- a complete enigma as the ingredients bear no resemblance to the odour when applied. This one was very popular! I had to stop a colleague pouring it all over himself !


Rhodinum- Top blast of frankincence followed by fennel, the rose note keeps vanishing though.

The frankincense and myrrh additives were made using raw resins which were crushed and infused over a low heat over time (not days though, like the ancients, a few hours in my case).

I used a very light fraction olive oil which had been blended with calamus oil and simmered for a few hours.This eliminated the some of the earthyness of the olive oil and helped fix the additives

I don't know how accurate these odours are, but it was a nice experiment and yielded some pleasant results. Who knows, I may have had a genuine sniff of an ancient Pompeian bathhouse. If anyone has any further info which could help, I would be happy to put my labcoat back on and have another go!

[L_CORNELIUS_CETHEGUS]

What a fascinating project. Thank you for the great descriptions!
Did you come across any information about who would have worn such scents? Male vs. female, special occasions, etc.?
--Kelsey

[Memmia]

Hi Kelsey,

Thankyou for your interest!

I have tried to be descriptive as possible with these.

In terms of who would have worn these scents, Megalion would have only been worn by either someone very rich or important. There is a lot of cinnamon in this and that was a very expensive ingredient along with coriander seed. I think Megalion was a very ancient oil which was Egyptian or Greek in origin ? Susinum is recorded as both a balm and an oil, however this would have been relatively expensive due to the saffron content. Most of those oils contain lilies which were locally grown in Pompeii, and I also went heavy on the Frankincense as this seemed popular with Romans, more so than myrhh. I used a high quality Yemeni frankincense for these experiments, hopefully it is similar to what the ancients used. I think the cheapest one out of these would be the mirtum laurem- primary ingredients being common myrtle leaves (distilled to yield the oil), good ol' bay leaves, cloves, pine resin and lily oil. Although even this would have been relatively expensive. Some sources claim cinnamon was added to this, other omit it- I wonder if there were different 'grades' of each oil, blended according to price etc ?.
I'm not sure whether these oils were unisex- the reaction I got from colleagues male and female were that everyone loved the megalion, mirtum laurem was seen as masculine and the others were seen as feminine. Although modern tastes may differ greatly.
Apparently destitute women wore a 'chypre' perfume made from reeds, which was not very pleasant, and went off quickly giving a cheese-like odour!
An oil known as Telinum was worn by Caesar and this consisted mainly of cypriol, marjoram, calamus and fenugreek- this is my next project- I want a sniff of Caesar!

[Arminius Primus]

Fratres,

Absolutely fascinating subject, and like all interesting things generates even more questions. Were these scents a home produced item?, Or were there regional perfume / scent makers,...and speaking of regions,...do you think that the different provinces had different preferences...maybe based on availability of materials and cost.

Keep up the good work, waiting to hear what Caesar smelled like!

Regards from a dark and stormy Scupi, Arminius Primus, aka Al

[Memmia]

Hi Al,

Thanks!

These scents were produced by unguentarii- perfume makers. In ancient times, perfumed oil wasn't just seen as something that smelled good, it was also seen as theraputic and these unguentarii were seen almost as modern day pharmacists. We get our modern aromatherapy from this. There was an enormous trade in perfumes and cosmetics, and there were apparently designer brands, like today- with the inevitable knock-off (counterfeit) brands too
A point worth noting- Cypriol- an ingredient in Telinum 'makes a man irresistible when applied to the forehead' according to an ancient Indian legend- Maybe Caesar's receding hairline wasn't such a bad thing after all- Bald men have a bigger area to apply this perfume, could this be why they are somethimes seen as more virile ? :lol:
Looking at the molecular structure of cypriol, I am expecting this perfume to be patchouli-like.

Greetings from an equally dark, cold and cloudy Britannia

[Memmia]

P.S. Telinum could have had an adverse effect on people's health as it contains a rich source of coumarin. Coumarin thins the blood over time causing kidney and liver degradation and haemorrage.It is used in medicine a precurser of warfarin- this did not bode well for Caesar.
Single high doses can cause problems with the central nervous system causing vertigo, convulsions and can lead to a coma. Didn't Caesar suffer from fits ? Hmmm...
The sweet clover used is a rich source of this and is under scrutiny for it's use as a vanilla substitute in food and scented cigarettes.
A similar scent to sweet clover can be obtained by using vanilla blended with coriander seed.

[Arminius Primus]

Memmia (Joanne)

Thanks for the info, adds another dimension to what I try to know about the Roman world. Things here in the Balkans have very deep roots. Some of my minority community leaders (all male) absolutely douse themselves with scent. When there are group meetings , I have to air out the conference room afterwards. One fellow not as urbanized as his compatriots always smells of lilacs. I had asked about that once, and was told that in that community his scent was considered very manly.....and it was prepared for him in his home village.

With your info, I can now see where all of this was coming from!

Thanks again, from a

Rainy Day in Scupi, Arminius Primus, aka Al Fuerst

[Memmia]

I have a lovely lilac tree in my garden

Lilac would generally be seen as more feminine here in the UK, although tastes do change.
For instance,the use of 'nard' as a perfume ingredient was enjoyed by both men and women in ancient times. Nard was a generic name given to many plants ranging from true spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi) right through to different types of lavender.
Lavender today (in the UK anyhow) is seen as a very feminine scent.