3. Raw materials and processes used in Greco-Roman antiquity

As explained above, the use of perfumes was highly developed in Antiquity. Perfumes were as much a part of private, everyday life as they were of religious life and banquets. They were associated with grooming and seduction, by both men and women, with the perfuming of houses and places of worship, with communication with the gods and the dead...

In ancient times, perfumes came in a variety of forms, but it was perfumed oils that took pride of place. They were therefore fundamentally different from the fine perfumes we use today. Although the Ancients knew the principles of distillation empirically, they had not yet discovered pure alcohol.

To compose perfumes, perfumers drew on a variety of fragrant raw materials from nature. The plant world was the most widely used, with flowers, leaves, roots, fruits, resins, etc. offering a wide range...